Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-19
HOOVER OIL POLICY
CRITIC ANSWERED
Requa Calls qualification"
Charge of Ex-senator
Thomas Reckless"
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

| NaTk IL. ReQua OF CallT0rnla, widely
regarded as the inspirer-in-chief of
President Hoovers recently proclaimed
oil conservation policy, takes vigorous
issue with the charge of notification"
raised against the President by former
United States Senator and Gov Charles
S. Thomas, Democrat. of Colorado. In
a recent interview with this writer Mr..
Thomas accused Mr. Hoover of ire
pealing" the 1920 oil-leaSing law and
threatened the possibility Of a chal-
lenge through the Federal courts of the
validity of the Presidents action. Mr..
Requa. who was director general of the
oil division Of the United States Fuel
Administration during the World War,
calls Thomas statements reckless and
incorporate" and misleading, short
| sighted and futile"
In the principal petroleum circles of
the country Mr.. Requa, a San Francisco
mining engineer now In Washington,
ranks as the father of oil conservation
in the United States. At the meeting
of the American Petroleum Institute In
Washington in 1920 he read a paper
entitled Conservation" which prac-
| tically set rolling the ball that has just
eventuated in the first major program
Requa is a director of the Petroleum
Institute. At recent meeting of the
board the directors voted % to in
favor -of conservation legislation by
Congress. They will meet again in
New York later this month. The belief
is that they will again 60 on record.
and perhaps more strongly than ever,
on behalf of the policy now bearing the
Hoover label.
Requa hopes that Congress may even
be induced to rescind its action in max
ing mandatory the granting Of oil
drilling permits In the Usage Indian
lands, which contain the greatest
petroleum reserves. Congress" the
California engineer points out, without
full appreciation of the facts, has de-
creed that $4,000 acres of Usage lands
must be leased annually. This manda-
tory law should be repealed and some
discretion left with the executive branch
of the Government. The folly of leas-
ing Usage lands, under present-day
conditions, which gnd a daily potential
overproduction of from 100000 to
$500. 900 barrels of oil, speaks for
ITSELF"
Action Taken I'm 1924.
what suddenly called forth Presi-
dent Hoover's oil-conservation pro-
nunciamento?" Mr.. Requa was asked
There is nothing sudden about it,"
he rejoined. LAS long ago as December.
1924, President Coolidge appointed the
Federal Oil Conservation Board in q
communication which can justly be
ranked as one of his greatest state
papers. commend this letter to ex-
Senator Thomas. It's study and the pro-
ceedings and final report of the board
would be sufficient proof Of President
Hoover's wise action, If proof were really
necessary. incidentally, the Oil Con-
servation Boards findings completely
refute and destroy ex-senator Thomas
arguments.
Even more recently-in January,
1927-one Of the most eminent COM
mittees Of geological authorities who
ever addressed themselves to the Gov |
eminent Joined in an urgent appeal to |
President Coolidge to institute an au-
thentic and authoritative Investigation |
of the United States supply of miner
ais, including, of course, especially Pc
troleum. These mining engineers and |
biologists, metallurgists and petroleum |
engineers-representing the very best |
brains in the country in their field-told |
Mr.. Coolidge that they and other |
thoughtful citizens were becoming more |
and more concerned regarding the sup
ply of minerals from the longtime |
point Of view They said they believed
1t both desirable and necessary, in view
of the rapidly increasing consumption |
and the irreplaceable character Of the |
deposits, that most thoroughgoing in
quiry should be ordered
Realize Needs Of Times.
Many OF these eminent petitioners
came from the very Western States
which Mr.. Thomas depicts as UP in
arms over Mr.. Hoover's present pro-
posals. Their memorandum was a plea
for rational conservation. A reading of
1t viii dispel any lingering doubt cher |
ished by anybody as to the wisdom of
President Hoover's policy. These emf
nent authorities realize the needs Of the
time. Nowhere in the United States is |
there keener interest In real conserva-
ton than on the Pacific Coast or, as I |
suspect in the intermountain regions of
Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and
Idaho. The future prosperity of these
States rests not, as Mr.. Thomas sug-
gests, in unrestricted oil exploitation ia
cilities, but in large measure upon main
tanning their mineral production over
the longest possible period of time. This
prosperity can only be jeopardized by
reckless waste OF the Vests mineral
substance in relatively brief period.
All the oil ever produced in the United
States East Of the Mississippi would sup
ply requirements of today for a period
not to exceed three years. Western oil
is all-vital
THE acknowledged facts in our oil
situation justify the correctness of Pres
ident Hoover's policy In every particular.
1t cannot be successfully assailed. It
has already had, or will have, the en-
thusiastic Endorsement Of every author
ity worthy of the name in the United
States. BY authority, I do not mean