Los Angeles herald., 1910-07-03
OIL AND MINING
MEN ARE KINDRED
Timothy SpeIIacy Advocates ALI
ance of All Lines of Great
Mineral Industry
WOULD BENEFIT EVERY PART
Prominent Operator Asserts the
American Mining Congress
Best Organization Plan
WOULD BENEFIT EVERY PART

Advocates Of the proposed alliance
between the oil operators of the state
and the American Mining congress are
jubilant over the pronounced and en-
phatic position taken by Col. Tim Spell
lacy, the prominent operator, in ad-
Vocacy of this alliance, which brings
to the support of these advocates a
large number of individual operators
of the state who will willingly follow
the man who has already done so much
in securing ameliorated conditions for
the oil industry generally in the sew
eral fields.
Col Spellacy unequivocally indorses
the statement made by the officers of
the American Mining congress in re-
cent interview, and says that he can
find no logical reason why the mer-
ger or union should not occur, but can
find a dozen reasons why it should.
He has made his views on the sub
ject known through an interesting in
terView given the American Mining
congress officers, in which he says
81 have read with no little interest
what ]. f. Lucey in a recent written
interview has to say concerning the
proposed alliance of the oil operators
of California and of other states with
the American Mining congress and can
unequivocally indorse every word of
this strong statement of facts.
SHOULD WORK BOTH WAYS
s'We are hearing a great deal of
Organization and are being urged to
Organize to market our output all OF
which is good advice, but, ranking with
this appeal for organization of opera
tors in their effort to market the pro-
duct of their oil wells, is the equally
urgent need for Organization of the
owners of these wells in an effort to
better protect the titles to the lands on
which the wells are now operating.
every rig that is set up on an un-
patented piece of government land un-
der existing federal laws goes up with
a cloud cast on its owners title to the
land. The law says that the oil pros
pector must be able to prove the eX-
istance of oil in the ground that he is
exploiting before he shall be given
legal status as a prior claimant the
same as the placer prospector shall do
in proving the existence of gold.
1.-The old prospector has to go hun
dreds of feet below ground at a great
outlay of money before he can prove
the existence of oil; the placer pros
dirt from the bed of a stream. The oil
prospector, while sinking his drills
these hundreds of feet and jeOpardizing
his money, with no certainty of ever
developing oil, has no legal status as
a prior claimant until he actually pro-
duces the oil. Another rig may go
up on the same ground, and if the new
drills get oil first, then the original
prospector. not having been able to
comply with the law by actual proof
of oil beneath his rig, is confronted
with the prior rights of the newer con-
Germ. because the latter actually fell
within the meaning of the present law
first by producing the oil.
1.-THE placer prospector, on the other
hand found his color in the bottom
of his pan, is then and there able to
make affidavit that he has found gold
on his claim and gains prior right in
stantly.
"Yet the oil operator and prospector
must operate under the same law,
adopted years ago TO meet the placer
prospector's conditions and never
amended to meet the oil mans pre-
dicament. The oil prospector may have
expended thousands of dollars and GER
tainlv must literally gamble them when
he first starts sinIas5 if he arrives at
the point where he gains prior rlght
over other prospectOrS because OF pre-
vious surface discovery and previous
financial outlay.
"Now, 1 ask, what is the use of or
ganizing' as a selling body in order TO
organize to protect the land on which
we find the oil? And, if We organize,
what sane reason have we for not join
ing with the national organization al
ready in existence that can help us to
get the legislation we must have to
change this condition of things? why
not Join with the placer prospector and
operator, in his own organization, and
thus secure his cooperation as a
brother member in securing the laws
we need We must ask his cO-opera-
ton some day if we are going to nave
his placer laws amended; why not ask
his cooperation, as fellow members, IN
his own convention? VIII he not be
more disposed to help us this way than
if we sent q committee of half dozen
men fro man oil mems organization
to the placer mans convention and ask
him to help us after we have declined
to come into his organization?
At can see no argument against our
Joining the American Mining congress,
and can see a dozen good reasons
why we should"
AhCtAN