Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1910-09-13

| years of about $4,000 acres for S. 305. 900.
The present congress. as already said
| has separated the surface of coal lands
/ either classified or withdrawn for CLASH
| fication. 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| in force or be repealed and a new method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
1 of coal per acre beneath he surface. and
| the prices are fixed so that the earnings
| viii only be a reasonable profit upon the
amount paid and the inyes+ ment neces-
| sary. But, of course, this is more less
| guesswork, and the 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 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 are now imposed
| by the owners in fee of coal mines in the
! various coal regions of the east, then It
would retain over the disposition of the
| coal deposits 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 1t 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 it's adoption would
| largely interfere with the investment of
capital and the proper development and
| opening up of the coal resources. l ven
| ture to differ entirely from this view.
The question as to how great an area
! ougat 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
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 the 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
reference TO safety. BY denying the
| right to transfer the lease except by the
written permission of the governmental
authorities, it may withhold the needed
consent when 1t is proposed to transfer
the leasehold to persons interested In
tablishing 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
:he interest of conservation, and l am
glad to approve it.
Alaska Coal Lands
The investigation of the geological sur
vey show that the coal properties in
Alaska cover about 1900 5Quare miles
and that there are known 20 be available
about $50 100000 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 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. 0OO, 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 cokng-eoal lands of Penn
10. "a. 4QnA 90
acre. while other Appalachian fields are
worth from $40 to 1886 an acre, and the
fields in the central states from $40 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
100000 tons year. 1t would encounter
the competition of cheap fuel OIL of
which the equivalent of 1900. 600 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 ton and anthracite at
S. or Sc ton. The price of coal the
Pacific slope varies greatly from time to
time in the year and from year to year
from 81 to $12 a 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 ho an excessive profit
in the ALASKA coal mining because the
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 70. 1906, President Roose-
Welt issued an executive order with
drawing all coal lands from location and
entry in Alaska. On May 49, 1907, he
modified the order so as 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 corporation, or
because of agreements made prior to To-
cation between the applicants to cooperate
in developing the lands. There So
claims for 100 acres each, known as the
Cunningham claims which claimed
to be valid on the ground that they were
made by an attorney for 80 different
and bona fide 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
understanding between the claimants to
pool their claims after they had been
perfected and unite them in one COM
pany. The trend of decision seems to
show that such an agreement would in
validate the claims. although under the
subsequent law of May Is, 1908. the con-
solidation of such claims was permitted,
after location and entry, in tracts of
1850 acres 1t would be, Of course, i'm
proper for me to intimate what the re-
suit of the issue as to the Cunningham
and other Alaska claims is likely to be.
but Il ought TO be distinctly understood
that no private claims f1r Alaska coal
lands have as yet been allowed or per-
fected. snd also that whatever the result
as to pending claims, the existing coal
land laws of Alaska are most unsatisfac-
tory and should be radically amended.
To begin with, the purchase price of the !
land is a fat rate of $40 per acre. al
though, as we have seen, the estimate of
the agent of the geological survey would