The Alaska citizen., 1911-01-30
THE COAL BILLS.

Both the Nelson and the Wicker sham coal bills have been received and are printed on another page o4 this issue and it is now possible to form a correct estimate of the merits of each. The Citizen last week re trained from any extended criticism of either bill because only a skeI eton of each had been Containe, in the wired dispatches.
 The difference between the tw, bills is this: The Nelson bill would throw open 10 exploitation the coa lands of the country on a leasing proposition. under the supervision et the department of the interior A fee is 10 be charged for a license 10 prospect, 10 be followed by q rental of q fixed sum per acre if q lease of the clal land is acquired. and there is to be a fixed royalty paid to the government on every tou of coal minld. The Wickersham bill provides simply for the cancel lation of the presidents order oi Withdrawal Cf the coal lands, ant for their being thrown open to public entry. the United States re taining the right at all times to fix control and regulate the rates, price and profits 10 be allowed to the mine owner or coal dealer
 What few criticisms the Citizen passed on the Nels bill last weeA were to the effect that the prospectol with few means would be practical ly barred if he had al once 10 put up the $500 cash for his first year's license and $500 for his second, il. addition to his working expenses, that the royalties accruing from the mines sh ,uld, instead of all goinl to the government, be covered into the Alaska fund, and that the trans pOrtatlOn rates to be charged by railroad companies should be regu- lated by the Interstate Commerce Commission.
 With reference to our first crit icism reading Of the Nelson bill fails to afford any clear impression on this point. In no section of il does it state when the license fee Of 2o cents per acre for the prospect ing privilege shall be paid, and It may be, for all that is indicated clearly, be either before the work of prospecting is permitted or af ter the lease has been assumed and the mine producing. The only ref erence to this point is contained ill Section 6, which states that mo license or lease shall be granted or issued until the licensee or lessee shall give a bond for the payment of all royalties and rents and for the due and faithful compli- ance with all the terms and condi- tions of the lease or license" This might possibly be taken as an ind- NoUiOA IAol tLe lldlHtl Ol lue Dlll intended that the licensee, or pros pector," was to be given his licensl 'on time"
 Our contention that the royalties should accrue to the Alaska fund is fortunately, to certain extent at least, provided for in the bill, which in Section II, stipulates that one half of all the moneys derived from licenses and leases" shall be paid into this fund. It is presumed that this refers also to the royalties" al though there is certain amount of doubt attaching as in other parts of the bill licenses" leases" and roy alties' are referred to distinctively It is possible that Senator Nelson meant that Alaska was to get the benefit only of half of the license or prospecting, fees, and half of the rental of so much per acre, and that all of the royalties, of so much per ton, were to accrue to the na- tional government. The license fees and rentals would, of course, be very inconsiderable in comparison with the royalties accruing from the actual working of the mines
 The transportation feature seems to have been fully covered in the Nelson bill and should be easily handled provided the jurisdiction of the Interstate Commerce Commis sion is extended to Alaska.
 The Wickersham bill, throwing open all of the coal lands to entry and giving the government the right to adjust the prices to be charged for coal and its transportation, falls short in so far as it retains neither to the government nor to the people of Alaska any interest in the vast tracts of coal lands. It is suppos- able that MT. Wickersham assumed AL