Since 1920 the Department of the Interior has been freely passing out neat permits, at the rate of about 6,000 per year, which set inquisitive oil drills a-rattling on the public domain. Above most of these drills were "wildcatters," adventurous independent prospectors, sending their small assets down the drill holes on the chance of striking a gusher.
Some 20,000 drilling permits were outstanding last week when President Hoover decreed that no more should be issued, that no new oil leases should be executed, that the undiscovered oil supply of the U. S. Government should remain undiscovered indefinitely. He said:
"There will be...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
