Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1918-10-26

generally known AZ the Brown-Wil-
son case. that the surrender clause,
as 1t was called in leases. rendered
them unilateIal. The true meaning
| OF this was that whore an oil com
pany or individual leased a lot OF
improved territory, he placed pro-
vision in the lease giving him the
right to cancel the lease upon the
payment of one dollar. This pro-
vision was thought by everyone TO
be eminently ust as the farmer was
out nothing and the oil man was at
the entire expense Of drilling and II
It should prove that the territory
was barren of oil, it was a great
hardship on him to have to con-
unue TO pay rent on land from
which he received nothing. 1t was
| necessary that the oil producer
should have large acreage under
lease as the great expense and risk
OF drilling what is known as wild
cat wells would not Justify him to
go TO this expense. unless hc had a
large territory available II oil
should be found. The Rrown-Wil-
son case held that the oil producer
must continue to pay the rent and
that If he put the surrender clause
IN the lease II was voidable and the
practical result was that the land
holder collected the rent as long as
the territory was unprOven and can
celled IL as soon as oil was found.
Justice Hardy has corrected this
great injustice in an opinion which
is not only good law, but which is
good common sense, and the state
is to be congratulated that at last
this question has been settled in n
reasonable and sensible manner that
hurts nobody.
II oil Is discovered In the un-
proven territory the farmer not
only gets his rent. but without ex-
pense to him gets his royalty II
oil is not found the oil producer is
relieved OF paying "A perfectly use
less rent on land which is return
ing him nothing and which his oper-
atlons have condemned for oil. I'm
der tho Brown Wilson case tens of
thousands OF acres OF leases were
cancelled and tho farmer ceased to
receive rental on them because the
company could not take the respOn-
sibihty of continuing them and drill
Ing the wei! when the land owner
WAS to get all the benefit and the
oil producer run all the risk. This
worked a great hardship in two
ways, IT deprived the landholder Of
his rental and II very greatly cur
tailed oil production. one company
in Tulsa alone surrendered fifty
thousand acres OF wildcat leases
while II cost another company fifty
thousand dollars to have their leases
converted into leases omltting the
surrender clause. All OF this money
would have been saved had the sem
sible construction been placed upon
the leases placed by Justice Hardy.
By this decision the farmers OF
the country not produming oil or
what is known as wildcat country,
were at once deprived Of the rental
reserved in the leases, for the COM
panies as above said could not af-
ford to pay rent when their leases
would be voidable as soon as they
found oil. The above decision clari-
fies the situation and will put the
oil business back on a safe and sane
basis. Another thing this decision
does is that 1t stabilizes and validates
the surrender clause found in what
is known as prairie form No. TO-"
all OF which leases under the recent