Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1910-09-08

that the Pacific slope should be given the
benefit Of the comparatively cheap coal
of fine quality which can be furnished at
a reasonable price from these fields; but
the public. through the government
ought certainly 10 retain a wise control
and interest in these coal deposits. and I
think it may do so safely if congress viii
authorize the granting OF leases. as al
ready suggested for government coal
lands in the United States, with provi-
sions forbidding the transfer of the
leases except with the consent of the
government, thus preventing their acouf-
sition by combination or monopoly and
upon limitations as to the area to be in
Guided in any one lease to one individual
and at a 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 Of
| course such leases should contain condi-
tons 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.
Oil and Gas Lands.
In the last administration there were
withdrawn from agricultural entry 2820-
600 acres of supposed oil land in Califor-
mia; about a million and a half acres in
Louisiana, Of which only $500 acres
undpprODTla-
ted land 1900 acres in Oregon and ia
| 600 acres in Wyoming. making a total of
nearly 100000 acres. In September, 1903,
I directed that all public oil lands
| whether then withdrawn or not, should
| be withheld from disposition pending CON
| gressionaI action, for the reason that the
existing placer mining law although
made applicable to deposits of this char
acter. is not suitable to such lands, and
| for the further reason that it seemed de-
sirable to reserve certain fuel-oil deposits
for the use of the American navy. Ac-
cordingly the form of all existing with
drawals was changed. and new with
| dTawals aggregating 2,750,000 acres were
made in Arizona, California, Colorado,
| New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Field
| examinations during the year showed
| that of the original Withdrawals, 2,170-
| 600 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 1, 1910, the outstanding with
drawals then amounted to 4,550,000 acres
The needed oil and gas law is essential
ly a leasing law. In their natural occur
renee, oil and gas 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
transportable 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 effect a plan successfully operated in
private contracts Why should not the
government as a landowner deal directly
with the oil producer rather than through
the intervention Of a mddleman 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 prospective
large consumer of oil by reason 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 to be in
a common reservoir, or series of reser-
voirs, communicating through the oil
sands, 50 that the excessive draining of
oil at one we'll, or on the railroad terri
tory generally, would exhaust the oil in
the government land. Hence it is i'm
portant that if the government is to have
its share of the oil it should begin the
opening of wells on its own property.
1t has been suggested, and l believe the
suggestion to be a sound one, that per
mits be issued to 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
no aNi6 nv a WI
pays a small sum. When the oil is dis
covered, then he acquires title to a GER
tain tract, much in the same way he
would acquire title under a mining law.
OF course if the system of leasing is
adopted then he would be given the
benefit of a 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
tials to plant growth, the other elements
being nitrogen and potash Of these
three, phosphorus is by all odds the
scarcest element in nature. It is easily
extracted in useful form from the phos-
phate rock and the United States con-
tains the greatest known deposits of this
rock in the world. They are found in
Wyoming, Utah and Florida, as we'll as
in South Carolina, Georgia and Tennes-
see. The government phosphate lands are
confined to Wyoming, Utah and Florida.
Prior to March 4, 1909, there were 1000 900
acres withdrawn from agricultural entry
in the ground that the land covered phos-
plate rock. Since that time, 2,322, 900 acres
of the land thus withdrawn was found
not to contain phosphate in profitable
quantities, while 1,67S, 900 acres was CLASH
fed properly phosphate lands. During
this administration there has been with
drawn and classified 437, 900 acres, so that
today there is classified as phosphate rock
land 2,115, 600 acres. This rock is most
important in the composition of fertilizers
to improve the SOIL and as the future is
certain to create an enormous demand
throughout this country for fertilization,
the value to the public of such deposits
as these can hardly be exaggerated. Ger
tainly with respect to these deposits
careful policy of conservation should be
followed. A law that would provide
leasing system for the phosphate depos-
it's, together with a 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 agri-
cultural lands of the west. If it IS
thought desirable to discourage the expor-
tation of phosphate rock and the saving
of it 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
of the lands in which the phosphate is
deposited it could impose conditions upon
the kind of sales, whether foreign or do
nestle which the lessees might make of
the phosphate mined.
Water-PoWer Sites.
Prior to March T. 1909, there had been,
on the recommendation of the reclama-
ton service, withdrawn from agricultural
entry because they were regarded as
useful for water-power sites which ought
not to be disposed of agricultural lands
tracts amounting to about four million
acres. The Withdrawals were hastily
made and included a great deal of land
that was not useful for power sites
They were intended to include the power
sites on % rivers in nine states Since