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Show !IFJtf OFTEN YEARS HEIi El j Oil Land Leasing Bill Ready to be Submitted to I Congress f WASHINGTON, Fob 3 Tho con-i con-i Terence report on the oil land leasing ' bill was ready to bo submitted to the , house today where an effort will bo made to give it immediate consideration. considera-tion. Little opposition was expected. The bill's passage will end a controversy contro-versy of ten years standing and open I for development 75.000,000 acres of land in western states. As now proposed, tho bill affects oil, coal, gas. phosphate, sodium and oil shale lands and is strictly a leasing measure, all provisions for outright , sale having been eliminated. Under , the measure approximately -14.000.000 ; acres of government coal land alone i would be opened for development as well as about eight million acres of oil lands. As agreed on by the conferees the bill specifies only a minimum royalty the senate provisions providing maximum maxi-mum royalties having been eliminated. In the matter of contested claims on oil, the conferees v.greed upon 70 per cent of the royalty received on past production going to the reclamation fund, 20 per cent to the stales in which the oil was produced and ten per cent to the government. Under another compromise, all royalties derived de-rived from oil, gas, coal, phosphate and sodium produced in the future will be distributed. 52 per cent to tho reclamation re-clamation fund. 371" per cent to the states and 10 per cent to the government. govern-ment. The compromised measure also provides pro-vides that the total amount of the royalties to be paid shall be determined deter-mined by competitive bidding or by methods to be prescribed by the secretary sec-retary of the interior. For oil lands a maximum of 3200 acres may be leaped at a minimum royalty pf"l2V , per cent. The maximum for coal lands Is 25G0 acres with a minimum royalty v.i i) jmi h tun. rue same acreage J is prescribed for phosphate and sodium so-dium but 5120 acres of oil shale lands can be leased. I Senate rc'mcdial provisions over i which a deadlock developed and which is designed to permit an adjustment 'of demands over claims growing out jof the development of the naval re-. re-. serves in California and Wyoming (were in part retained. Under a compromise com-promise proposed by Representative (Sinnott of Oregon, chairman of the jhouse managers, and accepted by tho jconferees, however, sales of surplus oil lands by persons holding more than 3200 acres, the maximum allowed 'under the bill, and made after last Oc-jjtobcr Oc-jjtobcr 1, would be Invalidated. This ; modification is designed to prevent I , land juggling. |