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Show SUIT INVOLVES HALF I BILL! DOLUS Title to Western Oil Lands in Controversy in .United Slates Supreme Court. WASHINGTON. Nov. lD.-Titlo lo western oil lands valued at thc stupendous stupen-dous figure of 5r.00.O00,0OO is aald to do-pend do-pend upon tin. outcome of the legal controversy, con-troversy, which opened In earnest todsiy before the supreme coun 01 the United States. Kdiutind AV. Burke riled before the court his printed argument In fuvur of a claim to a portion of the land In controversy, acallilngly arrfilpnlnp: the ho i horn Pacific Railroad company, also l?litln' fo:- (he property. Thc ease will '"0 argued orally January C. The lund in controversy In this par-llcular par-llcular case ia in thc oil lloldpof southern south-ern California. The Southern leH'lc i:la ins it under a lund vn'iuM act and interior in-terior department pa tenia which contained con-tained the provision "excluding and excepting ex-cepting all mineral hinds, should any such be found In the tract " The validity and cillect of this exception excep-tion ia receiving unusual attention bo-cauf-c of Its having been Includcil in the land grants to other railroads for decade after decade. Jdi Bnrko contends that all oil land is mineral hind. According to tho brief filed todav. the interpretation of the exception will determine de-termine thc Southern Paclllc'a claim to oil land worth more than the entire railroad rail-road it-self. The brief charges the railroad rail-road with attempting to control tho mineral min-eral development of California through dummy corporations a.iul suggests that If It would slop this II would have more time lo devote to the carrying of pas-HongerH pas-HongerH and freight, "Just as It has greatly enhanced its value since tho few years il was relieved of the political control con-trol 0(4. California." The railroad, it is contended, would have thc courts hold land to be more valuable for agricultural purpoues than for mining, when tho land had hundreds hun-dreds of oil wells spouting forth their riches. |