the maximum possible freedom to private initiative, and to allow easy acquirement of mineral resources from the government. At the other extreme, in South Africa, Australia, and South America, it is impossible for the individual to secure title in fee simple from the government; he must develop the mineral resources on what amounts to a lease or rental basis, the ownership remaining in the government.
The trend of events in mineral laws is toward the latter procedure. This is evidenced in the United States by the withdrawal of large areas of public lands from entry, and by the recent enactment substituting leasing privileges for specified minerals for the outright ownership which was allowed under the federal law before the lands were withdrawn from entry. The withdrawal of oil lands from public entry in other parts of the world is another illustration (see pp. 131-132).
Nationalization of Mineral Resources
Nationalization, as this term is popularly understood, means financial control and management of mineral resources by the government, either through actual ownership or through measures of public control designed to eliminate private interest from the active direction of the resources. In a broader sense, it may be used to include a considerable variety of restrictive and coercive measures adopted by the government in the proposed interests of public welfare,—as illustrated by the war-time measures instituted by the United States and other governments relating to the mining and distribution of coal, and to coal prices. In this broader sense various aspects of nationalization are indicated under other headings in this and other chapters.
It is clear that other countries of the world have gone farther in the direction of nationalization of mineral resources than the United States. The tendency was manifest before the war, and has been strongly emphasized during and since the war. In the United States, notwithstanding war-time measures, the subject has not yet come prominently forward, at least by name. On the other hand, there has been growing recognition of the dependence of public welfare on the proper handling of mineral resources—particularly of the energy resources, coal and oil,—as evidenced by a variety of proposals and measures under consideration in legislative and administrative branches of our national and state governments. Even taxation, both local and national, has in effect reached a stage where private interest has become considerably minimized by the increasing burdens laid on the industry by government requirements. The immediate purpose of taxation is to raise money for the needs of the government; but in the formulation of tax measures there is clearly to be discerned a growth of underlying sentiment that natural resources belong in some fashion to the public, and that private control is to be regarded not as a sacred property right but as a trust held on sufferance of the public.
In view of the obvious trend toward nationalization in other parts of the world and the significant tendencies in the United States, it seems likely that the subject of nationalization of mineral resources will come prominently to the front in this country in the comparatively near future. If so, it is time that students of mineral resources should recognize the comprehensiveness of this problem, and should attempt to develop basic principles to serve as a guide in the direction and formulation of the numerous and complex measures which are sure to be proposed. At present there is no government or technical organization related to the industry which is studying the problem in its broader aspects and is in a position to advise wisely with public officials interested in this problem.
It is beyond the scope of this book to discuss the pro and con of an economic question of this magnitude. The writer would, however, record his belief, which is implied also in discussions in other chapters, that the