Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1917-01-15
NEW PLAN FAVORED +.
BY LANDS COMMITTEE

Newspapers received by today's
\ mail from San Francisco say that
= on January the senate public
= lands committee by an almost
r unanimous vote, favorably report
= ed the amendment giving relief
r. TO California oil land claimants.
\ The amendment is referred to at
= the end of the article in the ad-
= joining column. 1t has been adopt
= ed with some slight modification.
\ In effect it is believed that the :
4 relief legislation will be accept
+ ed by the senate and will pass
y with the Ferris general mineral
+ lands leasing bill, which has :
y passed the house and is now on Z
= the senate calendar
Under the amendment, the OPP :
\ position to the Phelan plan is :
\ likely to be overcome. Less than !,
y per cent of the land in the ma !
= val oil reserves will be affected, z
= and of this per cent the profits :
= of operation are to be given to :
\ the navy as royalties, which, it "
\ is stated, will be much preferable
= TO direct navy operation. Repre-
\ sentatives of the oil land claim (
\ ants say that they are confident
\ the fight will soon be favorably
y concluded. IT,. (
4 T.
practically ignored and set aside b!
the unwarranted Interference and a
the specific request of the Navy De
partment. The Navy Department, il
was declared, apparently considered
itself superior to the law of the lant
and its attitude was that it would
obey or 6iisobey such laws as might
suit its pleasure. Members of the
made it plain that they
would leave no stone unturned to pass
such legislation as would appear tC
them to be just and proper without
reference to the unwarranted attacks
of the navy. #.... ..a
Pittman Gives Claims
Senator Pittman, as chairman oil
the conference committee, stated that
the hearings of that committee dis
closed that the relief measures pro
posed would affect only 5000 acres
out of 10000 acres in Naval Reserve
No. 2; that no other naval reserves
we're affected and that less than !
per cent OF the total oil lands avail
able for the navy were affected by
this bill and that, therefore. any sug.
gestion that the navy would be at all
by the passage OF the bill was
entirely unwarranted He further
stated that under the proposal the
navy was not deprived of the OIL in
these 5000 acres but received its por.
lion OF that oil free OF, expense as a
royalty instead of as a,Nsurplus after
he payment by the government o. the
cost of operating the wells.
The committee adjourned to meet
Thursday morning 1t is understood
hat 1t will then recommend a substi-
tute for the Phelan amendment which
will protect every interest of the navy
and at the same time afford a fair
measure of relief to the oil operators.
substitute Legislation
The nature of the substitute legis-
ation is given in dispatches from
since the Thursday COM
nittee meeting referred to above. A
despatch from Washington on Janu-
Try to the San Francisco Chronicle
said: d
Abandoning hope OF overcoming
opposition of the navy to pending leg
Station to relieve California and Wyo-
ming oil lands claimants, the senate
ands committee today determined to
eliminate the so-called Phelan amend.
nent from the mineral landleasing
bill and to substitute for it a relief
provision suggested by the Interior
Department
The departments amendment
would provide that claimants on oil
ands prior to the withdrawal in 1910
who had entered in good faith into the
of development shall have
preference to leases"