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Show King Phosphate Bill Receives Okeh By Subcommittee A bill which would enable successful suc-cessful phosphate prospectors to obtain federal leases on their discovery without opening them to competitive bidding will be reported favorably to the House Interior Committee by its mining min-ing subcommittee. Rep. David S. King of Utah, sponsor of the bill, has been so advised by the mining subcommittee, subcom-mittee, which held hearings on the bill Thursday morning. Mr. King said the Interior committee itself was expected to act on the bill next week. It has already passed the Senate under the sponsorship of Sen. Frank E. Moss of Utah. The bill would establish two year prospecting permits to protect pro-tect the prospectors' claims," Mr. King said. "If within that period, the prospectors can show the Secretary of the Interior that there are valuable phosphate deposits de-posits on their claims, they will be entitled to leases on any or all of the lands covered by their permits," he said. "In the absence of a permit provision, pro-vision, the government has been able to issue only leases and these have always been awarded j through competitive bidding, t without regard for the person ! who made the original discovery," discov-ery," Mr. King said. "Often the hard working prospector pros-pector who made the discovery has been edged out of it in the bidding," he said. |