Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1910-09-08

Il N.NNL wv AIN. AA--4fNWAII VI W|NtA| w W.
an ACRE IN my judgment 4 u eepentin
IN the proper development Of ALASKA thai
these coal lands should be opened. and
| that the Pacifc alope should b given thi
/ benefit Of the comparatively cheap Goa
| Of fine quality which can be Furnished Al
q reasonable price from theae nelds; bui
| the public through tho government
ought certainly TO retain a Wise control
| and interest IN these coal deposita. and
\ think Il may 40 80 pafclyif congress VIII
| aufhoriSc the granting Of leases, a. a..
ready suggested for government coal
| lands IN the United States. with provll
| sions forbiddine the transfer OF the
| IeaseD except with the consent Of thu
| government. thus preventing their acqui-
| aition BY d combination OF monopoly and
upon limitations as 10 the area to be In
lciuded IN any one lease to one Individual
| and at q certain moderate rental with
royalties upon the coal mined proper
toned to the market value Of the coal
either at Seattle or at San Francisco. u
course such leases should contain condi-
tions requiring the erection Of proper
plants. the proper development BY mod
ern mining methods Of the properties
leased, and the use Of every known and
practical means and device for saving the
life Of the miners
Oh and Gas Lands.
IN the last administration there were
withdrawn from Agricultural entry ESQ, !
900 acreu Of supposed OIL land N Califor-
mia; about 4 million and half acres IN
Louisiana. Of which only 500 acres
were known to be vacant uneppropria-
ted land: 1900 acres in Oregon and M
900 acres IN Wyoming, making q total Of
-. A eans Tn Cor1fofnhnP 1000
directed that all public oil lands,
whether then withdrawn Or not should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 10 such lands, and
for the further reason that II seemed de-
sirable to reserve certain fiel-oil deposits
for the use OF the American navy. Ac-
cordingiy5the form OF all existing with
drawais was changnd- and new with
drawaIs aggregating z.75OO00 acres wete
made in Arizona, California, Colorado,
New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Field
examinations during the year showed
tlht Of the original Withdrawals, 2,170,-
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. so
that July 4, 1910. the outstanding With
drawals then amounted to 1850, 900 acres.
The needed oil and gas law is essential
" a leasing law In their natural occur
renee, oil and gaa cannot be measured IN
terms OF acres, like coal. and It follows
that exclusive title to these products can
normally be secured only after they reach
the surface. Oil should be disposed Of as
a commodity In terms Of barrels Of
transportabIe product rather than In
acres Of real estate. This Is Of course,
the reason for the practically universal
adoption OF the leasing system wherever
oil land is IN private ownership. The
government thus would not be entering
on an experiment, but simply putting
into etfect plan successfully operated in
private contracts. Why should not the
government as landowner deal directly
with the oil producer rather than through
the intervention Of middleman to whom
the government gives title TO the land?
The principal underlying feature Of
such legislation should be the exercise Of
beneficial control rather than the collec-
ton OF revenue. As not only the largest
owner OF oil lands, but as a prospective
large consumer Of oil by5feason Of the
increasing use Of fuel oil BY the navy,
the federal government is directly con-
cerned both In encouraging rational de-
velopment and at the same time insuring
the longest possible life to the oil sup
ply.
One OF the difficulties presented, espe-
cially in the California fields, Is that the
Southern Pacific railroad owns every
other section Of land In the oil field
and in those fields the oil seems 10 be In
a common reservoir, or series Of reser-
yoirs. communicating through the oil
sands SO 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 1t is i'm
portant that II the government is to have
its share Of the oil II should begin the
opening Of wells on its own property.
1t has been suggested, and | believe the
suggestion TO be q Sound one, that per-
mits be issued to q prOspector for oil |
giving him the right to prospect for two
years over a certain tract Of government |
land for the discovery Of OIL the right to
be evidenced by a license for which he
RAYS small sum When the oil is dis
covered, then he acquires title to q GER
tain tract, much IN the same way as he
would acquire title under a mining law
OF course II the system Of leasing is
adopted, then he would be given the
benefit Of lease upon terms like that
above suggested. What has been said In /
respect 10 oil applies also to government
gas lands
Phosphate Lands.
phosphorus - one Of the three essen
tials to plant growth, the other elements
being nitrogen and potash. OF these
three. phosphorus IS by all odds the
scarcest element IN nature 1t Is easily
extracted In useful form from the phos-
phate rock. and the United States cons
tains the greatest known deposits Of this
rock In the world. They are found In
wyoming, Utah and Florida, as Wen as
In South Carolina, Georgia and Tennes-s
see. The government phosphate lands are
confined 70 Wyoming, Utah and Florida.
Prior IA, March 4 1902 there were 4'eOoVou
acres withdrawn from agricultural entry
In the ground that the land covered phos-
phate rock. Since that time, 2,s2zVQO acres
81 the land thus withdrawn was found
not to contain phosphate IN profitable
while 1878 900 acres was ciaasi-
hed properly as phosphate lands Durin9
this administration there haa' been with
arawn and classified $4,000 acres. 80 that
today there Is classified as phosphate rock
land 2ilb.O1o acres. This rock s most
in The composition OF fertilizers
q improve the soil. ahd AZ the future is
certain 70 create an enormous demand
throughout thla country for fertilization.
he value 70 the public Of such deposits
u these can hardly be exAEeeraied- Ger
lainlv with respect 70 these deposits
careful policy OF conservation should ne
followed. A law that would provide
leasing system for the phosphate depos-
Ia. together With a provision for the sep
iratlon Of the surface and mineral rishts /