The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-01-30


report on the valuation Of government
coal lands which is Of live interest in
connection with questions of public policy
now under discussion.
/ This report consists Of two papers. one
entitled THE value of coal land" by
/ G. II. Ashley the other entlted Depth
and minimum thickness Fbeds as factors
/ in valuation" by G. a. Fisher
! Mr. Ashley has for many years made
study of the economies Of coal. one Of
his earliest reports on this subject. entl-
/ tied The finances OF coal" was pub
lshed IN 1893 and Is still a standard work
Of reference. Mr. Fisher is one Of the
surveys coal biologists and has worked
/ for years in coal fields in all parts Of the
/ United States.
( Royalty a Measure of Values.
( The uncertainty OF the value OF uude-
/ yeloped coal land or supposed coal land
is well known. but If coal is mined at any
| place under a royalty and paid for by the
ton as it is taken out Of the ground such
a royalty becomes q positive measure OF
/ the value Of the coal land at that place
/ It may be said that any tract Of coal
| land is worth what it will bring in
royalties If mined under lease. less the
cost OF carrying il from the time of pur-
chase TO the time OF mining Mr.. Ashley
/ presents a table showing the royalties
paid in many coal districts in the United
States and discusses the relation be-
tween royalties and land prices.
The commercial valuation OF coal land
! is considered by Mr.. Ashley according TO
| three standa-ds-O the value placed on
| lands by coal companies desiring 20 float
bonds. % the value at which the lands
/ are assessed by county assessors. and 90
the prices at which sales are actually
made Tables are given 10 show the
/ assessment values and the sale prices OF
coal lands In several States.
Mr.. Ashley discusses the effect on the
market price OF coal land Of the quality
and quantity OF coal. of its accessibility,
Of competition. cost OF mining and mar
/ keJing. and other factors
Depth OF workable Beds.
Mr.. Fishers paper. on the mining OF
deep and Of thin Goals, shows that the
deepest beds mined in this country lie
above 300 feet, but that some beds
nearly 1900 feet deep are mined IN Bel
GUM. In England beds nearly 1850 feet
deep are mined. The greatest depths
reached in other countries are also stated
by Mr.. Fisher.
In discussing the minimum thickness
Of workable beds Mr. Fisher shows that
few Goals less than Il inches thick are
mined In a commercial way In the United
states. but that beds only . inches thick
are mined commercially abroad. The
first English royal commission on coal
supplies, in 1871. fixed z inches as the
minimum thickness, but many separate
beds and 10 inches thick are now worked
commercially in England.
The standards adopted for the two fac
tors discussed by Mr.. Fisher are OF prime
Importance In the computation of our
available supply Of coal The Geological
Survey has fixed 500 feet as the maxi
mum depth Of practical coal mining and
4 inches as the minimum thickness Of a
workable bed. These are, however, con-
servatve standards and It is evident that
with the further development OF coal
mining it may be necessary 20 adopt new
limits Of measurements for both depth
and thinuess.
Mr.. Fisher presents tables showing the
location and depth OF the deepest mines
in this country and abroad and the loca-
ton and thickness C: the sAinnest beds
mined.
New Standards of Value.
Until few years ago all public coal
lands were priced uniformly al q rate OF
so or SO an acre according az they lay
less or more than y miles from a rail-
road. Since July. 1906, the government
has been pricing its coal land according
10 the value OF its contained coal as
shown by appraisement made by the
Geological Survey. The regulations IN
der which appraisals are now made are
given in the bulletin.
The extent Of the work being done IN
der the new regulations IS shown by the
fact that IN 1909 the Geological Survey
fixed prices on 2.5sS.61 acres OF western
public coal lands and classified IoS57.572
acres as noncoal land. All these lands
had been withdrawn from entry by the
Secretary Of the Interior pending their
classification.
The value fixed for the coal lands
classified was S149, 772,4iS: the value
fixed for the same lands before classihca-
ton was S4s,24OS1; that is TO say. if
these lands had been sold at the prices
prevailing before July, 1906, they would
have brought the government about
S100,0Oo,0 900 less than their value at the
prices now fixed.
Prices Regarded Fair.
At first the values placed on some Of
these lands by the surveys biologists
were locally regarded as excessive. but
actual sales madest the prices fixed show
their fairness In the government land
offices in Utah more sales have r cen made
in specific time az the new prices than
were made during a like period at the old
prices.
The Increase in the assessed value Of
the lands IS only one Of the advantages
gained by this work, for new methods
and new standards have been established
which give accuracy and stability to the
prices Of public coal lands and afford
security TO their lessees or purchasers
One Of the reasons for the Increase in the
number OF sales is undoubtedly greater
confidence in the fairness Of the prices as
determined by competent government
experts.
The report quotes Secretary Bauinger's
recommendations for leasing the public
coal lands and contains many facts that
rather than selling.