322 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



approved in all respects the leasing system. Its success is abundantly 

 shown. It is possible that at first considerable latitude will have to be 

 given to the executive in drafting these forms of lease, but as soon as 

 experiment shall show which is the most workable and practicable, its 

 use should be provided for specifically by statute. 



The question as to how great an area ought to be included in a 

 lease to one individual or corporation is not free from difficulty; but 

 in view of the fact that the government retains control as owner, I think 

 there might be some liberality in the amount leased, and that 2,500 

 acres would not be too great a maximum. 



By the opportunity to readjust the terms upon which the coal shall 

 be held by the tenant, either at the end of each lease or at periods dur- 

 ing the term, the government may secure the benefit of sharing in the 

 increased price of coal and the additional profit made by the tenant. 

 By imposing conditions in respect to the character of the work to be 

 done in the mines, the government may control the character of the 

 development of the mines and the treatment of employees with reference 

 to safety. By denying the right to transfer the lease except by the 

 written permission of the governmental authorities, it may withhold 

 the needed consent when it is proposed to transfer the leasehold to per- 

 sons interested in establishing a monopoly of coal production in any 

 state or neighborhood. As one third of all the coal supply is held by 

 the government, it seems wise that it should retain such control over the 

 mining and the sale as the relation of lessor to lessee furnishes. The 

 change from the absolute grant to the leasing system will involve a good 

 deal of trouble in the outset, and the training of experts in the matter 

 of making proper leases; but the change will be a good one, and can 

 be made. The change is in the interest of conservation, and I am glad 

 to approve it. 



Alaska Coal Lands 



The investigations of the geological survey show that the coal prop- 

 erties in Alaska cover about 1,200 square miles, and that there are 

 known to be available about fifteen billion tons. This is, however, an 

 underestimate of the coal in Alaska, because further developments will 

 probably increase this amount many times; but we can say with con- 

 siderable certainty that there are two fields on the Pacific slope which 

 can be reached by railways at a reasonable cost from deep water — in one 

 case of about fifty miles and in the other case of about 150 miles — which 

 will afford certainly six billion tons of coal, more than half of which is 

 of a very high grade of bituminous and of anthracite. It is estimated 

 to be worth, in the ground, one half a cent a ton, which makes its value 

 per acre from $50 to $500. The coking-coal lands of Pennsylvania are 

 worth from $800 to $2,000 an acre, while other Appalachian fields are 

 worth from $10 to $386 an acre, and the field in the central states from 



