Evening star., 1953-01-17
Mr.. Trumon's Offshore Rabbit

Mr.. Trun1on's Offshore Rabbit
President Truman has made a poor vale
dictory gesture in issuing his executive order
to set aside all offshore oil and gas deposits
as naval reserve. Conceivably he may feel
that he has done the right thing in the interest
of national defense, but there is good reason
to suspect-in view of the history of the mis-
named "tidelands" issue-that he has been
motivated primarily by a politicking desire to
embarrass the incoming Eisenhower admin
istration and the new Republican controlled
Congress.
1t seems exceedingly strange at any rate,
that Mr.. Truman has waited until this late
date-until just before leaving ofhce-to dis
cover that the safety of the Nation demands
the kind of action he has taken. Heretofore,
through years of controversy over the subject
he has favored compromise legislation implicitly
recognizing that the coastal States-particu-
larly California, Texas, Louisiana and Florida
are entitled to some limited share in the sub
merged riches off their shores. But now, on
the eve of returning to private life, he has
pulled rabbit out of his hat. The rabbit,
which he appears never to have noticed before,
is the Naval Petroleum Reserves Act-plus those
inherent powers" of steel case fame-under
which he has instructed the Secretary of the
deposits in the continental shelf.
Of course, in making this legally dubious
move, Mr. Truman has been anything but
unaware of the fact that General Eisenhower
has publicly pledged himself to approve legis-
lation quitclaiming to the adjacent States "all
submerged lands and resources beneath inland
and offshore waters which lie within historic
State boundaries" BY a vote of 247 to 80 in
the House and so to 35 in the Senate, the last
Congress enacted such quitclaim-whch was
vetoed-and a similar majority in the new
Congress is waiting to do the same, with assur-
ances that the bill will be signed in the White
House If properly drafted. Yet, despite this
clear prospect and though fully realizing that
his successor can promptly rescind the order,
the retiring President has come forward with
his eleventh-hour executive fat and his accom-
panying statement declaring Cd that it would
be "the height of folly" to "give away the
vast amount of oil in the continental shelf
and (2) that national security has necesstated
his decision.
Thus. as one of his last official acts Mr..
Truman has seen fit to fly in the face of
position shared by both the President-elect and
what seems to be strong bipartisan majority
in Congress. Why has he done so when he
knows that his move is subject to quick can
collation. and that his security argument is a
weak thing that has been well refuted in past
debate? Certainly, given the circumstances of
the situation, it is not unfair to conclude that he
has made the gesture chiefly with the end in
view of embarrassing his successor by describing
as a blow to national defense and as "give-
away the has also called it robbery in broad
daylght") any honest and equitable effort to
quitclaim to the States the riches lying within
their traditional seaward boundaries. In other
fl,n
earmarks of a demagogically slick political
maneuver designed to put the incoming admin
istration uncomfortably on the defensive in
whatever is done to resolve the so-called
"tidelandS" question-one of the most mis-
represented issues of our time.
But neither General Eisenhower nor his
congressional supporters have reason to be
embarrassed. For they are on altogether sound
ground-in terms of morals, law, equity and
national Security-in advocating qultclalm
bill. What Mr.. Truman has said about "give-
away" and robbery in broad daylight" besides
indirectly suggesting that majority of hon
orable Senators and Representatives are lending
themselves to thievery, is a fantastic distortion
of facts. One fact is this: That the States
have powerful arguments on their side in
claiming the resources within their historic
seaward boundaries-1Oh miles out in the case
O1 clOI1ud anu 1cAdS, dIu S72 AAA1CS Ou1 III CAAO
case of the others. Another fact is this: That
within these boundaries is located only between
20 and 80 per cent of the offshore oil and gas
deposits And third fact Is this That the
legislation favored by the President-elect would
clearly establish Federal ownership and control
over everything else-that is to say, over
between 10 and 80 per cent of all the riches
in the continental shelf.
It is Misrepresentation of the worst kind
to suggest that such legislation in addition to
injuring national security, would "give away"
all the wealth off the Nations shores. It would
do nothing of the sort. On the contrary-and
the Supreme Courts decisions on the subject
in no way rule it QUIT would merely entitle
the adjacent States to the limited share that
they and the President-elect and congress
sional majority honestly believe is rightfully
theirs. Clearly, despite Mr.. Trumans executive
order, nobody who votes for a quitclaim along
that line should feel the slightest sense of
embarrassment.