The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1913-03-20
NATURAL RESOURCES;
LEASE PROPOSITIONS
COGENT REASONS FOR RElECAT,
ING THE PiNCHOT
FALlACiES.

school who have controlled the inter-
Tor department of the federal govern
! ment for the last eight years except
| the year that Judge Ballingcr served
as secretary. have tried to inaugurate
Il leasing system for the national re-
sources still owned by the federal gov
| Alaska. says the Pacific Coast Mining
Journal, published at Seattle,
They began by snspendng the laws
of congress for The sale of coal. petrol
cum and phosphate lands and have
persistentIy demanded of congress the
repeal of the present land laws and
the enactment of lease laws instead
We favor the present laws which
have been so satisfactory and sue
cessful in settling and developing the
mountain states, mo one would dis
putc the proposition that, through its
homestead law it's mineral land laws
and its grants in aid of transcontin-
entail railroads. the United States has
built up new. rich, loyal western
realm, which could never ha- been
established in any other way,
These bureaucrats now propose to
abandon the policy which has produce
ed such good results. and revert to the
plan which so conspcuously failed a
century ago,
The policy established by congress
in 1907, of reserving from sale, but
holding and leasing the public mineral
lands was maintained for 40 years
then repealed by congress following
the recommendation Of President Polk
the recommendation of President Polk
who reported in his message that the
results of the leasing of mineral lands
had been in every respect unsatisfac-
tory. The revenue to the government
had been less than onefourth the ex-
pense of the administration; litigation
and wastefuI mining had been the re-
suits. This was In 1S47: Just 40 years
of experiment with leasing. when 1t
was abandoned, and the long expert
ment of leasing public mineral lands
came to an end, not to be revived un-
til, after more than 60 years, it was
proposed as new idea by the bureau
Gratis who never knew the experience
of the fathers. They were not famil-
lar with United States history; they
are self styled "progressives" who
should have the crawfish for an en-
blem.
exist The causes which produced
confusion. corruption aud waste be-
fore are even more likely to produce
them today.
The following propositions concern
ing the proposed policy are Submitted
by Dr. W. r. RAYMOND, the noted
mining engineer:
" 1t is never desirable. though 1t
is sometimes necessary, that private
enterprise should be subject to gov
ernmental interference or competition.
20. IF any government in this coun-
try must thus interfere, it should be
the local municipal or state), and not
the federal government. CThere are
many arguments to support this pro-
position)
"3. OF all methods of governmental
administration of natural resources,
that of leasing as now widely advo-
Gated is the worst. | refer to the
system of short leases Uhe term usu
ally mentioned being % years., coupled
with the requirement of continuous
operation.
"a. Why confine the leasing system
to coal, oil and phosphate? The same
arguments would apply to all minerals
and agricultural land"
10 which we add the following OBJ
iectons
(a). 1t is contrary to our princi
pies OF government. as 1t tends toward
Il socialistic despotism.
(b). 1t is contrary to our civiliza
ton which has for its cornerstone the
private or individual ownership Of
property
co. II places the operator at the
mercy of an irresponsible officer as
there is no court of appeals in land
cases. and these autocratic positions
are apt to be filled by persons ignorant
Of land laws and mineral land laws
and obsesscd by fad at variance with
law and justice, as has been the case
in recent years.
ID 1t would eliminate the prospec
tor who is such an important factor
in the exploitation, discovery. develop
tnent and settlement Of country.
The Mining and Scientific Press Is
the advocate Of this policy. Progress
ivism and our daily papers in Seattle
unwittingly support the Pinchot pol
icy by continually repeating the as
sertion that it Is up to congress- to
open up Alaska by enacting the meas
ures wanted by tho bureaucrats. When
the fact is that 1t is up to the execu-
tive IN eypc,,ta tho 1aNc that wc haya