324 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



dents of inheritance, or might even be used by the unscrupulous in 

 blackmailing. It would appear that land taken up under this law 

 might at any time be forfeited to the government through the action of 

 any individual who, innocently or otherwise, obtained interest in more 

 than one coal company. Such a title was felt to be too insecure to war- 

 rant the large investments needed for mining developments. The net 

 result of all this is that no titles to coal lands have been passed." 



On November 12, 1906, President Eoosevelt issued an executive 

 order withdrawing all coal lands from location and entry in Alaska. 

 On May 16, 1907, he modified the order so as to permit valid locations 

 made prior to the withdrawal on November 12, 1906, to proceed to 

 entry and patent. Prior to that date some 900 claims had been filed, 

 most of them said to be illegal because either made fraudulently by 

 dummy entrymen in the interests of one individual or corporation, or 

 because of agreements made prior to location between the applicants to 

 cooperate in developing the lands. There are 33 claims for 160 acres 

 each, known as the " Cunningham claims," which are claimed to be 

 valid on the ground that they were made by an attorney for 33 different 

 and bona-fide claimants who, as alleged, paid their money and took the 

 proper steps to locate their entries and protect them. 



The representatives of the government in the hearings before the 

 land office have attacked the validity of these Cunningham claims on 

 the ground that prior to their location there was an understanding be- 

 tween the claimants to pool their claims after they had been perfected 

 and unite them in one company. The trend of decision seems to show 

 that such an agreement would invalidate the claims, although under 

 the subsequent law of May 28, 1908, the consolidation of such claims 

 was permitted, after location and entry, in tracts of 2,560 acres. 



It would be, of course, improper for me to intimate what the result 

 of the issue as to the Cunningham and other Alaska claims is likely to 

 be, but it ought to be distinctly understood that no private claims for 

 Alaska coal lands have as yet been allowed or perfected, and also that 

 whatever the result as to pending claims, the existing coal-land laws of 

 Alaska are most unsatisfactory and should be radically amended. 



To begin with, the purchase price of the land is a flat rate of $10 

 per acre, although, as we have seen, the estimate of the agent of the 

 geological survey would carry up the maximum of value to $500 an 

 acre. In my judgment, it is essential in the proper development of 

 Alaska that these coal lands should be opened, and that the Pacific 

 slope should be given the benefit of the comparatively cheap coal of fine 

 quality which can be furnished at a reasonable price from these fields; 

 but the public, through the government, ought certainly to retain a wise 

 control and interest in these coal deposits, and I think it may do so 

 safely if congress will authorize the granting of leases, as already sng- 



