Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1942-08-29

requirements, even to being an orphan. we
have had several trustees in succeeding years
but never a question has arisen.
Likewise Governor Norris outlined for US
plan of complete disclosure" for buyers
of royalty. We wrote up a report on each
property, telling its good points and its bad
points, giving all the facts we could obtain
Naturally, If the bad exceeded the good, we
did not submit the property. But il meant
that every participant was forced to make
his decision on his own Judgment Over the
years we have steadfastIy refused to rec
Ommend royalties. When we recommend q
royalty, we Of necessity guarantee that it
is good. We cannot do that and STAY in
business. Not we but Mother Nature deposits
the oil under the ground, i'm greater or
lesser quantities. We can't guarantee the
presence of oil 220 feet away from the Iarg-
est oil well In Montana Likewise we have
nothing to do with drilling for and produce
ing that oil, and we cannot guarantee the
activities Of the various producers who op-
crate these leases. So we make it a rule
that each investor shall have all the facts
at our disposal and base his decision on his
own judgment.
We have been more frequently criticized
for failure to urge good property As an
example, our investments i'm South Cut Bank
where we bought royalties on thousands of
acres of the best oil lands ahead of the
drill We came in for severe berating from
one of our weIl-meaning members: @Why
didn't you give me the world would have
gladly gone in on that williams royalty"
he said, adding that we must have known
all the time that there was oil in the area
between the Texaco-State discovery well and
the main Cut Bank field.
We DIDN'T know but had we pointed out
as fOrcefuIIy as we could that the best geoI-
ogists and the best operators with whom we
had talked thought the area would produce
oil. However, we thrive on that sort of criti-
cism. We have bought many wildcat roy
alties on which wells were drilled and on
which no production has been found We
have advised cur members to charge these
royalties down to Shaking a loss But we
have secretly felt that every one Of these
structures viii be re-drilIed some day and
The royalty which now appears to be total
OSs may be another Baker farm or another
Byrne farm. That win come from new, inn
proved methods and deeper drilling
We have seen landowners royalties pay
more than S12,00O,0O0 during these 20 years.
Those were the 20 hardest years for the in
Iustry. We wouldn't trade our opportunities
# today with those of 20 years ago, if we
lad chance to do it over. The next 20
ears will see. far greater production of oil
han the past 20 years and One-eighth of
hat great volume of oil will be delivered to
he owners Of the land from which this oil
produced. Included in that ownership will
e, as before many who have patiently held
ntO their property for these many years,
theirs who have bought the royalties of mall
Ontents; in addition to the state of Mon
ina and the federal government, which are
articipants in the royalty income of nearly
very oil field.
The first man who bought royalty through
s can today write to us and obtain q pro-
uctiOn report. If he needs a certified copy
his deed, we will get ii for him; If an
peratOr needs his signature on division
der, we win help both Of them. If any
1esti0n arises, we are here to serve him.
his service is something we did not know
e were selling him when he made his in
'stment 20 years ago.
Twenty years from now
Yes, we hope to continue to so serve our
embers during the more fruitful years we
Iieve are ahead-barring the possibility
at Uncle Sam may need men Of our age
stop some Japanese bullets We hope that
II accumulated knowledge will prove of
eater value in the years to come.
we believe we know the location of the
xt new oil field in Montana. Our current
IIetin has to do with this development.
lis publication viii be sent to these who
quest it