The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1910-09-06

BIER 6. 1910.
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amount OF the tons OF coal per acre
beneath the surface, and the prices are
Fixed 80 that the earnings will only be
reasonable profit upon the amount
paid and the investment necessary.
But. OF course. this is more or less
guesswork, and the government parts
with the ownership OF the coal In the
ground absolutely.
Authorities OF the geological survey
estimate that In the United States to-
day there Is a supply OF about three
thousand billions OF tons OF coal and
that Of this one thousand billions are
ia the public domain. OF course the
other two thousand billions are within
private ownership and under no more
control as 70 the use or the prices at
which the coal may be sold than any
other private property.
IL the government leases the coal
lands and acts as any landlord would
and imposes conditions IN its leases
like those which are now imposed by
the owners In fee Of coal mines in the
various coal regions Of the east. then IT
would retain over the disposition OF
the coal deposits a choice as 70 the as
signee OF the lease. power Of resum-
Ing possession at the end Of the term
Of the lease or OF readiusting terms At
fixed periods Of the lease. which might
easily be framed to enable It to exer-
else limited but effective control in
the disposition and sale Of the coal to
the public.
II has been urged that the leasing
system has never been adopted In this
country and that its adoption would
largely interfere with the investment
Of capital and the proser development
and opening up OF the coal resources.
venture 10 differ entirely from this
view.
AustraIia's Plan.
! have looked with some care into
report made a. the instance Of Pres
ldent Roosevelt upon the disposition
Of coal lands In Australia. Tasmania
and New Zealand. These are peculiar
" mining countries. and their expert
ence ought 20 be most valuable. In
NJ these countries the method for the
disposition and opening OF coal mines
originally owned by the government Is
by granting leasehold and not by
granting an absolute title.
The terms OF the leases run all the
way from twenty TO City years. while
the amount OF land which may be
leased to any individual there is from
BOO acres to 1000 acres. 1t appears
that full examination was made and
the opinions Of all the leading experts
on the subject were solicited and Civ
en- and that with one accord they ap-
proved in all respects the leasing sys-
TEN.
Its success IS nbundantly shown. II
is possible that az frst considerable
latitude win have to be given to the
executive in drafting these forms of
lease. but as soon as experiment shall
show which is the most workable and
practicable SIS use should be provided
for specifically BY statute.
The question as TO how great an
area ought to be included IN a lease
10 ono individual or corporation is not
free from difficulty, but IN view OF the
fact that the government retains con
troll ms owner | think there might be
some liberality In the amount leased
and that $500 acres would not be
too great a maximum.
Alaska Coal Lands.
The Investigations of the geological /
survey show that the Goa. properties
in Alaska cover about Zoo square
miles and that there are known to be
available about 15.000O00,o00 tons.
This is. however, an underestimate Of
the coal In Alaska. because further de-
will probably Increase this
amount many times, but we can say
with considerable certainty that there
are two fields on the Pacific slope
which can be reached by railways AT a
reasonable cost from deep water-in
one case of about fifty miles and in
the other case Of about 100 miles
which will afford certain 6,000,000,O00
tons Of coal. more than half of which
is Of a very high grade of bituminous
and Of anthracite.
1t is estimated to be worth In the
ground one half cent ton, which
makes its value per acre from $50 to
$500. The coking coal lands Of Penn
sylvania are worth from $500 to $1,000
m acre, while other Appalachian fields
nre worth from $40 TO $3.50 an acre,
and the fields In the central states
from $40 to $1,000 an acre, and In the
Rocky mountains $40 to $500 an acre.
The demand for coal on the Pacific
coast is for about 100000 tons a year.
It would encounter the competition OF
cheap fuel oil, Of which the equivalent
Of 12000,000 tons of coal year are
used there
1t is estimated that the coal could be
aid down at Seattle or San Francisco,
/ high grade bituminous, at 81 ton
and anthracite at SIS or So ton. The
price Of coql on the Pacific slope va
lies greatly from time to time In the
year and from year to ycar-from $4
% $12 ton. With a regular coal sup
ply established, the expert Of the geo
ogical survey, Mr.. Brooks, who has
made a report on the subject, does not
think there would be an excessive
profit In the Alaska coal mining, be-
,ause the price at which the coal could