The Mobridge news. [volume] (Mobridge, Walworth Co., S.D.) 190?-1917, 1910-09-09

,f,,or os the coal lands in the asst tive
Years OF about en.0o acres for n.SB,Oee.
TIM present congress, as already said,
hss separated the surface or coal IAnaa'
either classified or withdrawn for claSsl-
Ncst{an. from the coal beneath. go as TO
prrrst st all times homestead entries
mon the surface OF lands useful for az
-,-.lf.rr and to reserve the ownership
~ ,ne Goa. to the government. The qusS-
zion which remains to be considered Is
whether the existing law for the sale OF
The coz, in the ground should continue
IN force or We repealed and a new method
a.. disposition adopted. Under the present
law ta" absolute title in the coal be
-.rr, ,rc surface passes TO the grantee
~ IRE government, h price fixed is
anon an estimated amount OF the tons
~ coal per acre beneath the surface, and
The r~gres are 5Ned so that the earnings
w or'y be a reasonable proht upon the
a-~rv1. paid and the investment neces-
SAW Bat, Of course, this is more or less
Z. r~sw *. and the government parts
49, ne ownership Of the coal IN the
c-rlHd absolutely. Authorities Of the &c
~r'7gfcaI survey eetimate that in the
I'r.ieG states today there Is . supply OF
About three thousand billions Of tons Of
uoaI. and hat Of this one thousand bilhsns
ar In thepuhic domain. OF course. the 9TH
-r two thousand billions are within private
ownership and under no more control IS
20 NE use or the prices At which the
zeal may be sold than any othsT private
property. II the government leases the
soA lands and aets a. any landlord
would, and imposes conditions IN it's
eases like those which are now imposed
by tie owners in fee OF GOAL mines in the
various coal regions OF the east, then II
would retain over the disposition Of the
Goa deposits q choice as TO the assignee
q the lease, or OF rCsuminE possession at
the end OF the term NJ 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. II has been urged that the
leasing system has never been adopted in
this country, and that it's adoption would
largely interfere with the investment OF
capital and the proper development and
opening up Of the coal I ven
ture TO differ entirely from this view.
The question as 20 how great an area
ought TO be included in q lease to one
Individual or corporation, Is not free from
dirHCulty; but in view OF the fact that
the government retains control a. owner,
I think there might be some liber&lity in
the amount leased, and that 7,boS &crss
would not be too great q maximum.
BY the opportunity to reAdjust the
0kOh "AANA NAlC NON4 SAA@A ~ hNFA
by the tenant, either at the END Of each
lease or at periods during the term, the
government may secur the benoht 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
d. -~wvN- AhA
right to transfer the lease except by the
written permission OF the governmental
authorities, 1t ma withhold the needed
consent when 1t is proposed TO transfer
the leasehold to persons interested In es-
tRblshing q monopoly OF Goa production
in any state or neighborhood. The change
from the absolute grant to the leasing
system will involve a good deal OF
trouble in the outset, and the training OF
experts in the matter OF making proper
leases; but the change will be q good
one and can be made. The change In In
the interest Of conservation, and I am
glad to approve it.
Alaska Coal Lands.
The investigation OF the geological sur
vey show that the coal properties in
Alaska cover about 100 square miles,
and that there are known 20 be available
about 1900. 600, 900 tons This is, however,
underestimate OF the coal In Alaska,
because further developments will prob
ably increase this amount many times;
but we can 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 nifty miles and
in the other case OF about $50 miles
which will afford certainly 6,eo, 900, 900
of coal, more han half of which is
OF a very high grade Of bituminous and
Of anthracite. 1t is estimated to be worth,
in the ground, one-half a cent a ten,
which makes Its value per acre from $50
to $500. The coking-coal lands OF Penn
sylvania are worth from $500 to si,e0s an
acre, while other Appalachian fields are
worth from $40 to $3.50 an acre, and the
fields in the central states from $40 to
5000 an acre, and In the Rocky noun
tains so to $500 an acre. The demand fer
coal or the Pacific coast iB for about
100000 tons a year. II would encounter
the competition OF cheap fuel oil, OF
which the equivalent of 13,Vo.oo q tons Of
coal a yea 10 used there. 1t 10 estimated
that the coal could be laid down at Sc
attic or a Francisco, q ~htxh-grada BIZ
luminous. at "a a ton and anthracite ut
IS or IS q 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 SO q ton. With q regular GOAL
supply established. the expert OF the
geological survey, Mr.. Brooks, who has
made q report on the subject, does not
think there would be an excessive profit
in the Alaska coal mining because the
price at which the Goa could be sold
would be considerably lowered by cempe-
tition 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 II, 1906, President Rosss-
Walt issued an executive order with
drawing all coal lands from location and
entry In Alaska. On May 1s, 1897, he
modified the order so ais to permit valid
locations made prior to the withdrawal
IN November IL. 1906. 10 proceed to entry
and patent Prior to that date some 90
claims had been hied, most OF thsm said
10 be Illegal because either made frauAu-
lently by dummy entrymen IN the inter-
est OF one individual or corporation, or
because OF agreements made prier to To-
cation betweenthe applicants to cooperate
In developing the lands There are %
claims for 100 acres each. known as the
Cunningham claims" which are claimed
to be valid on the ground that they were
made by an attorney for 50 different
and bona nde 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
fhnaA Nurnfp0hor rragoru - 49, --..~S