The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1910-09-08

lands in the UnitsA 0tssaa. Ueea Dssss-
sions furhidding ths tFaAsn0 Il -
Beaseo except with the oaasa02 q -
govesament. thus pfsvsatinO ths1s o0s0-
sattsa by combination sr 0oosOsey 81
uDsa limitations - - tAs asaa - - ~
cluAe4 In any one laAas % 000 laAvtAaal.
sAA ss certain neAseats seoaol. vseA
royalties upon the oeal nlnsA DrsOog-
tiensA to the nArtal value Of ths saa1
olthsr ~ Seattle - a& San pfancA0oa q
essres such lsasas should osataia esaA-
tises requiring tAs sreetiea e Drs0es
passta. the proper Asvssoessat ~ As1-
isAsee. and the uss ef sSssy known aeA
practical means aAA Asvses sss asviaG ths
itlo q the minsra
Oil snd 0Ao lsN1o.
ID he last aAministfati00 tAoFo Oo1o
UsthArawn from agricultural oatry 1oA.-
~ acres Of supposed - lanA - Caffee-
ala: shout nilliea An1 . haA acres b
Louisiana. Of vhieh saiy Go se.ss
Were known - - vacant una00roosie-
~ iond 7s.oo acres n oseesa 80 ma
- aeses in WyoaiaG. .AkinG . tsesl e
nsasiy 1000, 90 acres. In ssptsmbsr. lSee.
I directed that sn public 81 laaAA.
Whsther then wtthdrswa er Aet. seeNA
- withheld fro0 Aisposit5sa psoAiaG CO.
gFsag1snal action. fer ths rsassa that H.
| V8D&AA8 pioC0d 01huAh8 Nv oAkuON8o
aAAo applicable 70 AeDoslt0 q this char
aetss. is not suitable - saeA laaAs. an1
fee tAe further raAsea thA3 Il 0ooAs1 -
arebee to reserve certain fusl-sA deposits
eoe de use Of the American navy. A.
ese1lagly the form q ali s1isting With
lrsvsls was ehanss1. enA new WITH
Asavsis asgrssaeins a7ss.eos sesss were
New Mexico. Utah aaA Wyomiag. Fisid
sxananations dusiaS the year sheweA
that Of the original vtthdraWais. life-
~ acres were net valuable for 81. and
thay were restored fer Agricultural sntry.
Nsaatims. other Wtthdrawals Of public
sl lands In thses states were na1s. -
that July I. lSie. the outstanding with
Gravsls then amounted - l.sss.ssS scrsA
fAe needed oil anA gas law 10 essential
II Q lsasing law. In their natural occur
renee, oil and gas cannot b measured In
terms Of acres. like coal. and It follovs
that exclusive title to these products can
Doeaally be secured only after they reach
the surface. OIL should b. disposed Of -
. eommodity in terms OF barrels ct
transportabls product rather than II
acres Of real estate. This 4. Of course.
the reason for the practically universal
sAoption Of the leasing system wherever
oil land 10 in private ownership. The
government thus would not be entering
- an experiment. but simply putting
uWB8 OucCt u pan wUCCSbUAuAy OBOVAtSu
pF1vats contracts. Why should not the
government as . landowner deal directly
Nth the oil producer rather than through
the Intervention Of . middleman to whom
the government gives title to the land?
Ths principal underlying feature Of
oach legislation should b the exercise Of
beneficial control rather than the collec-
tioa Of revenue. A. not only the largest
svNsr Of oil lands. but - . prospective
lasge consumer Of oil by reason of the
inefeasng use Of fuel oil by the navy.
| tAs federal government 10 directly con-
csensd both in encouraging rational de-
| velopment and at the same time insuring
the longest possible life to the oil sup
ply.
One Of tho dimculties presented. espe-
cially in the California fields. II that the
| Southern Pacific railroad owns every
| ether section OF land in the oil field.
and in those fieldE the oil seems to be In
. common reservoir. or series of reser-
voirs. communicating through the oil
sands. 30 that the excessive draining OF
| oil At one we'll, or on the railroad terri
tory generally, would exhaust the oil in
the government land. Hence It IL i'm.
portant that II the government 10 to have
its share Of the oil 1t should begin tha
opening Of wells on its own property.
1t has been suggested. and believe the
suggestion to be . sound one. that per.
| m1tS Dc loUue0 10 pFospcCiot ioF vi
giving him the right to prospect for two
years over . certain tract Of government
land for the discovery Of oil. the right to
be evidenced by q license for which he
pays q small sum. When the oil 10 dis.
covered, then he acquires title to Ger.
tain tract. much in the same way a. he
would acquire title under mining law
i OF course II the system Of leasing II
| adopted, then he would be given the
benefit Of q lease upon terms like that
above suggested. What has been said In
respect to oil applies also to government
gas lands.
Phosphate Lands.
Phosphorus Is one of the three essen.
tials to plant growth the other elements
being nitrogen and potash. OF these
three. phosphorus 10 by all odds the
scarcest element in nature. It 10 easily
extracted in useful form from the phos.
| tains the greatest known deposits Of this
rock in the world. They are found In
| Wy ming. Utah and Florida, well a
in south Carolina, Georgia and Tennes.
see The government phosphate lands are
confined to Wyoming. Utah and Florida
Prior to March I. 1909. there were .oot
acres withdrawn from agricultural entry
in the ground that the land covered phos-
phate rock. Since that time. 2.322. 900 acres
Of the land thus Withdrawn was found
not to contain phosphate in profitable
quantities. while 1.s7s.ooo acres was classi-
ned properly AZ phosphate lands. During
this administration there has been with
drawn and classified 4s7, 900 acres. so that
today there is classified as phosphate rock
land 2.115.o acres. This rock Is most
important in the composition Of fertilizers
to improve the SOIL and as the future is
certain to create an enormous demand
| throughout this country for fertilization.
| the value to the public of such deposits
| as these can hardly be exaggerated. Ger
tanly with respect to these deposits Q
careful policy Of conservation should bs
| followed. A law that would provide =
leasing system for the phosphate depos-
its. together with q provision for the sep
| aration Of the surface and mineral rights
as Is already provided for in the case of
coal would seem to meet the need Of
promoting tho development of these de-
posts and their utilization in the agri-
cultural lands of the west. II II 70
thought desirable to discourage the expor-
taton Of phosphate rock and the saving
OF 1t for our own lands. this purpose
could be accomplished by conditions in
the lease granted by the government to
its lessees. OF course. under the consti-
tuition the government could not tax