Los Angeles herald., 1910-10-01

two months after the withdrawal
order had been issued by the sec
retary of the interior.
1t would be interesting to know
what disposition was made of these
lands; whether they have found
their way into the hands OF the
large corporations, and IL so, what
the locator or locators received IN
exchange for them.
/ do not know whether the claims
to which have referred were held
by the gun men employed by To-
Gators or their successors in inter-
est, but it is matter of common
knowledge that large tracts of
government land were taken pos
session of and held by force, the
prize going to the man or corpora
ton able to hire the largest num-
Der of guns, and l rather suspect
that these are the men who want
the present law, with probably
some slight notifications, to con-
tinue in force for the benefit of the
poor prospector.
When the secretary of the inte-
rior issued the withdrawal order
on September q of last year,
large number Of those engaged in
the oil business regarded the order
as valid, binding and proper in ev-
cry way, and because of that re-
Trained from filing or entering
upon any of the withdrawn lands.
Other men engaged in the oil bus
mess took a different view of the
matter and went forward making
locations and beginning work on
the withdrawn lands the same as II
the order had not been issued. They
claimed that the secretary of the in
terror had no power to legally
withdraw these lands; that they
had just as good a right to them
as if the withdrawal order had
never been made.
RIGHTS OF OIL LAND OWNERS
have taken no legal advice in
the matter, but do not agree with
them. The secretary of the interior
has for years been withdrawing
lands of all kinds from entry and
his right to do so has never been
questioned. 1t is hard for the lay
man to understand how, if the sec
retary of the interior has had the
right all these years to withdraw
coal lands, timber lands and water
power sites from entry, he should
not also have the right to withdraw
oil lands from entry when in his
judgment the public welfare made
1t necessary. The courts may sus-
tain those taking the opposite
view, but their position Is not log
ical when they assume that the first
duty of every man engaged in the
oil business is to get back of them
and support them in their attempt
to hold the withdrawn lands of
which they have taken possession.
If they hold these lands properly
and legally, changing conditions un-
der which the oil lands shall be
disposed of in the future could in
no way affect their rights. If they
do not hold thees lands properly
and legally, they are not entitled
to them and should not be assist
ed in their efforts to retain them,
and this without regard to how
much work they have done or how
much money they have spent on
the withdrawn lands.
l can assure these men there is
no inclination on the part of any
one to deprive them of what is
rightfully theirs, but there Is a
very strong disposition on the part
of a great many to have the gov
ernment take whatever action is
necessary to restore to the public
domain lands that are being wrong
fully and Illegally held by private
interests.
The large companies operating in
California fields are opposed to any
radical change in the law, because
they say it would prevent the poor
man or the man of small means
from going into the business. Some
of their representatives talk ear
nestly about the rights of the man
who goes out and tolls in the sun
and makes the discovery of oil de-
posits and how outrageous 1t would
be If he were deprived of the op-
portunity to secure the reward his
efforts and his sufferings entitled
him to.
LAND ADJOURNMENT DETECTS
I wish to say that there probably
has been no undeveloped territory
in the state brought to the atten-
tion of the real operators by any,
one who has been engaged on his
own account in. the sort of work
described Probably 95 per cent of
the locators of oil lands have taken
oping 1t, but of simply placing
themselves in a position where they
could demand of the man who did
want to develop a money considera-
tion for that privilege. Further
than that, most of the land locat-
ed and disposed of by these men,
who are not operators in any sense
OF the word, has been taken by
them as closely as possible either
to producing territory or to wells
being drilled by others, which, If
successful, would make the prop
erty they were holding valuable.
There are men in this state who
have become rich in this manner,
and that without having risked one
dollar of their own in developing
new oil territory.
The men who locate in this way,
for the purpose of selling, usually
go to the big producing companies
with their holdings when they wish
to dispose of them. For that rea-
tho nefnnt hns hnn1n limo thn