The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-09-05

been classified and found not to con
tam coal and have been restored IL
agriculural entry, and 4.356.000 acre
nave been classiiedsas coal lands; Will,
19'lSs.O00 acres remain withdrawn from
| entry and await classification. In ad
oltion S36'OOO acres have been classified
| as coal lands without prior withdrawal
thus increasing the classified Goa
ianus TO 1O,168000 acres
Under the laws providing for the dis
position of coal lands. the minimum
price at which lands are permitted tt
De SOLO is $40 an acre; but the secre
tary OF the interior has the power tt
NIX maximum price and to sell at tina
price. BY the first regulations govern.
ing appraisal, approved April 8, 1907
the minimum was $40, as provided by
law, ana the maximum was 500, an6
the highest price actually placed upor
any land sold was SIS. Under the new
regulations, adopted April 10, 1909, the
maximum price was increased to $500
except In regions where there are large
MINES where no maximum limit is fix
ed and the price is determined by the
estimated tons of coal.to the acre. The
highest price fixed for any land under
the regulation has been $608. The ap-
praised value of the lands classified as
coal lands and valued under the new
and old regulations is shown to be as
follows; 4,SO3,92l acres, value under the
old regulation at 81, ga, 239, an average
OF $lS an acre; and 1864, TOP acres class
1ned and valued under the new regula-
ton at 1891, 203, 242, or a total of 10, 1885,
62S acres valued at $471s47,571.
Coal Entries.
For the year ending March 81 1909,
III coal entries We're made, ernbrac cling
an area of 1881 acres, which sold for
1908 For the year ending March
81, 1910, there were 176 entries, embrac-
ing an area of 23,413 acres, which sold
for $608, S13; and down to August, 1910.
of 1,720 acres, which sold for $50, 910.60,
making disposition of the coal lands
in the last two years of about $4,000
acres for s1,305,000.
The present congress. as already
said has separated the surface of coal
lands, either classified or Withdrawn
for classification. from the coal be-
meath, so as to permit at all times
homestead entries upon the surface of
lands useful for agriculture and to re-
serve the ownership in the coal to the
government. The question which re-
mains to be considered is whether the
existing law for the sale of the coal in
the ground should continue in force or
be repealed and a new method of dis
position adopted. Under the present
law the absolute title in the coal be-
meath the surface passes to the gran
tee of the government. The price
fixed is upon an estimated amount of
the tons of coal per acre beneath the
surface, and the prices are fixed so
that the earnings will only be a rea-
sonable 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 geolog-
ical survey estimate that in the United
States today there is supply of about
5000 billions of tons of coal, and that
- r. - ~, k1,a LII IL
domain. OF course, the other 1000 bill
lions are within private ownership and
under no. more control as to the use or
the prices at which the coal may be
sold than any other private property.
If 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 vari-
Gus coal regions of, the east, then it
would retain over the disposition of
the coal deposits a choice as to the
assignee of the lease, a power of re-
Stunning possession at the end cf the.
term of the lease. or of readjusting
terms at fixed periods of the lease,
which might easiIys-bes framed to en-
able it to exercise limited but effec-
tive control in the disposition and sale
of the coal to the public. It has been
urged that the leasing system has
never been adopted in this country,
and that its adoption would largely in
terfere with the investment of capital
and the proper development and open
ing up of the coal resources. 1 ven
ture to differ entirely from this view.
My Investigations show that many
owners of mining property of this
country do not mine it themselves, and
do not invest their money in the
plants necessary for the mining; but
they lease their properties for a term
IF VOC uQrVincr fn thirty
and forty years, under conditions re-
curing the erection of a proper plant
and the investment of a certain
amount of money in the development
of the mines, and fixing a rental and a
royalty, sometimes an absolute figure
and sometimes one proportioned to the
market value of the coal Under this
latter method the owner of the mine
shares in the prosperity of his lessees
when coal is high and the profits good,
and also shares to some extent in their
disappointment when the price of coal
falls.
I have looked with some care into
a report made at the instance of Presi-
dent Roosevelt upon the disposition of
coal lands in Australia. Tasmania and
New Zealand. These are peculiarly
mining countries, and their experience
ought to be most valuable. In all
these countries the method for the dis
position and opening of coal mines
owned by the government is
by granting leaseho1d, and not by
granting an absolute title. The terms
of the leases run all the way from
twenty to fifty years, while the amount
of land which NAV be leased to an in
dividual there is from $40 acres to
900 acres. 1t appears that a full
examination was made and the opin-
ions of all the leading experts on the
subject were solicited and given, and
that with one accord they approved in
all respects the leasing system. Its
success is abundantly shown. 1t is
possible that at first considerable lati-
tude will have to be given to the exec
utive in drafting these forms of lease.
but as soon as experiment shall show
which is the most workable and prac-
ticable. its use should be provided for
specifically by statute.
The question as to how great an
area ought to be included in a lease
to one Individual or corporation, is not