Los Angeles herald., 1910-10-16
First Assistant Secretary of Inte-
rior Hears the Arguments of
Prominent Operators
DEVELOPMENT DELAY FEARED
Official Will Examine Facts in
Yard Decision and Visit
California Fields

those who appeared before Frank
Pierce, first assistant secretary of the
interior, yesterday at hearing of the
oil men that the Yard decision, which
among other things holds that one
locator can claim only twenty acres
and cannot dispose of it to another for
development is by far too stringent,
and that immediate legislation should
be enacted to reverse this decision, or
at least modify 1t.
The Yard case, as explained at the
meeting, sustains the old placer law
under which all the claims are located,
but, following in the wake of present
land law reform, goes further and
holds that n full claim of 160 acres
held by eight persons, or claim of
twenty acres if taken up by one per-
son, is all that one party of locators
can legally retain.
AS thousands of locations have been
made under the placer mining law by
only a few persons, either acting
singly or collectively, in the California
oil fields In the past, 1t was the sense
of the majority of the oil men present
at the meeting that such a condition
should continue, for, as they said,
twenty acres in most cases is not
enough to warrant an individual In
expending from $4,000 to $4,000 to put
down a we'll.
on the other hand, concerning that
part of the rtiIing which requires that
the original locator be not permitted
to sell or transfer his holding, the ma
jority of the oil men argued that 1t
would be impossible for development
of government land to proceed.
OPPORTUNITY FOR LOOATORs
The point they made was that in
n1ff nf hlIndrt9d
the locator is too poor to develop the
land he has located, and for that rea-
son Is compelled to turn Ii over on a
royalty, or by sale or lease to another,
or to organize a company for the de-
velopment of the land, which, the oil
men say, has proved the best form OF
development and operation OF an oil
property.
There were present at the meeting,
both at the morning and afternoon ses-
sions, about $50 oil men, and upward
of thirty were heard by Judge Pierce
There will be another hearing at 10
O'Clock tomorrow morning, at which
the legal side of the Yard case will be
discussed by prominent attorneys, in
Guiding Judge Linley of San Fran
cisco and Judge Frank H. Short Of
Fresno. The list of local attorneys has
not been made up, but the discussion
will be open to all lawyers familiar
with the Yard decision and conditions
in California as affected by this and
other recent rulings Of the interior
department.
Judge Pierce, at the opening of the
meeting, said that during the summer
and spring of this year the department
was besieged with correspondence from
California oil men, and that 1t was
deemed advisable to send a represen-
tative of the interior department here
to have a series of talks and ascertain
first hand just what they wished in
the way of law. He said the depart
ment wished especially to find out If
the yard decision was too stringent,
and If so, to get from the oil men
themselves their ideas as to the
remedy.
YARD DECISION OPPONENTS
Calvert Wilson, president Of the Los
Angeles chamber of mines and oil, pre-
sided at the meeting. Those who spoke
in opposition to the Yard decision were
Charles P. Fox, representing the Cali
fornia Oil Mems association: ]. A.
Waltman of Bakersfield, u. S. G. Todd,
Los Angeles; T. w. Wampler, j. E.
Lelderman, san Francisco; p. M Sher-
idan, Taft; G. S. Johnson, San Fran
cisco; Calvert Wilson, r. w. Dallas,
Coalinga; r. ]. Walker, Devils Den;
r. ]. Bristol, Los Angeles; C. w. West,
Los Angeles; M. H. Mosier, Los An
geles; 2. L. Tolin, Los Angeles; w. p.
Savage, Los Angeles, and Thomas A.
O'Donnell of Los Angeles.
The sole defender of the Yard decis-
ion in SO far as it touched upon the
leasing system advanced by Taft and
others was S. c. Graham OF Los Ange-
les. Mr.. Graham represented the Oil
Conservation association.
VHyItIa cOY7oarUa finO Was ont Of order
at this meeting, it cropped out upon
several occasions. Judge Pierce referred
several times to Taft's Minnesota
speech, recently delivered, saying he
was governed by what was said then
when the president declared in favor of
the policy Of leasing government lands
chat contain coal, phosphate, oil and
gas. But as that is matter for con-
gress, and does not concern the interior
department, Judge Pierce insisted on
having the argument confined to the
Yard decision and other rulings of the
interior department.
The Yard case was practically the
only one touched upon at yesterdays
meeting. Judge Pierce sprung a sur
prise by saying he wrote the decision
himself, but he added that if found too
stringent the oil men themselves should
suggest the remedy.
PIERCE TO VISIT FIELDS
Judge Pierce's most important hear
ing will be tomorrow, when the legal
side of the Yard decision and others
will be argued. He will leave Thursday
for the oil fields of the San Joaquin
valley (the disputed ground), as the
guest of the California Oil Mems asso-
citation, and the boards of trade wher-
ever he stops. AS outlined. he will stop
at bakersfield, Coalinga, Taft and 9TH
er west side towns. In this way he will
have both the opportunity of visiting
the fields and seeing for himself condi-
tions as they exist, and also get in
touch with all the oil men Of the state
and learn their individual opinions
The meeting Monday will be In SYM
phony hall and is called for 10 o'clock
sharp.