Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-11-17
COUNTRY should
BUY OIL RATHER
Than SEIZE IT
Senator Phetan Answers Words
of Secretary Roosevelt as
to California Lands

III the United States navy wants
California oil il should buy ii and not
attempt 10 seize il, says United
States Senator James y. Paelan gho
is visiting here. when shown an ASsC
ciated Press despatch. as published on
=. p. 9 Of this edition which credits +.
D. Roosevelt, assistant secretary
Of the navy, with saving that tine life
Of the United States navy is at stake
in the fight Of The federal government
TO retain control Of portions OF Cali
fornia oil fields as petroleum reserves.
The senator is thoroughly con"er-
SAINT with the present status OF peLd-
ing patents to oil land in California.
in which the honolulu Consolidated
Oil Company with many local stock
holders is vitality Interested along with
numerous other concerns. He was in
strIlmental in introducing legislation
in the last session of congress in an
effort 10 straighten out the tangle and
10 give people who had spent hun
dra1s of thousands OF dollars in de-
velopng the oil districts only to be
denied final tile to their properties,
their rights.
President Taft Did It
Honolulans interested in the present
situation will tmember, as the. sen
atcr explains today, that eX-President
Taft In 1909 withdrew from entry
practically all OF the oil land, that
two federal courts later held against
his action and that he was finally up
held in the supreme court o. the Unit
ed States by narrow margin of 4
to 3. Last summer the secretary of
the interior was about TO grant patents
when the secretary of the navy and
the attorney general objected Now
congress is trying to pass remedial
legislation recognizing the equity of
certain operators in California and
the whole matter will again be in
court.
Had no Right to Withdraw
The president had absolutely no
right to withdrew the land" says Sen
ator Phelan. ct was a ridiculous con-
fusion of the law The only reason
the supreme court upheld him was
because of the fact that presidents
had done the same thing before with
the silent acquieseence CT congress.
The power lies solely with congress.
Whether the Honolulu Oil Com
pany and the many others will win or
not ! do not know but they certainly
should. The LAID was taken correctly
enough under the old placer laws
and Developments were prosecuted in
many cases TO the discovery Of oil.
When the interior department had
clear-listed the claims for patents last
summer the navy department said the
government needed the oil. That's no
excuse for taking 1t if it is the legal
properly of another"
The senator explains that many of
the California oil wells affected by the
pending legislation are operating I'M
der an impounding action with govern
ment receivers in absolute charge I'M
I'll the matter is settled
Impressed with Pearl Harbor
Showing his interest in the navy in
other ways thar California oil the SEN
ator went yesterday along with
Governor Lucius E. Pinkham to in
spect the government work under pro-
gress at Pearl Harbor as the guest OF
the commandment, Capt George r.
Clark.
Senator Phelan has had consider
able to do with the legislation rela-
tive to government defense plans here
and was glad Of an opportunity to see
the project first hand.
Il have little to say about Pearl
Harbor," he said, except that there is
no doubt in my mind that the govern
hent is making adequate preparations
there fer defense and viii undoubtedly
continue the work
( The party spent the entire morning
on the works. The senator was par
ticularly impressed with the great
drydock under construction.