REED SMOOT, Utah, Chairman. GEORGE W. NORRIS, Nebraska. IRVINE L. LENROOT, Wisconsin. EDWIN F. LADD, North Dakota. ROBERT N. STANFIELD, Oregon. PETER NORBECK, South Dakota. HOLM O. BURSUM, New Mexico. KEY PITTMAN, Nevada. ANDRIEUS A. JONES, New Mexico JOHN B. KENDRICK, Wyoming. THOMAS J. WALSH, Montana. PARLEY P. ECCLES, Clerk 8-21-1929 LEASES UPON NAVAL OIL RESERVES. MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1923. UNITED STATES SENATE, COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS AND SURVEYS, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 10 o'clock a. m. in room 210, Senate Office Building, Hon. Reed Smoot, chairman, presiding. Present: Senators Smoot, Lenroot, Ladd, Jones of New Mexico, and Walsh of Montana. The CHAIRMAN. If the committee will come to order, we will proceed with the consideration of Senate Resolution 282, as amended by Senate Resolution 294. I ask that those resolutions be made a part of the record. If any member of the committee desires to have the resolutions read, I will have the clerk do so now. I hardly think it necessary. (The two resolutions referred to, being Senate Resolution 282 and Senate Resolution 294, are here printed in full, as follows:) [Senate Resolution 282, Sixty-seventh Congress, second session.] Resolved, That the Secretary of the Interior is directed to send to the Senate: (a) Copies of all oil leases made by the Department of the Interior within naval oil reserve numbered one, and separately, naval oil reserve numbered two, both in the State of California, and naval oil reserve numbered three, in the State of Wyoming, showing as to each the claim upon which the lease was based or issued; the name of the lessee; the date of the lease; the area of the leased property; the amount of the rent, royalty, bonus, and all other compensation paid and to be paid to the United States. (b) All Executive orders and other papers in the files of the Department of the Interior and its bureaus, or copies thereof if the originals are not in the files, authorizing or regulating such leases, including correspondence or memoranda embodying or concerning all agreements, instructions, and requests by the President or the Navy Department as to the making of such leases and the terms thereof. (c) All correspondence, papers, and files showing and concerning the applications for such leases and the action of the Department of the Interior and its bureaus thereon and upon all the several claims upon which such leases were based or issued, all in said naval reserves. (d) And all contracts for drilling wells on naval oil reserves, date and terms of same, reasons therefor, and the number and date of the drilling of wells on private lands adjacent to oil reserves. Resolved further, That the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys be authorized to investigate this entire subject of leases upon naval oil reserves, with particular reference to the protection of the rights and equities of the Government of the United States and the preservation of its natural resources, and to report its findings and recommendations to the Senate. 04-1346mm |