The new era., 1910-09-15

lands IN th0 Uniteo 6t3tess WIN pSVVa-
sions forbidding the transfer Of the
leases except with the consent Of the
government. thus preventing their aoaui-
sition by q combination or monopoly and
upon limitations a. to the area to BE- In
cluded In any one lease to one individual
royalties upon the coal mined proper
toned to ths market value of the coal
either At Seattle Or at San Francisco. OF
course such leases should contain oondi-
tions requiring the erection Of proper
plants the proper dsvsloDmsnt ~ mod
srn mining methods Of the properties
leased. and the use Of evsry known and
practical means and device fsr saving the
life Of the miners
OH and Gas Lands.
In the last administration there were
withdrawn from Agricultural entry Ae3o.-
900 acres Of supposed OIL land IN califer-
MIA; about . million and . half acres In
Louisiana Of which only 900 acres
were known to Be vacant unappropria-
ted land 5000 acres In Oregon and i7%.-
900 acres in Wyoming. making total Of
nearly 100000 acrss. In September. 1soe.
whether then Withdrawn or not. should
be withheld from disposition pending CON-
gressional action, for the reason that the
existing placer mining law. although
made applicable to deposits Of, this char
acter. 10 not suitable to sueh lands. and
sirabls to reserve certain fusl-oil deposits
for the use Of the American navy. 40
cordingly the form Of all existing with
drawals was changed. ana new with
drawals aggrsgatins $4,000 acres were
made in Arisona, California, Colorado.
examinations during the year showed
that Of the original Withdrawals. 1.l7e.-
900 acres were not valuable for oil. and
they were restored for agricultural entry.
Meantime. other Withdrawals Of public
oil lands In these states were made. 20
that July 1, 1s1o the outstanding With
drawals then amounted to 4.650,ooo acres.
The needed oil and gas law 10 essential
ly leasing law. In their natural occur
renee, oil and gas cannot be measured In
terms Of acres. like coal. and 1t follow
that exclusive title to those products can
normally be secured only after they reach
the surface. OIL should be disposed of a.
commodity in terms of barrels Of
transportable product rather than In
acres of real estate. This 10. Of course.
the reason for the practically universal
adoption of the leasing system wherever
oil land 10 in private ownership. The
government thus would not be entering
on an experiment. but simply putting
into effect . plan successfully operated In
private contracts. Why should not the
With the oil producer rather than through
the Intervention Of . middleman to whom
the government gives title to the land?
Tho principal underlying feature of
such legislation should be the exercise of
beneficial control rather than the colfec-
ton of revenue. As not only the largest
owner Of oil lands. but a. q prospective
large consumer Of OH by reason OF the
Increasing use Of fuel oil by the navy.
the federal government 10 directly con-
cerned both in encouraging rational de-
velopment and at the same time insuring
49, tO hA all
ply.
One Of the difficulties presented. espe-
cially in the California fields. II that the
Southern Pacific railroad owns every
other section OF land in the oil neld.
and in those nslds the oil seems to be In
Q common reservoir, or series Of reser-
voirs. communicating through the oil
sands, 70 that the excessive draining Of
oil at one well, or on the railroad terri-
tory generally. would exhaust the oil In
the government land. Hence II = Inn
portant that II the government 10 to have
its share of the oil It should begin the
opening of wells on Its own property.
II has been suggested. and believe the
suggestion to be . sound one, that per-
mits be issued to, 4 prospector for oil
giving him the right to prospect for two
years over q certain tract OF government
land for the discovery Of oil. the right to
b evidenced by . license for which he
pays q small sum. When the oil II dis
covered. then he acquires title to . GER
tain tract, much in the same way as he
would acquire title under . mining Jaw.
OF course II the system Of leasing II
adopted, then he would be given tho
benent of lease upon terms like that
above suggested. What has been said in
respect to oil applies also to government
gas lands
Phosphate Lands.
Phosphorus is one of the three essen
%hA Nkh Ala
being nitrogen and potash. OF these
three, phosphorus 10 by all odds the
scarcest element in nature. It IL easily
extracted in useful form from the phos-
phate rock, and the United States con-
tains the greatest known deposits Of this
wy >ming, Utah and Florida. as well as
In ,,outh Carolina, Georgia and Tennes-
see. The government phosphate lands are
confined to Wyoming. Utah and Florida.
Prior to March 4. 1909. there were 100000
acres withdrawn from agricultural entry
in the ground that the land covered phos-
phate rock Since that time. 2a22. 900 acres
of the land thus withdrawn was found
not to contain phosphate in profitable
quantities while 1.S7S. 900 acres was classi-
this administration there has been with
drawn and classified 900 acres. SO that
today there Is classified as phosphate rock
land 2.115.o0o acres This rock 10 most
important in the composition OF fertlixers
to improve the soil, and AZ the future Is
certain to create an enormous demand
throughout this country for fertilization.
the value to the public of such deposits
a. these can hardly be exaggerated. Ger
tainly with respect to these deposits .
careful policy of conservation should be
followed. law that would provide .
leasing system for the phosphate depos-
its, together with = provision for the sep
aration of the surface and mineral rights
as is already provided for in the case Of
coal would seem to meet the need of
promoting the development of these de-
posits and their utilization In the Igri-
cultural lands of the west. II It 70
thought desirable to discourage the expor-
tation of phosphate rock and the saving
of 1t for our own lands, this purpose
could be accomplished by conditions in
the lease granted by the government to
its lessees. OF course. under the consti-
tuition the government could not tax
and could not prohibit the expectation of
phosphate. but as proprietor and owner