United States Lennan v. Wilbur United States Simpson v. Wilbur United States Barton v. Wilbur United States Pyron v. Wilbur

Decision Date18 May 1931
Docket Number704,Nos. 618,743,676,s. 618
Citation75 L.Ed. 1148,283 U.S. 414,51 S.Ct. 502
PartiesUNITED STATES ex rel. McLENNAN v. WILBUR, Secretary of the Interior. UNITED STATES ex rel. SIMPSON v. WILBUR, Secretary of the Interior, et al. UNITED STATES ex rel. BARTON v. WILBUR, Secretary of the Interior. UNITED STATES ex rel. PYRON v. WILBUR, Secretary of the Interior, et al
CourtU.S. Supreme Court

Messrs. Lewis Edwin Hoffman and Chester I. Long, both of Washington, D. C., for petitioner McLennan.

Mr. Homer R. Hendricks, of Washington, D. C., for petitioner Simpson.

Mr. James Conlon, of Washington, D. C., for petitioner Barton.

Messrs. James G. Leovy, of Los Angeles, Cal., and John W. Fisher, of Washington, D. C., for petitioner Pyron.

Mr. J. A. Greenwood, of Cheyenne, Wyo., for State of Wyoming.

Mr. Clarence L. Ireland, of Denver, Colo., for State of Colorado, as amici curiae by special leave of court.

The Attorney General and Mr. Seth W. Richardson, Asst. Atty. Gen., for respondents.

[Argument of Counsel from page 415 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice McREYNOLDS delivered the opinion of the Court.

All these causes turn on the same point of law; the records disclose facts not materially different; one opinion will suffice.

The Act of Congress approved February 25, 1920, 41 Stat. 437, intended to promote certain mining operations, contains thirty-eight sections.

Section 1. 'That deposits of coal, phosphate, sodium, oil, oil shale, or gas, and lands containing such deposits owned by the United States, * * * shall be subject to disposition in the form and manner provided by this Act. * * *' 30 USCA § 181.

'Sec. 13. That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized, under such necessary and proper rules and regulations as he may prescribe, to grant to any applicant qualified under this Act a prospecting permit, which shall give the exclusive right, for a period not exceeding two years, to prospect for oil or gas upon not to exceed two thousand five hundred and sixty acres of land wherein such deposits belong to the United States and are not within any known geological structure of a producing oil or gas field upon condition that the permittee shall begin drilling operations within six months from the date of the permit, and shall, within one year from and after the date of permit, drill one or more wells for oil or gas to a depth of not less than five hundred feet each, unless valuable deposits of oil or gas shall be sooner discovered, and shall, within two years from date of the permit, drill for oil or gas to an aggregate depth of not less than two thousand feet unless valuable deposits of oil or gas shall be sooner discovered. * * *' 30 USCA § 221.

'Sec. 14. That upon establishing to the satisfaction of the Secretary of the Interior that valuable deposits of oil or gas have been discovered within the limits of the land embracd in any permit, the permittee shall be entitled to a lease for one-fourth of the land embraced in the prospecting permit. * * *' 30 USCA § 223.

Section 9 (30 USCA § 211) authorizes the Secretary to lease lands containing deposits of phosphates under such general regulation as he may adopt. By section 17 (30 USCA § 226) unappropriated deposits of oil or gas situated within the known geologic structure of a producing oil or gas field 'may be leased by the Secretary of the Interior to the highest responsible bidder, * * *' such leases to be conditioned upon the payment by the lessee of such bonus as may be accepted and of such royalty as may be fixed in the lease, etc. Section 21 (30 USCA § 241) authorizes the Secretary to lease deposits of oil shale under such regulations as he may prescribe, for indefinite periods.

Section 2 (30 USCA § 201) declares that the Secretary 'is authorized to, and upon the petition of any qualified applicant shall, divide any of the coal lands or the deposits of coal, classified and unclassified, owned by the United States, outside of the Territory of Alaska, into leasing tracts of forty acres each, * * *' and thereafter 'shall, in his discretion, upon the request of any qualified applicant or on his own motion, from time to time, offer such lands or deposits of coal for leasing, and shall award leases thereon by competitive bidding or by such other methods as he may by general regulations adopt, to any qualified applicant. * * *'

'Sec. 22. That any bona fide occupant or claimant of oil or gas bearing lands in the Territory of Alaska, who, or whose predecessors in interest, prior to withdrawal had complied otherwise with the requirements of the mining laws, but had made no discovery of oil or gas in wells and who prior to withdrawal had made substantial improvements for the discovery of oil or gas on or for each location or had prior to the passage of this Act expended not less than $250 in improvements on or for each location shall be entitled, upon relinquishment or surrender to the United States within one year from the date of this Act, or within six months after final denial or withdrawal of application for patent, to a prospecting permit or permits, lease or leases, under this Act covering such lands. * * *' 30 USCA § 251.

Section 23. That the Secretary 'is hereby authorized and directed, under such rules and...

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