The Alaska citizen. (Fairbanks, Alaska) 1910-1917, 1911-09-04

--a.es what the law was before. tha, the president
,oud -,mporarilg withdraw a limited area cf lands
f.. specific public purposes which must nc report
I'd to congress at its next session for its ratfica-
zion 10y law Bur President Taft though congress
refused to ratfy Prcsid.r, Roosoyelts order
~imed The authority himself ratify it. and
July l. 191u. issued his order.
1t is hereby ordered that that certain order of with
draHal made hererofare November L. 1906. is
hereby ratified. confirmed. and continued in fun
force and effect. and subject all the provisions,
limitations. exceptions. and conditions contained in
'Lo acl OF congress entitled. An act to authorize
the IRE s.den, OF the United States to make with
drawals Of public lands in certain cases, approved
June -. 1910, and there is hereby Withdrawn from
settlement. location. sale. entry and reserved for
olassfc alton. and in aid of legislation affecting
the use and disposition of coal deposits. all the
public lands ana lands in national forests in the
District of Alaska in which workable coal is known
.ccur.'
You viii this he first proposed to ratify
an order OF President Roosevelt that must have
been Illegal in his judgment, it would have
needed be ratified. Lest the ratification should
also be invalid, in The last portion he makes it his
own order and declares that all the public lands in
Alaska in which workable coal is known to
is hereby Withdrawn.
Il would have been reasonable and just for the
order have said that applications already law
iully initiated should he entitled 10 be carried
completion; but it did not. Il wipes out the law
to,a the beginning and ign.ros the rights acquired
under il.
The law states thai lands Withdrawn should be
for some specific public purpose If limited
had been Withdrawn for the use of the navy OF
army, or some other definite purpose. i, would have
be. Il reasonable. and in accordance with the law;
nH' this was nj done The specific public purpose
declar.d that The lands were withdrawn "fof
las sffgafion aud in aid # lesis3ation." In other
words the authority was assumed abrogate
law ir order to aid congress pass another. and
if congress should pass another law il also could
be ahrogared 10 aid them - legisate again, and
indefinitely. The industry of legisating would
seem TO require encouragement. The industry
of coal mining destroyed to aid the industry of
legislation! 1t is true that the words for classif
cation" also used; but that did not mean
anything and doubt put in to make the
sentence sound better or to cover the badness of
the in aid legislation" There could be no class
ifcation of coal lands prices. for they were to
be sold at fiat price the acre. The applicant to
purchase is bound open vein of coal on the
land and prove it. This classified it as coal land in
a most definite way.
Now. if ten thousand had been withdrawn
for the use of the navy, or if million acres had
million nine hundred thousand had been with
drawn for any specific public purpose-it would
leave the remaining subject the law and
the law would have remained alive and vital There
could have been withdrawn all the millions of
acres, except single acre or a single square
foot and still have left the law in force and effect
as to that foot But this was not
done. The order says 'all the lands in Alaska
bearing COAL That completely abrogated the law
The people of the land never gave the president
such power. On the contrary the constitution ex-
pressy declares that the president shall see that
the laws are faithfully executed
That order degraded the people of Alaska II
deprived them of the rights of American citizens
to live under the law, and made them mere puppets
of the will of the who may happen at the
moment to be president of the United States Is
the president of the United States the car of
Alaska? Alsaka ruled by a car Is is so
still?
The constitution gives the president the right to
veto a bill, and il is tremendous power But when
a bill has been approved and it becomes law
he has no right to abrogate it, Nobody has a right