Barbour County index., 1910-09-14


s1S: and down to August. 1910. there were
but IT entries. with an area Of LIZ acres,
which sold for $33. .910.6o, making a dispo-
sition OF the coal lands IN the last two
years Of about 5000 acres for 81, S05. 900.
The present congress, as already said.
has separated the surface of coal lands.
either classified or withdrawn for classi-
hcation, from the coal beneath, SO as to
permit at all times homestead entries
upon the surface of lands useful for ag-
riculture and to reserve the ownership
in the coal to the government. The ques-
ton which remains to be considered Is
whether the existing law for the sale of
the coal in the ground should continue
in force or be repealed and a new method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 The price fixed is
upon estimated amount Of the tons
OF coal per acre beneath the surface, and
the prices are fixed 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 the ownership of the coal in the
ground absolutely. Authorities of the ge-
ologlcdi survey estimate that in the
United States today there IS 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 ander no more control as
to the use or the prices at which the
coal may be sold than any other private
property. If 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 1t
would retain over the disposition Of the
coal deposits a choice as TO the assignee
| of the lease, of resuming possession at
| the end of the term of the lease. which
might easily be framed to enable it to
exercise a limited but effective control
| in the disposition and sale of the coal to
| the public. 1t has been urged that the
| leasing system has never been adopted in
| this country, and that its adoption would
| largely interfere with the investment of
| capital and the proper development and
| opening up of the coal resources. I VEN
| ture to differ entirely from this view.
The question to how great an area
| ought to be included in lease to one
| individual or corporation, Is not free from
| difficulty; but in view of the fact that
| the government retains control as owner
| I think there might be some liberalty in
| the amount leased. and that $500 acres
/ would not be too great a maximum.
BY the opportunity to readjust the
terms upon which the coal shall be held
II
| lease or 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. 1t may withhold the needed
| consent when it is proposed to transfer
| the leasehold to persons interested In es-
| tablishing a monopoly of coal 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 a good
| one and can be made. The change is in
the interest of conservation, and 1 am
| glad to approve it.
Alaska Coal Lands.
The investigation Of the geological sur
4 vey show that the coal properties in
| Alaska cover about 1900 Square miles,
| and that there are known 20 be available
| about L, 900 co., 900 tons. This is. however,
| an 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 fifty miles and
in the other case of about $50 miles
| which will afford certainly 5000, 900 900
| tons of coal, more than half of which is
! of very high grade of bituminous and
| of anthracite. 1t is estimated to be worth
| in the ground, one-half a cent a ton,
| which makes its value per acre from $50
| to $500. The coking-coal lands of Penn
| sylvania are worth from $500 to 81, 900 an
acre, while other Appalachian fields are
worth from SO to 1886 an acre, and the
! fields in the central states from SO to
| $1,000 acre, and in the Rocky noun
tains SO to $500 acre The demand for
coal on the Pacific coast is for about
| 4,500.0OO tons a year. 1t would encounter
| the competition of cheap fuel OIL OF
which the equivalent of 100000 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 S4 a ton and anthracite al
So s. ton. The price of coal on the
Pacific slope varies greatly from time to
time in the year and from year to year
from 81 to $12 ton. With a regular coal
supply established, the expert of the
geological survey, Mr.. Brooks. who has
made report 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 SOLD
would be considerably lowered by compe
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 12. 1906. President Roose
Welt issued an executive order with
drawing all coal lands from location and
entry in Alaska On May 16, 1907. ht
modified the order so as to permit valid
locations made prior to the Withdrawal
on November u. 1906, to proceed to entry
and patent. Prior to that date some 80
claims had been filed, most of them saiC
to be illegal because either made fraudu
lently by dummy entrymen in the inter
est of one individual corporation, ol
because of agreements made prior to 10
cation betweenthe applicants to co-operat,
in developing the lands. 90 There are 8
claims for 160 acres each. known as tn,
Cunningham claims" which claimed
to be valid on the ground thSt they wer
made by an attorney for 80 differen
and bona fde claimants who, a