The Colorado statesman., 1910-09-10

riculture and to reserve the ownership
| in the coal to the government. The ques-
| tion which remains TO be considered 10
whether the existing law for the sale OF
the coal In the ground should continue
| In force or be repealed and n new method
OF disposition adopted. Under the present
law the absolute title In the coal be-
meath the surface passes to the grantee
| OF the government. Tho price nxed In
upon an estimated amount of the tons
OF coal per aero beneath the surface, and
the prices are fixed so that the earnings
will only be a reasonable profit upon the !
amount paid and the investment neces-
| sary. But. of course. this is more or less
guesswork. and the government parts
with tho ownership of the coal in the
ground absolutely. Authorities OF the ge-
illogical survey estimate that in the
| United States today there II a supply OF
about three thousand billions of tons OF
coal. and that OF this one Thousand billions
are in the public domain. OF course. the 9TH
er two thousand billions are within private
| ownership and under no more control as
| to the use or the prices at which the
| coal may be sold than any other private
! property. II the government leases the
coal lands and acts as any landlord
would. and imposes conditions in Its
leases like those which now imposed
by the owners in fee of coal mines in the
various coal regions of the east. then IL
would retain over the disposition Of the
coal deposits a choice as TO the assignee
| OF the lease, or of resuming possession at
the end OF the term OF the lease. which
might easily be framed to enable II TO
exercise a limited but effective control
in the disposition and sale OF the coal to
the public. It has been urged that the
leasing system has never been adopted In
| this country. and that its adoption would
largely interfere with tho investment OF
| capital and the proper development and
| opening up of the coal resources. ven
ture to differ entirely from this view.
The question as to how great an area
ought to be included In a lease to one
individual or corporation, is not free from
| difficulty; but in view OF the fact that
the government retains control owner.
think there might be some liberality In
| the amount leased. and that 2.50o acres
would not be too great a maximum.
| BY the opportunity to readjust the
terms upon which the coal shall be held
| by the tenant, either at the end Of each
lease at periods during the term. the
| government may secure the benefit of
sharing in the increased price of coal and
| the additional profit made by the tenant
BY imposing conditions in respect TO the
| character of work to be done in the
mines. the government may control the
character of the development OF the
mines and the treatment OF employees with
reference to safety. BY denying the
right to transfer the lease except by the
written permission of the governmental
authorities. II may withhold the needed
consent when It is proposed to transfer
the leasehold to persons interested In es-
tablshing monopoly of coal production
in any state or neighborhood. The change
from the absolute grant to the leasing
system will involve good deal OF
trouble in the outset, and the training OF
experts in the matter OF making proper
leases: but the change will be good
one and can be made. The change is in
the interest of conservation. and I am
glad to approve it,
Alaska Coal Lands.
vey show that the coal properties in
| Alaska cover about 1,20e square miles.
and that there are known 20 be available
about 15. .000, 900, 900 tons. This is however
underestimate of the coal in Alaska
because further developments will prob
| ably increase this amount many times
| but we say with considerable GER
tainty that there are two fields on the
| Pacific slope which can be reached by
| railways at a reasonable cost from deep
| water-in one case about fifty miles and
| in the other case of about 150 miles
which will afford certainly 500, 900 900
| tons Of coal. more than half of which is
| of a Yery high grade of bitumnous and
| of anthracite. 1t is estimated to be worth,
| in the ground. one-half cent ton.
| which makes its value per acre from $50
to $500 The coking- coal lands OF Penn
| sylvania are worth from $500 to 5000
acre. while other Appalachian fields are
worth from $40 to 1886 an acre and the
| fields in the central states from $40 to
| 81, 900 an acre. and in the Rocky noun
tains so to $500 an acre. The demand for
| coal on the Pacific coast is for about
| 45OO.OOO tons a year 1t would encounter
| the competition OF cheap fuel oil, of
which the equivalent OF 1900. 900 tons OF
| coal year is used there. 1t is estimated
| that the coal could be laid down at Sc
| attic or San Francisco. a high-grade BIZ
| luminous. at 81 a ton ard anthracite at
| IS or sc a ton. The price of coal on the
| Pacific slope varies greatly from time to
| time in the year and from year to year
| from "a to s12 ton. With a regular coal
| supply established, the expert of the
| geological survey, Mr.. Brooks. who has
| made a report on the subject, does not
think there would be an excessive profit
| in the Alaska coal mining because the
| price at which the coal could be Fold
| would be considerably lowered by compe-
| tiuon from these fields and by the pres
| ence of crude fuel oil. The history of the
laws affecting the disposition OF Alaska
| coal lands shows them to need amend
| ment badly.
on November IL, 1906. President Roose-
| welt issued an executive order with
drawing all coal lands from location and
entry in Alaska. On May l6 1907. he
| modified the order to permit valid
locations made prior to the withdrawal
| on November u. 1906 to proceed to entry
| and patent. Prior to that date some 900
| claims had been filed, most of them said
| to be illegal because either made fraudu-
| lently by dummy entrymen In the inter-
est OF one individual or corporation, or
| because OF agreements made prior to To-
| cation between the applicants to cooperate
| in developing the lands There are 80
| claims for 160 acres each. known as the
| CUNNINGHAM claims" which are claimed
| to be valid on the ground that they were
made by an attorney for 80 different
| and bona fde claimants who, as
alleged paid their money and took the
| proper steps to locate their entries and
| protect them. The representatives of the
| government in the hearings before the
| land office have attacked the validity of
these Cunningham claims on the ground
| that prior to their location there was an