Evening star., 1925-11-29

justice MCCOY OF the Su'
preme Court of the Distric
L of Columbia upholding tn,
right of the Interior De,
partment to challenge the right ol
the Standard Oil Co. to section Sc.
adjacent to Naval Oil Reserve No.
brings again to public attention the
entire controversy over leasing Of
the naval oil reserves in California anG
Wyoming by former Secretary Fal
OF the Interior Department.
How intimately this matter OF
section Sc is connected with the
leases made by Secretary Fall to f.
l.. Doheny becomes apparent WI on
1t is remembered that ii was becauS.
of the Standard OIL wells in section
so that there was danger or draining
the oil from a large part of the
Naval Oil Reserve No. /. This
drainage was put forward as one
reason why the naval oil reserve
must be leased.
1t becomes increasingly important
as a factor in these leasing cases
when il is recalled that Mr.. Fall
when Secretary of the Interior and
prior to the time OF making the
leases to Mr.. Doheny, dismissed an
attempt on the part of the Govern
ment TO establish a claim TO section
36 against the Standard Oil Co. 1t
was charged by Senator Thomas J.
Walsh Of Montana, on the floor of
the Senate during his sensational
attack upon the leases of the naval
oil reserves, that The dismissal of
the attempt on the part of the Gov
ernment to attack the title of the
Standard Oil Co. to section SO by
Secretary Fall had made it possible
to set up one of the main reasons
for leasing the naval oil reserve to
DOheny.
History of Case Given.
The case involving section SO and
the title of the Standard Oil Co
to that valuable oil producing land
came before Chief Justice Mccoy in
this manner: Following the attack
upon the leases of the naval oil re
serves the Interior Department, under
Secretary Work, has again started
proceedings TO obtain ior the Govern
ment possession of section SO. The
Standard Oil Co. sought an injunc-
ton to prevent the Government from
continuing with this attack upon its
title to the land. This motion for a
preliminary injunction was denied by
Chief Justice Mccoy. From his deci
sion it is expected the Standard Oil
Co. will appeal TO the Court of APP
peals. and the case probably will be
carried to the supreme Court. either
by the company or by the Govern
ment, as the case may be, before II
is finally determined.
Primarily, the case hinges on the
question as TO whether section SO was
known to be mineral land in 1903 and
prior thereto. If it held that it was
known 10 be mineral land then, the land
would be considered part of the pub
ltp in in ~ in nt
owned by the State of California,
from which the title eventually
passed to the Standard Oil Co. The
injunction asked by the company and
denied by Chief Justice Mccoy would
prevent the Government from prose
cutting further its inquiry as to the
known mineral character of the lands
in 1903. The Chief Justice held that
this inquiry was proper and that a
court may interfere
The proceedings were begun by the
Interior Department after Congress.
by joint resolution adopted February
p. 1924. had directed the department
to do SO. This resolution was put
through during the height of the con-
troversy over the naval oil reserve
leases and after Senator Walsh had
made his charges with reference to
the dismissal of the Government 8
proceedings by Secretary Fall in 1921.
Controversy Is Old.
The controversy over the mineral
quality of the lands in section 36 and
whether they We're known prior to the
approval of a survey approved in 1903
has been Waged intermittently for
years. In the meantime the Standard
Oil Co. has taken some $50, 900, 900
worth of oil out of the section. The
company was decided the property by
the State of California in 1910. its
agent having purchased it from third
party. Back in 1912 and 1913, while
the Standard was prospecting in this
neighborhood. an agent of the Interior
Department studied the character of
the lands and reported that they were
mineral. He SO reported to the Com
missioner of the General Land Office.