The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1910-09-09


area Of zs,+1s acres. which sold for $685.
sS; and down to August 1910, there were
but II entries, with an area Of Ito acres,
which sold for es3. 3.slo.so. making a dispo-
sition Of the coal lands In the. last two
! years OF about $4,000 acres for II ,So6 900.
Iho present congress, a. already said.
| has separated the surface Of coal lands.
| either classified or withdrawn for classi-
| hcat1on. from the coal beneath. 80 as to
| permit at all times homestead entries
| upon tho surface Of lands useful for ag-
rlculture 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In force or be repealed and a new method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 tho present
law the absolute title In the coal be-
meath the surface passes to the grantee
or the government. The price fixed 1s
upon an estimated amount OF tho tons
or coal per acre 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 moro or less
guesswork, and tho government parts
with the ownership of the coal in the
ground absolutely. Authorities Of the ge-
| illogical 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 pub blic 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. If the government leases the
coal lands and acts as any landlord
would. and imposes conditions In its
leases like those which are now imposed
by the owners in fee Of coal mines in the
various coal regions of the east then It
would retain over tho disposition Of the
coal deposits a choice as 10 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 It to
exercise 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. 1 ven
ture to differ entirely from this view.
The question as to how great an area
ought to be included In lease to
individual or corporation, is not free from
difficulty: but in view OF the fact that
the government retains control owner,
I think there might be some liberality In
the amount leased, and that $500 acres
would not be too great a maximum.
By the opportunity to readjust the
terms upon which tho coal shall be held
by the tenant, either at the end Of each
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
n
right to transfer the lease except by the
written permission OF the governmental
authorities, 1t may withhold the needed
consent when 1t 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 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 1t.
Alaska Coal Lands.
The investigation OF the geological sur
vey show that the coal properties In
Alaska cover about 1900 square miles
and that there are known 20 be available
about 5000, 600 600 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
tainty that there are two fields on the
Pacific slope which can be reached by
railways at q 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 600, 600
tons Of coal, more than half OF which Is
of very high grade Of btuminous and
Of anthracite. It Is estimated to be worth.
In the ground, one-half q cent q ton.
which makes its value per aero from $50
to $500. The coking-coal lands Of Penn
sylvania are worth from $500 to 81 600 an
acre, while other Appalachian fields are
worth from SO to 1886 acre, and the
fields In the central states from SO to
$4,000 an acre. and in the Rocky noun
tains $40 to $500 an acre. The demand for
coal on the Pacific coast IL for about
100000 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
attle or San Francisco, a high-grade BIZ
luminous at n ton and anthracite at
IS or s. 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 81 to s12 a ton. With regular coal
supply established, the expert Of the
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 sold
would be considerably lowered by compe
tition from these fields and by the pres
ence Of crude fuel OIL The history of tho
laws affecting the disposition OF Alaska
coal lands shows them to need amend
ment badly.
On November II, 1906, President Roose-
Welt issued executive order with
drawing all coal lands from location and
entry in Alaska. On May 16, 1907, he
modified the order to permit valid
locations made prior to the withdrawal
on November IL. 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 10
cation between the applicants to cooperate
in developing the lands. There are 80
claims for 16O acres each, known as the
cunningham claims" which are claimed