, 1922-05-24
TEAPOTDOME
OIL CONTRACT

difficult to understand the metal an
paratus of one owning a home. or con.
Quoting n business in Wyoming, takirr
the position that he would rather have
our crude rushed out OF the state in
pipelines than rec great refineries
built hero 10 refine the oil.
With every discovery Of an addition
al natural gas well. and with each ad.
ditional unit to existing refinerieS. the
refining industry in this state Is
strengthened ard made more perma-
nent- a little patience, and some com
mon sense. and we shall see the day
when neither pipelines nor any other
factor, VIII be able Z keep our refined
products out OF the eastern or export
markets Don get in a hurry to kill
tho goose that is laying golden eggs
for Wyoming.
Argument is r1a6e because Okla.
homa and Kansas have pipelines and
r prosperous. therefore pipelines
would make Wyoming
HaESas M Oklahoma are two Of the
best agricultural states In the union
also their oil nelds-outsida Indian
lrnds-are all privately owned. usual
y in small tracts. n they have a
multitude Of small topping plants and
rcfineres and gasoline lines Further.
more, when new fields have been
found in Kansas and Oklahoma. and
the greed of men has franticany
drilled the acreage and purchased oil
100 per cent, the result has been low
prices. failures. and ruin. We do not
ave tbs diversified per-acre wealth OF
our sister oil states; and to follow
fn n kff-l
on n market will mean simply loss
and ruin. That means that the hasty
ones who have exhausted Themselves
oannot stand the break In prices and
they fall out, their properties falling
INTO the hands Of the STANDARD -
which neither hurries nor laes.
Wyoming Gets Not n Dollar Royalty.
The article referred to at the be-
ginning Of the paper leaves the inn
preston that Wyoming as a state
would receive some Of Teapot oil, or
some of its price. from the govern
ment royalty. The law under which
this contract Is made does not author.
lie b government to pay a dollar or
give n gallon of oil to Wyoming as a
state; nor to the building of any Unit
cd States reclamation project within
h state. n the leasing act 37b
Per cen of the royalties in Salt Creek
go to h state of Wyoming and SO
per cent to the United States reclama-
ton fund, which means Wyoming gets
a proportion of that. OF lis 37I1 per
cent. this state allots so per cent to
our schools, 10 per cent to the state
university. and 3S per cent to our pub
lie roads. Let us hope some of this
Teapot oil does drain into Salt Creek.
For why should this mountain, inland
state of Wyoming contribute an esti-
mated 100, 900 900 barrels of high grade
crude oil from its natural to
h support of the United States navy.
and get 10 return.
The act Of June 4. 1920, under which
this Teapot contract was made is lin.
TIED in its own operations to naval re.
serve lands ION which there are no
pending claims O applications for Der.
mits or leases under the provisions"
of the general leasing law. The Pho
neer on company had such claim pend
ing. It o1lowed that the Teapot oil
contract could not be made because
such claims were pending. Tho Pho
neer company is controlled by a
STANDARD group. The Pioneer agreed
to step aside and withdraw its claims.
INT thus the Mammoth on company
was enabled to secure the TEAPOT oil
lease Those who believe the Stand
ard steps aside for a competitor with.
knowing why. are entitled to their
belief.
1t'isrreported that certain prominent
citizens of Casper had pending in the
department claims under the general
leasing law covering the major portion
OF the valuable Teapot lands contract
ed to the Mammoth on and
these claims were overlooked at the
time the contract was granted. II
these are the facts. it follows thatthe
contract may be set aside; for there
is no authority under the law to CON
tract with reference to lands covered
by pending claims. These gentlemen
can do Wyoming IN general, and Cas-
per In particular, a distinguished sery-
ice by insisting upon their lights and
that those right be adjudicated by a
tribunal hat has not already decided
against them without hearing by pre-
maturely awarding the lands to a pri-
vate contractor at a greatly reduced
royalty. On the other hand IL these
gentlemen shall waive their rights 1t
may be difficult to find a protestant
or claimant with sufficient legal stat.
us TO proceed against the contract.
Citizens. generally. must determine
for themselves whether they favor
private letting of public contracts, or
favor competitive bidding. the com.
pauy engaged solely in production of
crude oil may believe the pipeline to
eastern markets will result in in.
creased sales and increased profits;
but the citizen of Wyoming. and par.
ticularly those Of Casper, must know
whether it is best to refine on In
Wyoming or best to pipe It out in the
crude state-whether digging wells and
pipeline bitches is better thar build.
mig additional refineries and increas
our population, markets and general
wealth.
Since writing the above paper I have
read an apology for the Teapot on con.
tract prepared by a representative of
the bureau of mines. The gentleman
say four oil companies were given
,,na~f,,nit - HID FAr 49, T.o-o