Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1910-09-09

which sold for $3s, slO60, making a dispo-
| sluon OF the coal lands in the last two
years of about 60.oo0 acres for s.. 800, 600.
The present congress, as already said
| mas separated the surface OF coal lands,
| either classified or withdrawn for classi-
| ncauon, from the coal beneath, so as 10
| permit at all times homestead entries
| upon the surface of lands useful for ag-
| riculture and TO reserve the ownership
| IN the coal 10 the government The ques-
| ton which remains to be considered ia
| whether the existing law for the sale OF
| the coal in the ground should continue
! in force or be repealed and new method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 an estimated amount Of the tons
| of 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 more or less
| guesswork, and the government parts
1 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 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
|
| 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 II
would retain over the disposition of the
/ coal deposits choice as TO 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 SAFE 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. I ven
| ture to differ entirely from this view.
| TIE question as to how great an area
| ou@ 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 as owner,
| | 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
| -
! consent when IT is proposed to transfer
! the leasehold to persons interested in es-
! tablishing a monopoly of coal production
| in any state or neighborh0od. The change
| from the absolute grant 10 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 it.
Alaska Coal Lands.
The investigation of the geological sur
| vey show that the coal properties in
| Alaska cover about 12G0 Square miles
and that there are known 20 be available
about $4,000, coo. 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 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 80 miles
| which will afford certainly COCO. 900, 600
| tons of coal, more than half of which is
| of a very high grade of btuminous and
| of anthracite. II 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 $40 to 1886 an acre, and the
| fields In the central states from $40 to
| 900 an acre, and in the Rocky noun
| tains SO to $500 an acre. The demand for
coal on the Pacific coast is for about
| 100000 tons a year. II would encounter
| the competition of cheap fuel Oil, OF
| which the equivalent of 1900 900 tons of
coal a year is used there. 1t is estimated
| that the coal could be laid down at Sc
| attic or San Francisco, a high-grade hi
| luminous, at 81 ton and anthracite at
| s. or IS 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 $12 a ton. With regular coal
| supply established, the expert OF the
| geological survey, Mr. Brooks who has
| made 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 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 exclusive order with
| drawing all coal lands from location and
entry in Alaska. On May 1G. 1907. ne
modified the order as 10 permit valid
locations made prior to the withdrawal
/ on November p. 1906, to proceed to entry
and patent. Prior to that date some 500
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 To-
cation betweenthe applicants to cooperate
| In developing the lands. There are %
claims for $50 acres each. known as the
Cunningham claims" which are claimed
to be valid on the ground that they Were
made by attorney for 80 different
and bona fde claimants who. as