Omaha daily bee., 1910-01-15

the public tina character Of control which
Will prevent a monopoly or misuse Of the
lands or their products. The power Of the
secretary Of the interior 10 withdraw from
the operation of existing statutes tracts Of
land. the disposition OF which under such
statutes would be detrimental TO the pub
lie interest Is not clear OF satisfactory.
This power has been exercised In the In
terest OF the public. with the hope that
congress might affirm tho action Of the
executive by laws adapted to tho new SON
ditions. Unfortunately congress has not
thus far fully acted on the recommenda-
lions OF the executive, and the question
as what the executive IL TO do is. under
/. the circumstances full Of difficulty. 1t
seems to me that II is the duty OF con-
gress now, by a statute, TO validate the
withdrawals which have been made by
the secretary OF the interior and the preei-
dent and to authorize the secretary of the
interior temporarily TO withdraw lands
pending submission to congress of recon-
mendatlons as TO legislation to meet con-
dltions or emergencies as they arise.
One OF the most pressing needs in tho
matter OF public land reform is that lands
should be classified according to their
principal value or use. This ought to be
1hAA- ny AAAAA 0NBAA AAAN hOhN ~ "a
best adapted 70 that work. 1t should be
Zone by the Interior department through
the geological survey. Much Of the CON
fusion, fraud end contention which has
existed In the past has arisen from tho
lack Of an official and determinative CLASH
fication Of the public lands and their con-
tents.
what to withhold.
1t is now proposed to dispose of agricul-
tural lands as such and at the same time
to reserve for other disposition the treas
ure OF coal, oil, asphaitum. natural sas
and phosphate contained therein. This may
be bett accomplished by separating the
right 10 mine from the title to the surface,
giving the necessary use of so much Of
the latter as may be required for the ex-
traction Of the deposits. The surface
might be disposed Of as agricultural land
under the general agricultural statutes.
while the coal or other minerals could be
disposed Of by lease on a royalty basis,
with provisions requiring a certain amount
OF development each year. and In order to
prevent the use and cession of such lands
with others of similar character so as to
constitute a monopoly forbidden by law
the lease should contain suitable provision
subjecting to forfeiture the interest of
persons participating in such monopoly.
Such law should apply to Alaska as we'll
as to the United States.
1t Is exceedingly difficult to frame a
statute to retain government control over
a property to be developed by private
capital in such manner as to secure the
governmental purpose and at the same time
not frighten away the investment of the
necessary capital. Hence. 1t may be neces-
sary by laws that are really only expert
mental to determine from their practical
operation what is the best method of Sc
curing the result aimed at.
nj Phosphate and. Public Power.
: The-extent or value of phosphate is hardly
realized. and with the need that there will
be for II rs the years roll on and the neces-
sity for fertiliziag the land shall become
more acute. this viii be a product which
will probably attract the greed of monopo-
lists. With respect to the public land which
lies along the streams offering opportunity
to convert water power into t~ransmtssabls
electricity, another important phase Of the
public land question is presented. There
are valuable water power sites through all
the public land states. The opinion is held
that the transfer of sovereignty from the