The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1955-04-01
GOVERNOR ADMITS PROBABLY NO
LOSS TO SCHOOLS" BECAUSE OF fight

Governor, the State Superintendent
again challenged him to discuss the
issue from the public platform, and
asked him why he continually caused
delay in settling the oil lease litiga-
ton if as ''you contend there has
been great loss to the schools because
of the oil leasing controversy"
Concluding, she said, 81 am
quite sure that there are many
groups of citizens in the state who
would be interested in furnishing
facilities for a public debate in
the event you wish to make all of
the facts available to the public,
as it is my desire to do"
While the Aronson-C Condor hassle
held the center of the stage in the
latest chapter of the dispute over
the 1853 law, Attorney General Arm
old Olsen was continuing to get some
telling ticks in on why the perpetual
leasing law is so very bad for Mon
tana taxpayers, generally. Speaking
before the annual banquet of Rocky
Mountain Sportsmen's Association in
Butte, Olsen took after the various
corporate pressure groups who session
after session come to the Legislature
to seek special privileges. He cited
several examples, and said sit is the
same selfish interests who join to-
gether and write oil lease laws which
would lease state school lands at a
cheaper price and less advantageously
than private lands"
Earlier, at the Thursday meeting
of the land board, Olsen reaffirmed
his long standing opposition to the
law in pointing out:
FROZEN
Under perpetual leases for all prac-
5ical purposes the royalty rate is
frozen at 12H per cent. This is, so
because under such leases the land
BOARD loses most of its authority to
administer in the best financial in
,erests of the schools and the lease
holder, thus protected, guages his
so that he will not have
production greater than the
',000-barrel maximum upon which
he minimum II u 90 royalty is to be
,aid.
''The 1917 per cent royalty rate
night be full market value in a wild
at area under some circumstances,
he Attorney General said, ''but ride
lousy below full market value in
lot oil country.
Forever is long time," Olsen
said. he Land Board does not
believe that it can tie up school
land at set price and yet get full
market value. Today, in a certain
district 20 per cent royalty may
be full market value. In future
years it may not be-"
His statement continued:
GAS oil country gets settled and
and as transportation of
il improves, royalties tend to go up.
; stands to reason that an oil COM
any on a pipeline and with a good
larket can afford to pay more for
Eases than an oil company in a print
We undeveloped country.
SCHOOLS WOULD BE
''Yet in the future the schools
ould be powerless to get more than
II per cent. 1t is not wild conjec-
re to say that in the future royalty
ties on the market may average SO
n cent. 1t is not wild because that
true today in some oil territory"
Olsen said Iran receives over SO
r cent royalty, Alberta starts with
;25 per cent with provisions for
riodic increase, Louisiana receives
ON 12H-40 per cent, Texas re-
ives up to 901a per cent and Long
each, Calf, gets as per cent or
pre-.
Montana must be in a position
o get higher royalty rates for its
chool land when the opportunity
resents ITSELF" Olsen said. "To
o that, the rate can't be frozen
t one figure forever. Montana,
Ike other landowners, must be free
} let oil operators compete for its
.aeasJ