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Show POWER OP DIRS ' SOBJECTJIF TEST Oil Leasing Bill Is Opposed by Navy Department Head. ! Special to The Tribune. i WASHINGTON', Pee. 30. A fitjht is i impending in congress, the result of i which will determine if Secretary Daniels ; has jireuier power in that body than piac-. piac-. tically all of the western representatives and senators combined. The question at issue is the oil-!easimj bill which has passed the house and has been reported . favorably from the senate public lands ! committee. The proposed legislation provides for a plan of leasing- oil lands and includes a provision for the recognition of the equities of locators of oil lands who made their locations prior to the yeiit-ra order of September. 1909, when practically al! public lands known to contain oil were withdrawn from settlement and placed in oil reserves, subsequently designated as mi vat oil reserves. A similar measure passed the house in the last congress, but was defeated in the senate in the closing hours of the congress con-gress through the active opposition of the navy department. Recently, with the view to myelins' the objections of the navy department, if possible to do so, meetings have been beld by a joint committee com-mittee composed of three members each from the house and senate public lands committees, at which representatives of the departments of justice, interior and navy were present. At these meeiintrs various compromise plans Were submitted by the members of the joint committee with tiie view to obtaining a biii which would provide for leasing oil lands and also protect the oil operators who, in good faith, had located and commenced development of oil lands iti districts which lnier were created into naval reserves. Efforts in that direction direc-tion werf halted, however, by tiie declaration declara-tion of the secretary of the navy that his department would not agree to any remedial rem-edial legislation interfering with the holdings hold-ings in The naval reserves. FlGcardlcss of this declaration the western west-ern members of congress have decided to put a bid through if possible to do so in the face of the opposition of Secretary Daniels, who is likely to have the backing back-ing of the administration. The fight on the nn rt of the wtslorn members will be led by penalur Phelan of California, whose s!:ite suffer riMt if the legislation desired by the western men tliould not fat: enacted. |