The new era., 1910-01-27

| that lands should be claSSined accord
| ing to their principal value use This
| ought to be done by that department
whose force is best adapted to that
| work 1t should be done by the inter
| TOR department through the geological
| survey Much of confusion. fraud, and
contention which has existed in the
present has arisen from the lack OF
| an official and determinative classifi-
| cation of the public lands and their
contents.
1t is now proposed to dispose OF ag
riCultural lands as such. and at the
| same time to reserve for other disposi-
| tion the treasure of coal. oil ashphal-
| tum. natural gas and phosphate con
| tanned therein. This may be best ac-
| complished by separating the right
| to mine from the title to the surface,
giving the necessary use of SO much or
| the latter may he required for the
extraction of the deposits. The sur
| face might he disposed of as agricul-
| tural land under the general agricul-
| tural statutes. while the coal or other
| mineral could he disposed Of by lease
| on n ROYALTY basis. with the provisions
| requiring a certain amount of develop
ment each year: and in order to pre-
vent the use and cession of said lands
| with others of similar character so as
| to constitute monopoly forbidden by
| law. the lease should contain suitable
| provision subiecting to forfeiture the
| interest OF persons participating IN
| such monopoly. Such law should ap-
| ply TO AldSkd as wen W 'he Shi'Sb
| States.
Statute Difficult to Frame.
It is exceedingly difficult to frame
| a statute to retain government control
over property to be developed by
private capital in such n 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 necessary
/ by laws that really only expert
| F,-r, tIatF t,r1
teal operation what is the best
| method of securing the result aimed at
The extent of the value OF phosphate
is hardly realized and with the need
| that there will be for 1t as the years
roll on and the necessity for fertilz-
ing the land shall become more acute,
this will be product which will prob
ably attract the greed of monopolists.
Public Land Along Streams.
with respect to the public land
which lies along the streams Offering
opportunity to convert water power
into transmissible electricity. another
important phase of the public land
question is presented. There are VAL
liable water power sites through an
the public land states. The opinion
is held that the transfer of sovereignty |
from the federal government to the |
territorial governments as they become |
states included the water power in |
the rivers except so far as that owned |
by riparian proprictors. l do not |
think it necessary to go into discussion
of this somewhat mooted question of |
law. It seems to me sufficient to say |
that the man who owns and controls |
the land along the stream from which |
the power is to be converted and trans
mitted owns land which is indispens |
BILE to the conversion and use of that |
power. | cannot conceive how the |
power in streams flowing through pub |
lie lands can be made available at all |
except by using the land itself as the |
site for the construction of the plant |
by which the power is generated and |
converted and securing a right of way |
thcreover for transmission lines. I'm |
der these condition. II the government |
owns the adjacent land-ndeed. IL the |
government is the riparian owner-it |
may control the use of the water power |
by imposing proper conditions on the |
disposition of the land necessary in the |
creation and utilization of the water |
Value of Water Power.
The development in electrical appli- |
ances for the conversion Of the water
power into electricity to be transmitted |
long distances has progressed so far that
1t is no longer problematical. but 1t is
certain Inference that in the future the
power of the water falling in the streams
to a large extent will take the place of
natural fuels. In the disposition of the
domain already granted, many water
power sites have come under absolute
ownership. and may drift into one own
ership so that all the water power under
private ownership shall be monopoly
IT, however, the water power sites now
owned by the Eovernment-and there are
enough OF them-shall be disposed Of to
private persons for the Investment of
their capital in such a way as to prevent
their union for purposes of monopoly |
with other water power sites, and under
conditions that shall limit the right of use
to not exceeding thirty years with renewal
privileges and some equitable means OF
fixing terms of rental and with proper
means for determining reasonable grad
uated rental. it would seem entirely pos
sible to prevent the absorption of these
most useful lands by power monopoly.
AS long as the government retains con-
troll and can prevent their improper union
with other plants. competition must be
maintained and prices kept reasonable.
Soils Must Be Conserved.
In considering the conservation of the
natural resources of the country, the fea-
ture that transcends all others. including
woods, waters. minerals is the soil of the
country. 1t is incumbent upon the gov
ernment to foster by all available means
the resources OF the country that produce
the food of the people. To this end the
conservation of the soils of the country
should be cared for with all means at the
governments disposal Their productive
powers should have the attention of our
scientists that we may conserve the new
soils improve the old soils. drain wet
soils ditch swamp soils, levee river over
flow soils grow trees on thin soils. pas
ture hillside soils, rotate crops all
soils. discover methods for cropping dry
land soils. find grasses and legumes for
all soils. feed grains and mill feeds on
the farms where they originate that the
soils from which they come may be en-
riched
A work of the utmost Importance to in
form and instruct the public on this chief
branch OF the conservation OF our re-
sources is being carried successfully
in the department OF agriculture: but 1t
ought not to escape public attention that
state action in addition to that OF the de-
partment of agriculture (as for instance
in the drainage of swamp lands) Is es-
sential to the best treatment OF the soils
in the manner above Indicated.