The Alaska daily empire., 1920-10-05
NEW RULES FOR
 BIRCH EXPORTS
 ARE ANNOUNCED
Both Small and Large Con- tracts Provided = Terms
 Considered Lenient.

issued by Secretary John Barton Payne, Department of Interior, on September 1, and just received at; the local U. s. Land Office are stated by those who have examined them to be sufficiently lenient Shd bread to permit real development of this natural resource and at the same time giving the small investor as well as the man with capital chance to enter the field.
 Nine provisions are contained in the regulations The first one makes provision for the sale of birch for export on the rules now existing where the quantities are such as will be disposed of from year to year. That is, in such case, the requirements is that all timber bought must be cut and prepared fer removal from the ground within the year in which it is purchased This provision" it is stated, has particular reference to cases where purchases are made by those who do not contemplate large scale pro duction and expenditure of large sums of m0fley for developing enter prises fer the exportation of this class of material"
 Ten Year Contracts.
 The second provision states:
 Sales of birch timber suitable for manufacturing purposes arel hereby authorized in quantities. if found available, sufficient to supply a mill or proposed mill for period Of as much as ten years, when it Is satisfactorily shown that the pur- chases in good faith intends to de- velop an enterprise for the cutting of this class of, timber for export from Alaska"
 Under this provision the amount sold to any one purchases and the period of the contract will be de- termined by the capacity of the mill and its estimated production for the time covered by the contract of sale
 Forfeiture Clause.
 This same provision contains time allowance for construction of a mill and a forfeiture clause as follows:
 "When ten years supply is sold, the period within which the same must be cut (ten years) will begin to run from the time that the contract of sale is executed II the manufacturing plant has been built, CT from the time that the mill has been constructed and ready to begin operations if it is to be built, but in no case will more than two years deduction be allowed for con struction and each contract shall contain q provision that all rights acquired hereunder shall be fcr- feited if operations have not been commenced within three years from the date of execution of the contract, unless, upon satisfactory showing, the Secretary of the Interior shall. in his discretion, excuse the delay Commencement of operations in this sense will be construed as bon2 fide commencement of actual cut ting of timber in quantity sufficient to show that it is the purpose or the purchaser to fulfill the ccndi- tions of the contract and that it was not entered into for merely spocula- tive purposes.
 Making Application.
 Applications must be made 1n duplicate in the U. s. Land Office for the district wherein the timber is located and should show the name, address, place of business amount of board feet of timber de sired, a description of the land on which situated, approximate area of land from which the timber is to be cut and if on the strip of land re- served along the Alaska Railway, in which case evidence of consent of the Alaskan Engineering Commis i sion shown; whether applicants can 1 begin immediate cutting; estimated annual capacity of mill amount of 1 money invested or to be invested 1 in the enterprise accompanied by evidence as to financial standing of the applicant, general plan of op eraticn and purpose for which tim must be deposited with each appli cation as an evidence of good faith and to help defray the cost of ap- praisal. This money will be re- funded in a credit on the purchase price of the sale if consummated
 Publication of Notice.
 Publication of notices of applica- tions to purchase such timber are also required at the expense of the applicant. Upon the execution of contract the purchaser shall, if the timber is to be cut from un- surveyed lands. cause the b, und- aries to be blaZed or otherwise marked in order that they may be identified.
 Agents Make Appraisals.
 The appraisals will be made by special agents designated by the | Chief of Field Division for such purpose and without delay. The | appraisal rates, it is stated, Will | be based upon fair stumpage rate | taking into consideration the qual- | ity of the timber and its accessi-