The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1910-09-10

riculture and to reserve the ownership
| in the coal to the government. The ques-
ton which remains to be considered 10
whether the existing law Tor the sale Of
the coal In the ground should continue
In force or be repealed and q new method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 hxed 10
upon estimated amount OF the tons
OF coal per acre beneath the surface. and
the prices are hxed % that the earnings
will only be q reasonable profit upon the
amount paid and the Investment neces-
| sary. But. of course. this 10 more less
Euesswork. and the government parts
with the ownership OF tho coal In the
ground absolutely. Authorities OF the &C.
illogical survey estimate that In the
United States today there N . supply Of
| about three thousand billions OF tons OF
coal and tha. of this one thousand billions
are in the pu bic domain. OF course. the 9TH
| er two thousand billions are within private
ownership and under no more control az
to the use 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 It's
leases like those which are now imposed
by the owners in fee Of coal mines In the
various coal regions of the east. then II
would retain over the disposition Of the
of the lease. or of resuminG possession at
the end of tho term Of the lease. which
might easily be framed to enable It to
exercise a limited but effective control
in the disposition and safe 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 proper development and
opening up Of the coal resources. I ven
yrr 70 iNer ar.fr thfa ViA~
The question as to how great an area
ought TO be included in . lease to one
individual or corporation. 10 not free from
difficulty but In view OF the fact that
the government retains control a. owner.
think there might be some liberality 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 tho 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 tho
hight to transfer the lease except by the
written permission OF the governmental
authorities. It may withhold the needed
consent when It Is proposed to transfer
the leasehold TO persons interested in es-
tablishing a monopoly of coal production
in any state or neigh borhood. 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 a good
one and can be made. The change 10 in
the interest of conservation. and am
glad to approve II.
Alaska Coal Lands.
The investigation of the geological sur
vey show that the coal properties in
Alaska about 200 sluare miles
and that there are known 20 be available
about Is. 900 COO. 900 tons This Is, however.
an underestimate of the coal in Alaska,
because further developments will prob
ably increase this amount many times;
but we say with considerable Ger
tainty 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 about nifty miles and
in tho other case Of about $50 miles
which will afford certainly 5000 900 Yo
tons of coal. more than half OF which 10
of a very high grade Of bituminous nd
OF anthracite. It IL estimated to be worth
in the ground. one-haf cent ton.
which makes Its value per acre from 80
to $500. The coking-co lands of Penn
sylvania are worth from 1870 to s. 90 an
acre. while other Appalachian fields are
worth from SO to $2s6 an acre and tho
fields in the central states from 80 to
81 coo acre, and in the Rocky noun
tains $40 to $500 an acre The demand for
coal on the Pacific coast Is for about
4.5.O, 900 tons a year. 1t would encounter
the competition of cheap fuel oil, Of
which the equivalent of l2.oon.eo tons Of
coal a year Is used there. II is estimated
that the coal could be laid down at Sc
attic or San Francisco. = high-grade BIZ
luminous. at - ton and anthracite At
IS or S a ton. The price Of coal on the
Pacific slope varies greatly from time to
time in the year and from year to year
from 81 to sl2 ton. With 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 rold
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.
on November u. 1905. President Roose-
v.lt issued executive order with
drawing all coal lands from location and
entry in Alaska. On May is. lap7 he
modified the order so as to permit valid
locations made prior to the withdrawal
on November u, 1896 to proceed to entry
and patent. Prior to that date Some 900
claims had been filed, most OF them said
to be Illegal because either made fra udu-
lently by dummy entrymen in the inter-
est OF individual or corporation or
because Of agreements made prior TO To-
cation between the applicants to Cooperate
in developing the lands There are a
claims for $50 acres each. known as tho
Cunningham claims" which are claimed
to be valid on the ground that they were
made by attorney for % different
and bona fide claimants who A
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 office have attacked the validity Of
| these Cunningham claims on the ground
| that prior to their location there was an
| understanding between the claimant. ia