The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-09-06
THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE TUESDAY

OF lessor to lessee furnishes. The change
from the absolute grant TO the Leasing
system will involve a good deal OF trou-
bic in the outset, and The training OF eS-
leases but the change will be good
one and can be made, The change II
In the interest OF conservation ana
am glad to approve IL.
Alaska Coal Lands.
The Investigations Of the geological sur
vey show that the coal properties III
Alaska cover about 1900 square mlles'
and that there are known TO be aVail-
able about fifteen billion tons. rms H.
however an underestimate OF the coal IN
Alaska. because further developments
Will probably increase this amount many any
times, but We can say with considerable
certainty that there are two fields on the
Pacific slope which can he reached py
railways at n reasonable cost from deep
| In tho other case OF about loo IilSsw ImSa,,
| which will afford certainly six billion
tons Of coal more than half OF whiea men
Is Of a very high grade. Of bituminous ana lifi
Of anthracite 1t is estimated TO be worth
In the ground one-half cent Ton
which makes It's value per acre from aoo
sylvania are worth from $500 to $1,000 an
| acre, while other Appalachian helds are
worth from SO to 1886 an acre and the
fields In the central states from $40 20
$4,000 an acre and In the Rocky noun,
| tains $40 to $500 acre The demand
for coal on the Pacific coast is for about
the competition of cheap fuel oil. of which
the equivalent of IL. .000. 900 tons of coal
a year Is used there. 1t is estimated ina.
the coal could be laid down at Seattle ns OF
at 81 ton and anthracite at SO or 80
a ton. The price of coal on the Paclnc
In the year and from year to yearIfrom
"a to sl2 q ton. With a regular coal sup
ply established. the expert OF the geo
| logical survey, Mr.. Brooks. who has MADE
rnrt~ hn cIrh
| there would be an excessive proflt IN tne
| Alaska coal mining because the price az
which tho coal could be sold Woul3 91,, po
considerably lowered by competition from
these fields and by the presence OF cruae
fuel oil. The history OF the laws affect
ing the disposition OF Alaska coal lanas ,,is
! Speaking Of them. MIR. Brooks says:
Expert on Alaskan Lands.
THE first act. passed June 6. 1900,
! simply extended to Alaska the provisions
of the coal-land laws In the United states;
The law was ineffective, for II proviaea
that only subdivided lands could be taken
up. and there were then no land surveys
In Alaska, The matter was rectlfled ny
the act OF April rs. 1904 which permitted
unsurveyed lands to be entered and the
| surveys to be made at the expense OF
the entrymen. Unfortunately, the law
provided that only tracts OF l6o acres
was given TO the fact that II was I'm,
practicable TO develop an Isolated coal
| field requiring the expenditure or large
amount OF money by such small units;
| Many claims were staked, however and
! surveys were made for patents. II was
recognized by everybody familiar with
the conditions that after patent was OBJ
tained these claims would be combined
| in tracts large enough TO assure success
ful mining operations. No one expert
enced In mining would. Of course. con
| slider IL feasible to open coal field on lne
| basis of single 160-acre tracts. Inc
claims for the most part were handled
| in groups. for which one agent represent
ed the several different owners I'm
| fortunately. a strict Interpretation OF the
statute raised the question whether even
| n tacit understanding between claim own
obtained was not illegal. Remedial legis-
lation was sought and enacted In the
statute Of May 2S. 1908. This law per-
mitted the consolidation OF claims s,aked
previous to November H. 1906. in tracts
OF $500 acres. One clause OF this law
inyalidated the title II any. individual or
corporation at any time In the iutuTe
or indirectly. In more than one tarct. The
purpose of this clause was TO prevent the
monopolization OF coal fields; Its immedl-
ate effect was to discourage capital. II
was felt by many that this clause might
lead TO forfeiture of title through the ac-
cidents OF Inheritance. or might even be
used by the INSCRIPTIONS In blackmail-
ing. II would appear that land taken up
under this law might at any time be for
| feited 10 the government through the
| aCtlOn OF any lDQlVlQual Wno. lnDOCeDlly
or otherwise. obtained interest in more
| than one coal company, Such title
was felt to be too Insecure to warrant the
large invetsmgnts needed for mining I'm de-
that no titles to coal lands have been
| passed"
AS to Illegal Claims.
On November ~. 1906. President Roose
welt Issued an executive order withdraw
Ing all coal lands from location and entry
| In Alaska, On May 16. 1907. he modi
fed the order so as to permit valid loca-
tions made prior to the withdrawal on
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 Interest
! OF one individual or corporation. or be-
cause OF agreements made prior to loca-
| tion between the applicants to Cooperate
In developing the lands. There are thir-
ty-three claims for 160 acres each known
as the cunningham claims which are
| claimed TO be valid on the ground that
they were made by an attorney for thir-
who, IL is alleged, paid their money and
| took the proper steps to locate their en-
tries and protect them, The representa-
| 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
claimants to pool their claims after they
had been perfected and unite them in
one company. The trend of decision
seems TO show that such an agreement
would invalidate the claims. although
| under the subsequent law OF May 2S, 1905
| the consolidation OF such claims was per-
mitted. after location and entry. In tracts
OF 1850 acres. 1t would be, OF course Inn
proper for me to intimate what the re-
suit of the Issue as TO the Cunningham
and other Alaska claims Is likely to be
but IL ought to be distinctly understood
that no private claims for Alaska coal
lands have as yet been allowed or per-
fected, and also that whatever the result
as to pending claims the existing coal
land laws Of Alaska are most unsatisfac-
tory and should be radically amended, To
begin. with, the purchase price of the
land Is flat rate OF $40 per acre. al
though. as we have seen the estimate
of the agent OF the geological survey
would carry UP the maximum Of value
TO $500 an acre. In my judgment II Is es-
sential In the proper development OF
| Alaska that these coal lands should be
| opened, and that the Pacific slope should
be given the benefit of the comparatively
cheap coal Of fine quality which can be
! furnished at reasonable price from these
fields: but the public. through the gov
|