, 1922-03-30

ment cannot be reached by the tax
imposing power OF the state.
Tho far reaching effect of his de
cision win readily DO seen. Within
the Rocky Mountain states are hun.
dreds Of thousands % acres OF land to
which the government now holds and
doubtless will always hold title as
they have been withdrawn from loca-
ton. Those lands contain untold
wealth in coal. oil, oil shales and gas,
which will be developed under the
leasing law within the next few years.
This development will add great
wealth to these states, and yet. no
matter how great may become the
value OF this domain and hat which
II produces II canpSt be reached by
taxation or compelled to contribute its
a to the supsrr. OF the sovereign
ty on which It depends for protection.
and perhaps existence Notwithstand
ing this. and due solely to the Mondeil
prpyiso zach state will now share in
the results Of the development OF the
natural on the public do
mains within its borders.
The story OF the contest which leads
to the adoption OF the leasing policy
of the federal government will be OF
increasing historical interest as the
years pass. 1t started in the early days
Of the Roosevelt administration. The
older and more populous states where
what had once been public domain had
passed into private ownership, desired
that that which was left In other
states should DO developed for the sole
benofi of the federal government. On
tho other hand, the states whose ma
tural a scarcely been
touched. felt that they had a IA
mount interest In them n that their
best interests demanded hat they
should be developed through private
ownership. thereby adding to the
wealth OF the respective states. which
wealth can only be measured by its
taxable value.
The nationalists won and II has be-
come and doubtless will continue to be
the fixed policy OF the government to
encourage the development, through
the leasing system of that part of the
public domain which may contain coal.
oil, gas n certain other products.
Already vast areas ave been with
drawn and more will be withdrawn in
the future as development progresses.
Mcndell was one of the leaders in
The fight for the state as against the
national idea. and was. of course, bit
terly disappointed when the national
lists won out, but he was wise enough
to e that q matter OF policy is one
thing and the detail in working out
that policy quite another. He is re
sourceful. adroit and the embodiment
OF courage and tenacity. Long expert
ence q made him the master OF all
the ~lntricacies of parliamentary pro
cedure and practice which is so neces
sary to tho successful legislator.
When others wcro al home building
political fences. he was on the job. In
a quarter Of a century of service in
the house. he has been absent but six
legislative days, a record never ap-
rroximated up to this time by anyone
else, and doubtless one that never will
30 euualled- Himself a product of
the west. he knew her problems,
worked on them by day and dreamed
OF them by night.
And SO Il was that. defeated on one
field Of battle, he sought and pursued
another with tenacity which is one of
his chief characteristics. 1t was a
long fight. It was one which at times
a man OF lesser fiber would have
abandoned. In the beginning. the old
err and more populous states were
against him. When the Wilson ad-
mi~nistration came in, the public lands
committee Of the house was against
him. Some of the western states
which have no coal or oil deposits and
wanted all the proceeds from the de
velopment of the public domain di-
verted to the other purposes. were
against him. But finally the fight
vas won, and the provision mention
ed became q part OF the leasing bill
and Of the governmental policy on
which It is based
How much this win mean to Colorado
time alone can tell. Up to this time
Wyoming has bee the principal bene-
ficiary. That state received over $780,
900 In n payment 1t seems certain
that in the very a future its reve-
nues from these natural will
care for all the reasonable expenses of
the government. But Colorado, with
her great coai fields; with the most
extensive oil shale deposits in the
world. which the government figures
as n great oil reserve for the future.
and with her tremendous oil possibil-