The Carlisle independent., 1910-01-20

l Properly to Classify Lands.
 One of the most pressing needs in 1 the matter of public-land reform is | that lands should be classified accord l ing to their principal value use. This l ought to be done by that or department | whose force is best adapted to that | work. It should be done by the inter 1 for department through the geological ] survey. Much of confusion. fraud. and l contention which has existed in the | present has arisen from the lack of | an official and determinative classif- | cation of the public lands and their l contents
 It Is now proposed to dispose of az ricuItural lands as such and at the 1 same time to reserve for other diSpoSi- 1 tion the treasure of coal. oil. ashphal- l tum. natural gas and phosphate con | tained therein. This may be best ac-
 complished hy separating the right | to mtne from the title to the surface 1 giving the necessary use of so much of | the latter as may be required for the l extraction of the deposits. The sur ] face might he disposed of as agricul- 1 tural land under the general agricul- l turai statutes while the coal or other l mineral could be disposed of by lease 1 on royalty basis. with the provisions | requiring a certain amount of develop 1 ment each year; and in order to pre- l vent the use and cession of said lands i with others of similar character so as i to constitute monopoly forbidden by 1 law. the lease should contain suitable provision subjecting to forfeiture the
 interest of persons participating in 1 such monopoly. Such law should ap- 1 ply to Alaska as well as to the United i States
 Statute Difficult to Frame. It Is exceedingly difficult to frame 1 a statute to retain government control over property to be developed by fp Cp jD a | to secure the governmental purpose and at the same time not frighten away the investment of the necessary capital. Hence. it may be necessary | by laws that are really only expert l mental to determine from their prac- | tical 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 it as the years roll and the necessity for fertiliz- ing tho land shall become more acute, this will be a 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 uable water power sites through all 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 proprietors. 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 indspens- able 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
 thereover for transmission lines. Un-
 der these condition, if the government
 owns the adjacent land--indeed. if 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
 power.
 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
 it is no longer problematlcal, but it is a
 certain inference that in the future the
 power of the water falling in the streams
 to d 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 erShp. so that all the water power under private ownership shall be monopoly. If however, the water power sites now owned by the government-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 A reasonable grad uated rental. 1t would seem entirely pos sible to prevent the absorption of these most useful lands by a power monopoly. As long the government retains con trol and can prevent their improper union with other plants. competition must be maintained and prices kept reasona be.
 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. It Is incumbent upon the gov ernment to foster by all available means tho 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 thin soils pas ture hillside soils, rotate crops on 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 on successfully in the department of agriculture: but it ought not to escape public attention that state action in addition to that or the de- partment of agriculture (as for instance in the drainage of swamp lands) is es- sental to the best treatment of the soils
 in the manner above indicated.
 The act by which, in semi-arid parts O.