Evening star., 1951-04-08
TideIands Oil Projects
Must Not Be Hailed,
0'Mahoney Declares

COnClnulng QeVelopment OF OH
shore oil deposits. threatened py al
Federal-State control controversy,
is essential because of Soviet at
tempts to dominate Middle East
fields. Senator O'Mahoney, Demo-
crat, of Wyoming, wrote yesterday
to State Governors.
The long fight over Federal or
State ownership of submerged
areas. his letter stated. endangers
national security. He said the inl-
mediate remedy would be enact
ment of a bill he and Senator
Anderson. Dtmocrat, of New Mex.
leo. sponsored. The bill would al
low development and operation OF
od-shore deposits until the nasic
issue is settled. The Secretary
of the Interior would be authorized
to confirm State leases issued IN
good faith.
The Supreme Court has ruled
in cases brought by California,
Texas and Louisiana, that para
mount right to so-called tidelands
areas belongs to the Federal Gov
ernment and not the States.
Recalls Long Fight.
Senator O'Mahoney, chairman
Of the Senate Interior Committee,
reminded the governors:
THE unsuccessful effort which
has been waged in Congress for
13 years to persuade the United
States to surrender its jurisdic-
tion and control over the vast
source of petroleum deposits in
the submerged lands of the coastal
areas still continues in the face
of the fact that the Supreme
Court has held that the sub
merged areas seaward of the low
water mark are not the property
of the coastal States.
'For years the purpose of those
who were urging Congress to pass
a quitclaim law was to prevent the
Supreme Court from deciding the
legal issues. Now their purpose
is to reverse the Supreme Court"
Senator OMahoney, who sides
with the Federal Governments
claim. explained to the governors
that the immediate problem in
wolves the national interest "to
a degree not presently understood
by the public"
Cites Production Figure.
If the interim bills fails to pass,
he said. oil production from the
submerged areas would be cut off
to the detriment Of national de-
tense. He noted that off shore oil
production in California amounts
to 1.3 million barrels a month, and
100000 barrels in the Gulf of
Mexico.
'The United States" he added
"would thus be deprived of an
extraordinary source of petroleum
capable of vast expansion at a.
time when the responsibilities of
this Nation in the world crisis
are greater than ever before.
THE Importance of these de-
posits is emphasized by the turbu-
lsnce presently being aroused in
Iran by Soviet propagandists who
are seeking to cut off Western
Europe from the oil fields Of the
Middle East. No informed man
denies the imminent possibility
that this supply Of petroleum. may
pass at any moment from the
control OF the West to the control
of Russia"
Predicts Truman Veto.
Senator O'Mahoney predicted
chat President Truman would veto
a pending Senate bill for sur
render of Federal control of sub
merged areas. Such a ouitclaim
bill could not be passed over a
presidential veto, he said.
This makes an interim opera
ton bill imperative; otherwise the
people of this Nation will lose vast
supplies of oil which they sadly
need" he said. Development will
stop because the lessees cannot
continue to operate while the con-
troversy RACES.
"The interim bill will permit the
controversy to take it's course but
will preserve production. 1t will
provide revenue for the coastal
States =. and preserve to the in
terror States the vital stake they
have in the deposits under the
open sea surrounding the United
States"