Evening star., 1951-11-22
Chapman Ruling Bars
Attempt 10 GET Title
To Coastal Oil Lands

~ NVUSIUl VII kQIIUJ
Interior Secretary Chapman's
decision that land scrip may not
be used to claim submerged
coastal lands has turned aside
a spectacular attempt by busi-
nesSmen to get private title to
more than 1000 acres of the oil
rich sea floor.
Mr.. Chapman yesterday reject
ed IL claims to the underwater
oil lands off the coasts of Texas,
California and Louisiana, some of
which had been hanging fire for
five years. At stake were multi
million investments of oil
companies. as well as untold mil
lions IN oil-lease royalties.
Heading the claimants was E. L.
Cord, California millionaire and
one-time manufacturer of the
Cord automobile. who applied for
1882 acres of land-pinpointed
around producing oil wells in the
Gulf of Mexico.
Court Fight Planned.
Mr.. Cord, who says he has put
81 million into the script project,
announced in Reno, New, today
that he would carry his case to
court.
The land was claimed in ex-
change for land scrip, certificates
issued by the Government, which
give poSsessors the right to claim
certain lands in the public do
main. The scrip involved, much
of it given to old soldiers for
settlement, was issued between
1855 and 1907.
The Supreme Court has held
that the Federal Government has
paramount rights" over the mar
ginal seas. and the claimants con-
tended sections of the ocean floor
they picked out coud be claimed
as public lands.
In turning down the applica-
tions, Mr.. Chapman ruled basi-
cally that the term, public lands"
when related to the disposition of
land, docs not include land lying
seaward of the line of high tide
along the coast" He also cited
several other prohibitions, drawn
up by Martin White, Interior So
licitor.
Relates Only to Scrip Claims.
Interior officials said the ruling
applied only to land disposition
laws as they relate to the scrip
claims and would have no effect
on the bitter "tidelands" dispute
between the Federal Government
and States over control of the
coastal lands.
The ruling, however, brought an
immediate charge from Represent
ative Combs, Democrat. of Texas,
that it constitutes public recog-I
milton on the part of the Secre-
tary of Interior that the Federal
Government does not own the
submerged lands"
Clearly, Mr.. Combs added.
"the submerged lands within the
seaward boundaries of the States
are as much a part of the State
public domain as lands above
water within the State bound
aries"
Interior officials also released
the reply of a letter from Mr..
Chapman to Senator Connally, !
Democrat, of Texas. who recently
warned the Secretary to discon-
tinue any contemplated action"
to seize or otherwise control the /
tidelands without the authority of .
Congress.
Reply to COnnally.
In his reply, Mr.. Chapman said .
Interior already has asserted lad
ministrative jurisdiction" over the /
submerged lands, following the
historic Supreme Court decisions.
The Secretary said the Execu-
tive Branch "doeS not have under
consideration any new scheme to
take over or seize the submerged /
lands . inaSmuch as such lands
have been the subject of admins /
tration by the Executive Branch
since December II, 1880"
Thus far, hSWever, he con- /
tinued. the administration has
only used its inherent powers"
to conserve and protect" the
underwater areas and their min
eral wealth. And he urged that 1
Congress act to clay down the
rules to be followed" by the De-
partment in its control.
Delay in Ruling Explained.
Asked why action on the scrip
claims was delayed, Interior
officials said they did not
want to issue any ruling while
there was a possibility Congress
would act on the tidelands issue
before adjourning. The House al
ready has passed a bill giving
coastal States title to a three mile /.
sea margin. In the case of Texas.
the limit is 1912 miles.
Mr.. Cord, whose claim is by far
the largest of the II, said in Reno
he believes Mr.. Chapman is in
error in his definition of the sub
merged land as being "after-a -ac-
quired lands"
"These lands always have been
in the public domain" he added.
THE recent Supreme Court de-
cision merely affirmed that. Our
case will go to the Supreme Court,
if necessary.
The California Co., which is
operating oil wells on 756 of the
1882 acres claimed by Mr.. Cord,
has stated, in a protest to the
claims, that they cover completely
all the firms "a operating wells
off the Louisiana coast. The wells /
produce about 1000 barrels of
oil a day.
Factors in Rejection.
The protest indicated Mr.. Cord
first applied scrip against one acre