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Show ' , ' ' " i ,- " - , . . ' . . '"V -t":-v t t ' I -1 Secretary Lane's prediction that within sixty days railways and factories will be clo'sett forVa'nt of fuel' unless' the oil' leasing bill itf' passed, appears to be an astonishing admission. The approaching shortage of . oil has been emphasized from time to time, but the administration and congress evidently have not been sufficiently impressed by' the danger. The public will suspect that if our margin of safety is only sixty days, it is not enough to prevent the catastrophe the secre- . tary fears. However favorable the' leasing bill may be to development, de-velopment, it would seem as if the new law could not of itself provide sufficient' impetus to prevent a shortage short-age of fuel 6il. Steps should have been taken earlier to avert disaster. If necessary, the government should have organized the development work itself on to the making of a comparatively long drawn out survey sur-vey to determine actual conditions. The mere suspicion sus-picion that we were nearing a fuel oil famine should have been enough to set governmental agencies rapidly at work to develop new oil fields and to energize ener-gize the development in theold fields. Unless the administration arrives at decisions more promptly and executes its plans with the utmost vigor, we shall soon hear the cry raised' against our government govern-ment that has constantly been hurled at the British government the cry of "to late, always too late." The Salt Lake Tribune. |