Troubled Waters

Whether States, municipalities or Federal Government own title to the U. S. coast between high-water mark and the three-mile limit is by no means an academic question. The three-mile limit itself is slightly academic, since it was defined in the 18th Century by the approximate distance a cannon could throw a shot. In the case of the 13 Original States it has been pretty well established that the three-mile strip is theirs; in the case of States like California the natural confusion and controversy are a hundred times confounded. Last winter, a special session of the California Legislature concerned itself with little else. For off Huntington Beach, Long Beach and Wilmington Beach in Los Angeles Harbor and up & down the California coast are pools of oil thought to be worth $4,000,000,000.

Geologically, the situation is simple. Oil is taken out of off-shore pools by building piers or artificial islands and drilling downward (which is likely to ruin the beaches) or by whip-stocking down slantwise from the shore. Politically, it is more complicated. Standard Oil of California owns or controls virtually all of Huntington Beach and a good share of Long Beach and Wilmington Beach. Standard is as much of a political issue in California as Southern Pacific was 25 years ago. Standard's foes in the State Legislature, led by excitable Senator Culbert Olson, hotly denounce Governor Frank Merriam whenever he shows what they regard as partiality for Standard. Year ago, when a bill was passed prohibiting whip-stocking off Huntington Beach, Culbert Olson and his friends were pleased. But in the meantime Standard had whip-stocked out $5,000,000 worth of oil. Last October. Governor Merriam collected $518,000 royalties for the State--far too little, thought Culbert Olson.

Two months ago, the Legislature passed a bill that was Mr. Merriam's personal solution of the problem. It provided for a State Lands Commission to receive bids; but because it prohibited all drilling except by whip-stocking, the chief company that could submit bids was Standard Oil. Culbert Olson blew up. He will probably be the next Democratic candidate for Governor; Frank Merriam will probably be the Republican candidate. No Californian doubts what will be the prime campaign issue.

Meanwhile, the cities involved, quick to recognize that they would not need to levy taxes if they could charge royalties on their underwater oil, suggested gently that they, not the State, held the title. In Washington, the House Judiciary Committee, holding hearings on a Nye resolution to make the undersea oil lands a Naval reserve, has spent most of its time wondering if anyone at all holds the title. The question has become important only recently with the development of offshore drilling, and the committee had few judicial decisions to guide it. The Senate applied the Nye resolution to all underwater oil in the U. S., but the House committee restricted it to California. Last week, after three months' consideration, it decided that at least in California the Federal Government had title, reported out the resolution.

The Navy has three big oil reserves, one at Teapot Dome in Wyoming, two more in California, in Kern County and in the Buena Vista hills. The two California fields are checkerboarded with Standard Oil holdings. The resolution setting up the fourth big reserve provides that the Attorney General may take action against companies now operating in the tidelands. That, of course, will take time. Standard and its competitors last week continued to take out offshore oil. Frequently in the past year they have got as much as 15,000 barrels a day.

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