The new era., 1910-09-15

riculture and to reserve tho ownership
| in the coal to the government. The ques-
ton which remains to be considered is
whether the existing law tor the sale of
the coal in the ground should continue
in force or be repealed and . new method
Of disposition adopted. Under the present
law the absolute title in the coal be-
meath the surface passes to the grantee
Of the government. The price nxsd 10
upon an estimated amount Of the tons
Of coal per aero beneath the surface. and
the prices are hxed 20 that tho earnings
will only be . reasonable profit upon the
amount paid and the investment neces-
sary. But. Of course. this IL more or less
gussswork. and the government parts
ground absolutely. Authorities Of the &C.
illogical survey estimate that in the
United States today there 10 = supply Of
about three thousand billions Of tons Of
coal. and that Of this one thousand billions
are in the public domain. OF course. the 9TH
or two thousand billions are within private
Ownership and under no more control as
to the uss or the prices At which the
coal may be sold than any other private
property. II the government leases the
coal lands and acts a. any landlord
would. and imposes conditions In Its
leases like those which are now imposed
by the owners in fec OF coal mines In the
various coal regions Of the east, then It
would retain over the disposition Of the
coal depoaits . choice ~ TO the assignee
Of the lease. or OF rssuming possession at
the end Of the term Of the lease. which
might easily be framed to enable It to
exercise . limited but effective 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 interfere with the investment of
capital and the proper development and
opening up OF the coal resources. ven-
ture to differ entirely from this view.
The question a. to how great An area
ought to be included in lease to ono
individual or corporation. 10 not free from
dimcuity: but in view Of the fact that
the government retains control a. owner.
think there might be some 1ibsrality in
the amount leased. and that $500 acres
would not be too great maximum.
By the opportunity to read1ust the
terms upon which The coal shall be held
by the tenant, either at the end Of each
lease or at periods during the term. the
government may secure the benefit of
sharing in the increased price OF coal and
the additional profit made by the tenant
BY imposing conditions in respect to the
character OF work to Be done in the
mines, the government may control the
character of the development Of the
mines and the treatment OF employees with
reference to safety BY denying the
right to transfer the lease except BY the
authorities. 1t may withhold the needed
consent when Il II proposed to transfer
the leasehold to persons interested In es-
tablishing monopoly Of coal production
in any state or neighborhood The change
from the absolute grant to the Leasing
system will involve . good deal Of
trouble in the outset and the training of
experts in the matter Of making proper
leases; but the change will be good
ono and can be made. The change u in
the interest Of conservation, and am
glad to approve It,
Alaska Coal Lands.
Tho investigation of the geological sur
Alaska cover about 100 square miles.
and that there are known 70 be available
about Is, 900 00o. 900 tons. This IL, however.
an underestimate OF the coal in Alaska,
because further developments will prob
ably increase this amount many times:
but We can say with considerAbls cor
tainty that there are two heldI on the
Pacific slope which can be reached by
railways At reasonable cost from deep
water-in one case about nifty miles and
in the other case Of about 1s0 miles
which will afford certainly e.0oo. 900
tons Of coal. more than half Of which is
of very high grade of bituminous and
Of anthracite. 1t IL estimated to be worth.
in the ground, one-half cent ton.
which makes its value per acre from $50
| to $500. Tho coking-coal lands OF Penn
| sylvania arc worth from $500 to 5000 an
acre. while other Appalachian fields arc
worth from 40 to 1855 an acre. and the
| fields in the central states from so to
s., 900 an acre. and in the Rocky noun
| tains 80 to $500 an acre. The demand for
| coal on the Pacific coast Is for about
100000 tons . year. 1t would encounter
| the competition of cheap fuel oil. Of
| which the equivalent of 900 tons Of
| coal a year II used there. 1t IL estimated
that the coal could Be laid down at Sc
| attic or San Francisco. q hiEh-grade BIZ
| luminous, at n ton and anthracite at
IS or 3s ton. The price of coal on the
| Pacific slope varies greatly from time to
time in tho year and from year to year
| from "a to S12 a ton. With a regular coal
supply established. the expert OF the
| geological survey, Mr. Brooks. who has
made report on the subject. does not
| think there would be an excessive profit
| in the Alaska coal mining because the
| price at which the coal could be fold
| would be considerably lowered by compe-
tition from these fields and by the pres
ence of crude fuel oil. The history of the
laws affecting the disposition Of Alaska
coal lands shows them to need amend
| ment badly.
Welt issued an executive order with
| drawing all coal lands from location and
entry in Alaska. On May is. 1907 he
modified the order 80 as to permit valid
locations made prior to the withdrawal
on November 12, 1906. to proceed to entry
| and patent. Prior to that date some 800
| claims had been filed. most of them said
| to be illegal because either made fraudu-
| lently by dummy entrymen In the inter-
est OF one Individual or corporation, or
| because of agreements made prior to To-
| cation between the applicants to cooperate
In developing the lands. There are sS
| claims for 100 acres each, known as tho
Cunningham claims" which are claimed
to be valid on the ground that they were
made by an attorney for 80 different
and bona fde claimants who, as
alleged. paid their money and took the
| proper steps to locate their entries and
| protect them. The representatives of the
government in the hearings before the
land once have attacked the validity of