Salaries and expenses of attorneys, Five Civilized Tribes, 1918. Reford Bond, attorney for Chickasaws: Indian moneys, proceeds of labor, Chickasaw, royalties Salary of attorney Expenses of attorney. Indian moneys, proceeds of labor, Chickasaw, unallotted lands Salary of attorney.. $833.32 $1,096. 32 3,749.94 1, 210. 66 4, 960, 60 6, 056.92 Mr. HASTINGS. Do those contracts provide for the employment of assistant attorneys under them, or any other employees under them other than stenographers? Mr. MERITT. I think they are limited to a stenographer, if I remember correctly. I know the contract with Judge Allen authorized the employment of an assistant. Mr. HASTINGS. But no such provision, it is your recollection, is contained in any of the present contracts, either that ending June 30 of last year or during the current year? Mr. MERITT. That is my recollection, and it is my belief that the only persons employed by the attorneys now are stenographers and clerks. Probably they may have some clerks to look up some title records and matters of that kind. They are not expending as much money now as they did formerly. The next item reads: For fulfilling treaties with Choctaws. Oklahoma: For permanent annuity (article two, treaty of November 16, 1805, and article thirteen, treaty of June 22, 1855), $3.000; for permanent annuity for support of light horsemen (article thirteen, treaty of October 18, 1820, and article thirteen, treaty of June 22, 1855), $600; for permanent annuity for support of blacksmith (article six, treaty of October 18, 1820, and article nine, treaty of January 20, 1825, and article thirteen, treaty of June 22, 1855), $600; for permanent annuity for education (article two, treaty of January 20, 1825, and article thirteen, treaty of June 22. 1855), $6.000; for permanen annuity for iron and steel (article nine, treaty of January 20, 1825, and article thirteen, treaty of June 22, 1855), $320; in all, $10,520. This is a treaty item, Mr. Chairman, and we offer for the record the following justification: Fulfilling treaties with Choctaws, Oklahoma. This item is for the purpose of carrying out the provisions entered into with the Choctaw Indians. Article 13 of the treaty of June 22, 1855 (11 Stat. L., 611-614), reads in part as follows: "The amounts secured by existing treaty stipulations, viz: Permanent annuity of $3,000, under the second article of the treaty of 1805; $600 per annuin for the support of the light horsemen, under the thirteenth article of the treaty of 1820; permanent annuity of $6,000 for education, under the second article of the treaty of 1825; $600 per annum permanent provision for the support of a blacksmith, under the sixth article of the treaty of 1820; and $320, permanent provision for iron and steel, under the ninth article of the treaty of 1825, shall continue to be paid or expended for the benefit of the Choctaws as heretofore, or the same may be applied to such objects of general utility as may from time to time be designated by the general council of the tribe, with the approbation of the government of the United States ** * * "" The amount asked, $10,520, is the same as was appropriated by the Act of May 25, 1918, (Public No. 159, 65th Congress), and appropriation should be made to fulfill existing treaty stipulations. The next item is: For the salaries and expenses of not to exceed six oil and gas inspectors and necessary clerks and field assistants, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, to supervise oil and gas mining operations on allotted and tribal lands in the State of Oklahoma from which restrictions have not been removed, and to conduct investigations with a view to the prevention of waste, $25,000. We offer for the record the following justification for this item: Oil and Gas Inspectors, Five Civilized Tribes, Oklahoma. OIL AND GAS INSPECTORS IN OKLAHOMA. In the estimate for oil and gas inspection on Indian lands in Oklahoma, the sum of $25,000 has been asked for the following reasons: 1. Prior to the fiscal year 1918, the inspection work was only carried on within the boundaries of the Five Civilized Tribes, but as the development of oil and gas fields has extended into other localities it will necessitate additional inspectors to cover those territories. 2. Under existing conditions it is impossible to secure and maintain continuously in the Service competent men to carry on the work in an efficient manner without giving them an adequate compensation, somewhat in keeping with wages which they could earn in their ordinary profession as oil well operators. 3. It has been found by experience that there is a great deal of work which can be done that is of vital importance, not only to the Indian, but to the oil industry as a whole, in the exclusion of water from producing sands, and thereby increasing production. In this connection, attention is invited to the fact that prior to the time the inspectors working in Oklahoma took up the question of the exclusion of water, there had been nothing done along that line. During the past fiscal year, in fact, mostly within the last three months of the fiscal year, there have been more than 58 wells cemented, thereby excluding water and increasing production. From these 58 wells, there has been an increase in production of something more than 2,100 barrels per day, above what the wells were producing before they were cemented. Many of these wells had produced nothing but water for months, and some of them for more than a year. This increased production of 2,100 barrels at the quoted market price of $2.25 per barrel would be equivalent to a gross value of $4,725 per day, or a total of $1,524,625 for one year. Unless dequate steps are taken to properly care for the various fields in the shortest period of time, irreparable damage will be done as already has been done in certain fields in Oklahoma where water has completely ruined large areas of producing territory. 4. On July 1, 1918, there were about 93,396 acres of Indian land on which either oil or gas were being produced in the Five Civilized Tribes. In the Osage, there were 89,906 acres; in the Pawnee Reservation, 956; and in Otoe, 160 acres. Development has been slow in the Pawnee and Otoe reservations, but indications point to the possibilities of increased development. There are also certain indications which point to the possibility of some extensive development in the Kiowa Reservation, in the south central part of the State. Excluding the Osage Reservation, oil and gas inspectors have supervision over a territory comprising a total of 94,512 acres producing oil and gas. Under the present appropriation, the inspection force consists of three inspectors, one engineer, and two clerks, covering all Oklahoma except the Osage, and it has been found to be a physical impossibility for three inspectors to supervise operations for this territory, which is scattered from the north boundary of Oklahoma to the Texas boundary on the south, and from the eastern boundary of Oklahoma to as far as the fifth or sixth range west. 5. Within the boundary of the Five Civilized Tribes it is reasonable to assume that there will be no further extensive development where large pools are opened up, but territory already developed can and should be made to produce oil for a long period of time if proper methods are only used. In order to obtain the best results possible for the benefit of the Indians, as well as in the interest of conservation and an increased production of oil and gas, an adequate fund should be provided for inspection work to meet existing conditions. This work is being done by representatives of the Bureau of Mines very largely, and they feel that they have been somewhat handicapped in this work because of lack of funds, and in view of the new oil territory opening up in the southwestern part of Oklahoma this additional appropriation is needed. Mr. SNYDER. Are these four inspectors that are now in this department located at certain points throughout the State of Oklahoma? Mr. MERITT. Their heaquarters are at Muskogee, and they work in various parts of the State. Mr. SNYDER. Well, in the opening up of these new wells, how much more territory will these men have to cover than they now cover? Mr. MERITT. The Kiowa and Comanche Reservation is a very large reservation and covers considerable territory. Mr. SNYDER. And in the judgment of the department this additional work could not be distributed among these four inspectors that are now in the employ of this department? Mr. MERITT. The field will be so large that they can not very well give the proper attention to all of the oil interests of the Indians in that territory. Mr. SNYDER. Well, this does not refer to those inspectors that we struck out here a year or so ago? There was an item in a year or two ago where we reduced the number of men that were doing certain inspection work. Mr. MERITT. This is the item that was reduced. We formerly had six inspectors. Mr. SNYDER. And we thought at that time that you had too many. Mr. MERITT. The committee reduced the number. Mr. SNYDER. Because, as I recall, on investigation we found that some of those men, so far as anybody that was here that lived in Oklahoma was concerned, had never learned that they had been there for any purpose. Mr. MERITT. These inspectors have introduced a system in connection with the protection of wells that has been followed to a considerable extent by oil operators, and the oil operators are beginning to appreciate the work of these oil inspectors. Mr. SNYDER. Well, has anybody else outside of the department suggested that there should be more inspectors? Mr. MERITT. Not to my knowledge. Mr. SNYDER. That's all. Mr. CHANDLER. Mr. Commissioner, I was going to ask you, what are the duties of these inspectors? What do they really do down. there? Mr. MERITT. They go from one district to the other, inspecting the operations of the oil producers, and see that the gas is conserved and that the oil drilling is done along proper lines so that the greatest amount of oil will be produced. The indians naturally have an interest in this oil production, because it is on their lands and they receive royalties from the production of the oil. Mr. CHANDLER. Is that all they do, just visit the different properties? Mr. MERITT. Very frequently we have a question as to the proper amount of bonus that is offered by an oil operator, and they submit reports on questions of that character. Mr. CHANDLER. Doesn't that go to another division in the agency at Muskogee, the bonus proposition? Mr. MERITT. That is passed on by the regular oil division of Oklahoma, but their services are sometimes utilized in that connection. Mr. CHANDLER. These men have nothing to do with the plugging of wells, then, in the State of Oklahoma? Mr. MERITT. It is their duty to see that wells are properly plugged. Mr. CHANDLER. I notice in your justification here, Item No. 3. It reads to me a great deal like one of these blue-sky oil company's prospectuses. You say 58 wells or you have cemented in 58 wells, saving a production of 2,100 barrels per day, which at so much a barrel would bring something over a million dollars for the year. An oil man or anybody that knew anything about the oil business certainly didn't write that, did he? Mr. MERITT. We got those figures from reports submitted to us by our field representatives. Mr. CHANDLER. By these inspectors? Mr. MERITT. Yes, sir. By the chief oil and gas inspector. Mr. CHANDLER. Did you ever figure that up? Did you notice that it averages something like 40 barrels per day for each one of those wells? Mr. MERITT. That is rather a strong statement, if that is the average per well. Mr. CHANDLER. Don't you know that the average production of wells in the State of Oklahoma is less than 4 barrels per well? Mr. MERITT. I know it is quite a small production on an average. Mr. CHANDLER. And on old wells it is an exceptional case where you have as much as 4 barrels production on a lease per well. Mr. SNYDER. Well, what do you suggest? Mr. CHANDLER. I simply wanted to call the attention of the committee to this section, that it is inconsistent; that it could not be right; that even if they save that much initial production it wouldn't figure up at that rate per year, because everybody knows that production goes down, and even if the initial first day's production amounted to what they claim, it couldn't keep up that average during the year. In fact, anyone that knows anything about the oil business knows that such a statement is incorrect, and if an inspector in charge down there makes such a statement as this, he is unfit to hold such a position. Mr. MERITT. Upon checking over these figures I find them correct. They are taken from A. A. Hammer's report to the Bureau of Mines. Mr. Hammer is chief oil and gas inspector. Mr. CHANDLER. I would like for this statement to go into the record also. I also offer in regard to superintending, plugging, and looking after wells-I am going to offer for the record sections 4325, 4328, 4329, and 4331 of the revised laws of Oklahoma. The sections referred to follow: 4325. Abandoned wells to be plugged, how.-All lessees or operators drilling or operating for crude oil or natural gas within the State of Oklahoma shall immediately. in a practical and workmanlike manner, under the supervision of the oil and gas inspector, as hereinafter provided, plug all dry or abandoned oil and gas wells in which oil or gas-bearing stratum has been found, in the following manner: Beginning at the bottom of the hole, same shall be solidly filled with crushed rock or sand pumpings, or both, to a point twentyfive feet above the top level of the oil- or gas-bearing sand; at that point a wooden plug of seasoned pine, two feet in length and not less than one-half inch in diameter less than the inside diameter of the hole at that point, shall be placed; thereafter the hole shall be filled up solidly twenty-five feet farther with a substance consisting of one-third portion of cement and twothirds portion of sand properly mixed with water; thereafter another wooden plug of seasoned pine, two feet in length and not less than one-half inch in diameter less than the inside diameter of the hole at that point, shall be placed; thereafter the hole shall be filled up solidly twenty-five feet farther with crushed rock and sand pumpings, or both: Provided, that all such wells drilled to the Mississippi lime shall be plugged above the Mississippi lime in the same manner as provided for hereinabove as to the plug |