Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1910-09-05

MOIldIldt 1OlOl u lii hSOiAiiA6B Ca
cept by act of Congress. l expect to
recommend to Congress that the limi-
tation herein imposed shall be repealed.
1.-THE government timber in this
country amounts to only one-fourth of
all the timber, the rest being in pri-
vate ownership. Only 8 per cent. of
that which is in private ownership is
looked after properly and treated &C
cording to modern rules of forestry.
The usual destructive waste and neg
lect continues in the remainder of the
forests owned by private persons and
corporations, 1t is estimated that IRE
alone destroys fifty million dollars
worth of timber a year.
The subject most important for our
consideration is the disposition of the
coal lands in the United States and in
Alaska. First, as to those in the
United States. AT the beginning of
this administration there we're CLASH
fed coal lands amounting to 5~,476,OO0
acres, and there were withdrawn from
entry for purposes of classification H.
8e7, 900 acres.
Authorities of the geological survey
estimate tina in the United States to-
day there is a supply of about 3,OU
billions of tons of coal, and that OF
this 1000 billions are in the public do
main. OF course. the other 1000 bill
lions are within private ownership and
under no more control as to the use or
the prices at which the coal may be
sold than n other private property
II has been urged that the leasing sys-
tenn has never been adopted in TINS
country, and that its adoption woulu
largely interfere with the investment
of capital and the proper development
and opening up of the coal resources
I venture to differ entirely from this
view.
Might Lease Literally.
"The question as to how great an area
ought to be included in a lease TO one
Individual OF corporation, Is not free
from difficulty; out in view OF the
fact that the government retains con-
troll as owner, l think there might pc
some liberality in the amount leased
and that 2 500 acres would not be TOO
great a maximum.
The investigations of the Geological
Survey show that the coal properties
In Alaska cover about 1000 square
miles, and tina there are known to be
available about Is, 900, 600, 900 tons. 1t
is estimated to be worth. in the ground,
one-half a cent a ton. which makes It's
value per acre from $50 to $500. The
coking-coal lands of Pennsylvania are
worth from $500 to $4,000 an 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
an acre. and H. the Rocky mountains
$40 to $500 an acre. The demand Tor
coal on the Pacific coast Is for about
b, $500, 900 tons a year. 1t would en-
counter the competition of cheap fuel
oil, of which the equivalent of 10000, 900
tons of coal a year is used there. 1t Is
estimated that the coal could be laid
down at Seattle or San Francisco, a
high-grade bituminous, at 81 a ton and
anthracite at S. r SC 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 $lz
a ton.
1.-THE government of the United States
has much to answer for in not having
given proper attention to the govern
ment of Alaska and the development of
her ~source for the benefit of all the
people of tho country. / would not
force development at the expense of a
present or future waste of resources.
"The needed oil n gas law is essen
TALLY a leasing law. In their natural
occurrence oil and gas cannot be meas
ured In terms of acres. like coal, and
1t follows that exclusive title to these
products can normally be secured only
after they reach the surface. Oil
should be disposed of as a commodity
in terms of barrels of ~transportable
product rather than in acres of real
estate. This is. of course, the reason
for the practically universal adoption
of the leasing system wherever oil land
is in private ownership. The govern
ment thus would not be entering on an
experiment, but simply putting into
effect a plan successfully operated In
private contracts, Why should not the
government as d landowner deal di-
rectly with the Oil producer rather
than through the Intervention of a
middleman to whom the government
gives title to the land?
THE principal underlying feature of
such legislation should be the exercise
of beneficial control rather than the
collection of revenue. Much more i'm
portant than revenue Is the enforce
ment of regulations to conserve the
public interest so that the covenants
of the lessees shall specifically safe
guard oil fields against the penalties
from careless drillings and of produce
ton in excess of transportation facili-
ties or of market requirements.
Treatment of Phosphate.
phosphorus is one of the three essen
tials to plant growth, the other ele-
ments being nitrogen and potash. OF
these three, phosphorus is by all odds
the scarcest element in nature. Half of
the phosphate of the rock that is mined
in private fields in the United States is
exported. As our farming methods
grow better the demand for the phos-
phate will boone greater, and it must
be arranged so that the supply shall
equal the needs OF the country. A law
that would provide a leasing system for
phosphate deposits, together with a pro-
vision for the separation of the surface
and mineral rights as is already pro-
vided for In the case of coal, would
seem to meet the need of promoting the
development of these deposits and their
utilization in the agricultural lands of
the West.
"It is the plain duty of the govern
ment to see to 1t that in the utilization
and development OF water power. con-
ditions shall be imposed that will pre-
vent monopoly. and will prevent Tx
tortionate charges, which are the ac-
compartment of monopoly. The difi-
Guilty of adjusting the matter is ac-