The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1911-07-07

tor La Toilette, of Wisconsin, long a
stumbling block to Oklohomans in re.
CARDS to legislation looking toward the
settlement and therefore the develop
ment of the 100000 acres embraced in
the segregated coal and asphalt tract
IN the Choctaw and Chickasaw Ma
tlons finally has been won over to a
plan providing for the immediate ap-
praisement and sale of this vast and
idle estate. AS is well known upon
such sale depends the progress and
prosperity of hundreds of towns in
eastern Oklahoma not to mention the
! lmmeasurable benefits that would ac-
crue to the state at large by the influx
OF additional capital and thousands of
Snbmebuilders.
1t is hoped that the active support
OF Senator La Toilette will insure the
enactment of some such legislation at
the present session of congress.
In endorsing Senator Ovens bill
providing for the sale of the surface
of the segregated coal and asphalt
lands, the Wisconsin senator has not
found it necessary to recede from his
. original position, namely, that the
mineral rights be reserved, as the
pending bill in no sense proposes to
interfere with the mineral deposits in
IN the tract or disturb the present title
now resting in the two nations. This
1t would seem practically assures
sooner or later legislation for the sale
of the surface said to be among the
richest and most valuable farming
lands in the state.
Senator Owens bill safeguards in
the minutest details the rights of both
prospective settler and miner. To ac-
complish this has long been recogniz-
ed as difficult task if for no other
reason than the fact that a more or
less delicate situation always will
arise when farmer and coal magnate
assert common rights in the land.
Unlike the bill drawn up and offered
by the coal barons during the last ses-
sion of congress the pending measure
provides:
THAT the owner of the mineral
rights in any of the said land and the
licensee and lessee therof shall pro-
.,tect the surface against all subsist-
efce and in case any subsistence oc-
ours such owner or such lesse or such
licensee shall be liable for all dam
ages occasioned thereby"
/ This provision fixes the responsible
ity on the coal operators for any dam
: ages to the property of the farmer oc-
cupying the surface. The former bill
was not nearly as broad and did not
protect the surface owner nearly so
we'll To many this is regarded as
perhaps the most important provision
in the bill as it offers a guarantee to
the farmer that his right to the sur
race will not be encroached upon by
coal operators without adequate COM
pensation. Without such a broad pro-
vision in the bill it was feared that
farmers would not come forward in
desired numbers and take up their
residence upon the segregated coal
and asphalt area in Oklahoma.
Briefly this is what the Owen bill
provides:
1. The appraisement of the coal
and asphalt lands including surface
and mineral, leased and Unbiased, in
separate tracts.
2. A board of three appraisers ap-
pointed by secretary of the interior
and approved by the president.
3. Appraisement must be approved
by the president.
4. Appraisers to be allowed not to
exceed $40 a day or not more than
$4,000 each for the completion of their
work.
- 5. Surface to be classified as for
farming and grazing purposes in such
government areas as were prescribed
by the government survey for allot-
ment purposes and the value of the
surface and the mineral to be ascer-
tanned separately.
6. Provision for the reservation
and sale under sealed bids at not less
than appraised value Of all necessary
tracts in connection with present min
ing operations or immediate future as
will render mineral deposits available.
7. Farming tracts limited to 100
acres to each homesteader; grazing
land limited to $40 acres to any one
person.
s. Farming land located near towns
and cities may be limited to smaller
tracts if interior department deems
advisable.
9. Lands not now under mining
lease to be sold subject to right of
United States and of the Choctaw and