The state herald., 1910-09-09

SIS: and down to August, 1910. there were
but II entries. with an area Of LIP acres.
which sold for ess.slo6o making ! dispo-
sition Of the coal lands in the hst two
years Of about 10000 acres for 81. 3D6, ,ooo
| The present congress, - already said,
has separated the surface Of cosl lands.
either classified or withdrawn foS classi-
fcation. from the coal beneath. 70 as to
permit at all times homestead entries
upon the surface Of lands useful for ag-
riculture and to reserve the ownership
In the coal to the government. The ques-
tion which remains to be considered 10
whether the existing law for the sale of
the coal In the ground should continue
In force or be repealed and new method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 fixed is
| upon an estimated amount of the tons
| of coal per acre beneath the surface, and
| the prices are fixed so that the earnings
| will only be reasonable profit upon the
amount paid and the Investment neces-
| sary But, of course, this is more or less
guesswork. and the government parts
with the ownership of the coal in the
| ground absolutely. Authorities of the ge-
illogical survey estimate that in the
United States today there is a supply OF
about three thousand billions of tons OF
coal. and that of this one thousand billions
I
er two thousand billions are within private
ownership and under no more control rs
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 as any landlord
| would. and imposes conditions in Its
| lenses 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
| coal deposits a choice as TO the assignee
| Of the lease. or of resuming possession at
| the end of the term of the lease. which
might easily be framed to enable II to
exercise limited but effective control
In the disposition and safe OF the coal TO
| the public. 1t 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. ven-
| ture to differ entirely from this view.
The question as to how great an area
ought to be included in lease to one
individual or corporation is not free from
| difficulty: but In view Of the fact that
| the government retains control as owner
think there might be some liberality In
| the amount leased. and that $500 acre,
would not be too great a maximum.
BY the opportunity to readjust the
terms upon which the coal shall be held
by the tenant. either at the end of each
lense 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 the
right to transfer the lease except by the
written permission of the governmental
authorities. II may withhold the needed
consent when II is'proposed to transfer
the leasehold to persons Interested In es-
tablishing monopoly of coal production
In any state or neighborhood. The change
from the absolute grant TO the leasing
system will involve a 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 IL 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 cover about 100 saunre miles.
and that there are known 20 be available
about Is. 600 90. 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 can say with considerable GER
tainty that there two fields on the
Pacific slope which can be reached by
railways at n reasonable cost from deep
water-in one case about nifty miles and
In the other ease Of about 10 miles
which viii AFFORD certainly t1p.ooo.oo
tons Of coal more than half OF which Ia
OF very high grade of bitumnous and
s.fa IA s...fN t. asgl
In the ground. one-half cent a ton.
which makes Its value per acre from 80
TO 500. The coling lands Of Penn
sylvania are worth from $500 10 1900 nm
acre. while other Appalachian fields are
worth from SO TO s3ss an acre and the
fields In the central states from SO to
s2.0oo an acre. and In the Rocky noun
tains $40 To 800 an acre. The demand for
coal on the Pacific coast In for about
10000 tons year. II would encounter
the competition of cheap fuel oil. Of
which the equivalent OF i:,co.c.o tons of
coal year IN used there. II Is estimated
that the coal could be laid down ut Sc
attic or San Francisco. a high Erade BIZ
luminous. ut 81 n ton and anthracite at
s. or ~ ton. The price OF coal on the
Pacific slope varies greatly from time to
time In the yenr and from year TO year
from 81 to si2 ton. With n regular coal
supply established. the expert Of the
g"oloslrhl survey MT BROOKS. VINO mas
made n report on the subject, does no,
think there would b. an excessive proft
IN the Alaska coal mining becau-e the
pric. Mt which tn. coal could be sold
would be considerably lowered by compe-
tition from these fields and by tho pres
ence OF erud. fuel oil The history of tho
laws affecting. the disposition Of Alaska
coal lands shows them TO need amend
ment badly.
on November i:. 1905. President Roose-
welt issued an executive order with.
| drawing all coal lands from location and
entry In Alaska. on May 10. 1907. he
modified tho order so ns TO permit valid
| locations mad. prior to the withdrawal
on November u? 1900. TO proceed to entry
| and patent Prior to that date some 80
claims had been 1lei, most Of them said
to be Illegal because either made frnudu.
lentiy by dummy .ntrym-n In the inter
| rst OF one individual or corporation. or
because OF agreements mad. prior TO To-
cation hctween the applicants 10 cooperate
In developing tho lands. Their. are !,
| claims for ico acres each, known aH the
Cunningham claims" which are claimed
10 be valid On the ground that they were
made by nm attorney for n different
|