Full opinion text
PORTERIE, District Judge. This litigation arises out of a conveyance of all of the oil, gas and sulphur in, on and under the tracts in dispute from Bodcaw Lumber Company of Louisiana, Inc., to Good Pine Oil Company, Inc. (the defendant’s predecessor in title), under a deed dated November 12, 1932. The instrument granting the mineral rights contained the following provisión: “ * * * it . being expressly stipulated that none of said rights in any of said lands shall be prescribed unless there shall elapse a Full Period of Ten (10) Years in which there shall be no exercise of any of the foregoing rights or user of any of the lands aforesaid under and by virtue hereof.” The history of that conveyance is of some importance. In 1932 five lumber companies owning lands in north central Louisiana decided to pool the mineral rights which they owned in order to secure the exploration and development of their lands. To that end, they conveyed all of the oil, gas and sulphur in, on and under the lands which they owned to Good Pine Oil Company, Inc., a corporation organized for that purpose, receiving stock in direct proportion to the minerals which they contributed. Included in these conveyances was a deed dated November 12, 1932, conveying the minerals under 37,352 acres of land in Natchitoches Parish (including the tracts involved in this suit) from Bodcaw Lumber Company of Louisiana, Inc., to Good Pine Oil Company, Inc. That deed contained the following paragraph: “It is intended hereby to confer upon Vendee absolutely and without limit for time of their enjoyment any and every right, title and interest which this Vendor has to the oil, gas and sulphur within said lands, including the exclusive right to extract and produce same. And the rights herein conferred may be assigned,' transferred or leased, in whole or in part, by Vendee or under its authority and shall inure to the benefit of Vendee, its successors and assigns, and lessees hereunder, it being expressly stipulated that none of said rights in any of said lands shall be prescribed unless there shall elapse a full period of ten (10) years in which there shall be no exercise of any of the foregoing rights or user of any of the lands aforesaid under and by virtue hereof.” Within ten years after this conveyance from Bodcaw to Good Pine Oil Company was executed and within ten years of the date on which this suit was instituted, five wells, all dry holes, were drilled on the lands described in that conveyance. None of those wells, however, were drilled on the tracts involved in this suit or on tracts which were contiguous thereto. In 1940, however, production was developed on other tracts conveyed to Good Pine Oil Company under the 1932 pooling agreement and many of the wells developed at that time are still producing. Most of the production which has been developed on the pooled acreage has been on acreage contributed by Good Pine Lumber Company of Louisiana, Inc., Trout Creek Lumber Company of Louisiana, Inc., and Tall Timber Lumber Company of Louisiana, Inc., although a small amount of production has been developed on acreage contributed by Bodcaw; no production has ever been developed on the acreage contributed to the pool by Grant Timber & Manufacturing Company of Louisiana, Inc., the fifth member of the pooling agreement. The income arising from such production has been distributed periodically to the participants in the pool in the form of dividends on the Good Pine stock, which in turn was owned in direct proportion tc the acreage which each lumber company contributed to the pool. Beginning in' 1934, Bodcaw Lumber Company of Louisiana, Inc., and Grant Timber & Manufacturing Company of Louisiana, Inc., sold approximately 184,000 acres of land to the United States for inclusion in the Kisatchie National Forest. The mineral rights under approximately 180,000 acres of that land had previously been conveyed to Good Pine Oil Company-under the pooling agreement. In each case where the mineral rights had previously been sold to Good Pine Oil Company, the deed to the United States specifically stated that the sale to the United States was made subject to the prior sale to Good Pine Oil Company. The deed from Bodcaw Lumber Company to the United States covering the lands here involved was dated February 11, 1936, and specifically provided: “This sale and transfer is made subject to the sale of all the oil, gas and sulphur, in, on, and under all of the lands conveyed herein as shown by act of sale dated November 12, 1932 * * * wherein Bodcaw Lumber Company of Louisiana, Incorporated, was the vendor, and Good Pine Oil Company, Incorporated, was the vendee. The mention of these mineral sales and of the rights granted therein is made solely for the purpose of limiting vendor’s warranty to the United States of America in the present sale, and the recital of the said mineral sales shall in no wise extend or enlarge the same in point of time, or limit, control, or otherwise restrict the manner of exercising its rights by the Good Pine Oil Company, Incorporated, its successors and assigns.” “There are also specially reserved by and unto the Bodcaw Lumber Company of Louisiana, Incorporated, the vendor herein, all the oil, gas and other minerals m, on and under all of the lands conveyed herein and which is subject to the two sales to the Good Pine Oil Company, Incorporated, mentioned above, for a period of ten years after the expiration of the rights of the said Good Pine Oil Company, Incorporated, under the laws of the State of Louisiana. “At the termination of the ten (10) year period, if not extended, or at the termination of any extended period * * * the right to drill for and remove oil and gas and to mine and remove minerals shall terminate, and a complete fee in the land became vested in the United States.” Prior to the time that Bodcaw sold the lands here in question to the United States, the Louisiana courts had held that a mineral conveyance created only an incorporeal interest in the nature of a servitude and had held that such mineral rights were subject to prescription by .ten years nonuser. These decisions had seriously hampered the attempts of the United States to acquire lands in Louisiana for national forest purposes, and in 1935 the Solicitor of the Department of Agriculture rendered two opinions specifically considering the problem thus presented. After examining the applicable state and federal statutes he ruled that the prescriptive provisions of the Louisiana Civil Code were not applicable to lands acquired by the United States for national forest purposes. At the time Bodcaw sold its lands to the United States, it was advised by representatives of the United States that the mineral rights owned by Good Pine Oil Company would not be subject to prescription under the Louisiana Civil Code and a copy of the opinion of the Solicitor of the Department of Agriculture was delivered to Bodcaw’s officers. The value fixed for the lands sold to the United States did not include the minerals, which the officers of Bodcaw considered to be very valuable, and the sale to the United States probably would not have been made had the officers of Bodcaw been of the opinion that Good Pine’s mineral rights under the lands sold to the United States would prescribe or had the representatives of the United States taken the position that they were subject to the Louisiana laws of prescription. Both Bod-caw and Grant were very interested in the preservation of Good Pine’s mineral rights since they owned 64.9% of Good Pine’s stock. In 1940, less than ten years after the mineral rights under tracts in question were conveyed to Good Pine Oil Company and within ten years of the date on which the lands in question were sold to the United States, the Louisiana legislature enacted a statute, La.Act No. 315 of 1940, declaring that when the United States acquired land subject to the prior sale of the oil, gas or other mineral rights, the mineral rights so previously sold were imprescriptible. The defendant in this case, Nebo Oil, Company, Inc., has acquired, by mesne conveyances, the oil, gas and sulphur conveyed by Bodcaw to Good Pine Oil Company, Inc., on November 12, 1932; and the basic question presented in this case- is whether those mineral rights have prescribed. This present action was instituted by the United States to obtain a declaratory judgment as to the ownership of the mineral rights involved. This case is practically the exact duplicate of the case of Whitney National Bank of New Orleans v. Little Creek Oil Company, Inc., 212 La. 949, 33 So.2d 693, except that now, in the instant case, the United States is a party and the constitutionality vel non of La.Act No. 315 of 1940 may legally be put at issue. We have to announce that most of this opinion is quoted verbatim from the brief of defendant. After a full consideration of the case, after a full reading of the briefs and the cases cited by both sides, we find the defendant to be correct. It would be a tremendous work to restate in our language the same conclusions that are so well stated already. On the facts, we have checked the references to the record each time to our satisfaction. Act No. 315 of the Louisiana Legislature of 1940 Applies to the Facts of This Case. The rights acquired by a vendee under a mineral deed in Louisiana are in the nature of a personal servitude and, under normal circumstances, are subject to prescription by ten years nonuser under Articles 789 and 3546 of the Louisiana Civil Code. In Gayoso Co., Inc. v. Arkansas Natural Gas Corp., 176 La. 333, 145 So. 677, 678-679, the Court said: “The effect of the reservátion of mineral rights in the conveyance of land is to create a servitude in the nature of a limited usufruct on the land in favor of the person. Frost-Johnson Lumber Co. v. Nabors Oil & Gas Company, 149 La. 100, 88 So. 723; Frost-Johnson Lumber Company v. Sailing’s Heirs, 150 La. 756, 855, 91 So. 207, 242; Palmer Corporation v. Moore, 171 La. 774, 132 So. 229. The extinguishment of a servitude by nonuse for a given period is a prescription and not a peremption. Sample v. Whitaker, 172 La. 722, 135 So. 38.” This Sample v. Whitaker case is the leading case — with full and detailed reasoning. The distinction between prescriptive and peremptive provisions was expressed as follows in Brister v. Wray Dickinson Co., Inc., 183 La. 562, 164 So. 415, 416: “When a statute creates a right of action, and stipulates the delay within which that right is to be executed, the delay thus fixed is not, properly speaking, one of prescription, but it is one of peremption. Statutes of prescription simply bar the remedy. Statutes of peremption destroy the cause of action itself. That is to say, after the limit of time expires the cause of action no longer exists; it is lost.” (Italics in text.)' See, also, Guillory et al. v. Avoyelles Ry. Co. et al., 104 La. 11, 28 So. 899. Within ten years after Bodcaw Lumber' Company sold the mineral rights under the tracts involved in this case to Good Pine Oil Company, Inc., the Louisiana Legislature adopted Act No. 315 of 1940. The relevant provisions of that Act provide: “Section 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana, That when land is iacquired by conventional deed or contract, condemnation or expropriation proceedings by the United States of America, or any of its subdivisions or agencies, from any person, firm or corporation, and by the act of acquisition, verdict or judgment, oil, gas, and/or other minerals or royalties are reserved, or the land so acquired is by the act of acquisition conveyed subject to a prior sale or reservation of oil, gas, and/or other minerals or royalties, still in force and effect, said rights so reserved or previously sold shall be imprescriptible.” (Emphasis supplied.) The land involved in the litigation was acquired by the United States from Bod-caw Lumber Company by a conventional deed dated February 11, 1936; the land so acquired was, by the act of acquisition', conveyed subject to a prior sale of all the oil, gas and sulphur to Good Pine Oil Company, Inc., under a deed dated November 12, 1932; and the conveyance of the oil, gas and sulphur to Good Pine Oil Company, Inc., had been made within ten years of the date on- which Act No. 315 became effective. The question is whether Act No. 315 is applicable to sales made to the United States prior to, but within ten years of, the effective date of the Act. The plaintiff contends that it is not; the defendant contends that it is. As aforeslated, in the case of Whitney National Bank of New Orleans v. Little Creek Oil Company, Inc., 212 La. 949, 33 So.2d 693, 696, the same deeds and the same statute involved in the present case were before the Supreme Court of Louisiana and the Court specifically held that Act No. 315 of 1940 was applicable to the conveyance from Bodcaw Lumber Company to the United States: “It appears to us, as it did to the lower court, that Act No. 315 of 1940 is applicable to the sale by Bodcaw to the United States on February 11, 1936, which was made subject to the vendor’s conveyance of the minerals to Good Pine on November 12, 1932, not because there is anything in the terms of the statute to indicate that it was intended to have a retroactive application, but because of the general rule of law established by the jurisprudence of this court that laws of prescription and those limiting the time within which actions may he brought are retrospective in their operation. See De Armas v. De Armas et al., 3 La.Ann. 526; Shreveport Long Leaf Lumber Co., Inc. v. Wilson et al., 195 La. 814, 197 So. 566, and State v. Alden Mills, 202 La. 416, 12 So.2d 204. “Articles 789 and 3546 of the Civil Code, which the act in question seeks to affect or change insofar as they apply to mineral servitudes on land acquired by the United States subject to mineral reservations, are articles establishing a period of prescription. See Sample et al. v. Whitaker et al., 172 La. 722, 135 So. 38. Since the act itself affects that prescriptive period, the general rule in the foregoing paragraph is applicable.” Having held that Act No. 315 of 1940 was applicable to the 1936 sale by Bodcaw to the United Stales, the Court then passed to the question of the constitutionality of the act and concluded that, since the United States was the only party which could be prejudiced by the application of Act No. 315 to sales made prior to its enactment, the. United States was an indispensable party and dismissed the suit “for nonjoinder of necessary parties.” It will be noted, however, that the case expressly holds lhat Act No. 315 is applicable to the deed from Bodcaw Lumber Company to the United States since, otherwise, the Court would have disposed of the case simply by holding that Act No. 315 was not applicable to sales made before its enactment and the constitutional questions would never have arisen. . The decisions of the Louisiana courts establish that Act No. 315 of 1940 is applicable to all sales which were made to the United States prior to its enactment provided that the prescriptive period had not expired before the Act became effective. Articles 789, 3529 and 3546 of the Louisiana Civil Code are prescriptive provisions. Sample et al. v., Whitaker, 172 La. 722, 135 So. 38; Cf. Gayoso Co., Inc. v. Arkansas Natural Gas Corp., 176 La. 333, 145 So. 677. Act No. 315 of 1940, by its terminology and by virtue of the fact that it affects or changes the effect of Articles 789, 3529 and 3546, falls in the same category. The law is well settled in Louisiana that statute of prescription arc remedial statutes. State v. Brossette, 163 La. 1035, 113 So. 366; Splane v. Tubre, La. App., 6 So.2d 361; Kearns v. City of New Orleans, La.App., 160 So. 470; Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Haack, D.C., 50 F.Supp. 55. And the cases uniformly hold that statutes of prescription, being remedial statutes, are applicable to all actions instituted after they become effective even though the cause of action arose, or' facts giving rise to the cause of action occurred, before the statute was enacted. State v. Alden Mills, 202 La. 416, 12 So.2d 204; Shreveport Long Leaf Lumber Co., Inc. v. Wilson, 195 La. 814, 197 So. 566; Dowie v. Becker, 149 La. 160, 88 So. 777; Barrow v. Wilson, 39 La.Ann. 403, 2 So. 809; De Armas v. De Armas, 3 La.Ann. 526; Union Cotton Manufactory v. Lobl dell, 7 Mart., N.S. 108; Board of Commissioners v. Sperling, La.App., 8 So.2d 380; Splane v. Tubre, La.App., 6 So.2d 361; Kearns v. City of New Orleans, La.App., 160 So. 470; Taglialavore v. Ellerbe, La. App., 149 So. 296. Many of the decisions take the position that the application of a statute revising a period of prescription to actions instituted after the statute is passed is a prospective application of the statute even though the cause of action arose, or the contract was made, before the statute was passed. State v. Alden Mills, 202 La. 416, 12 So.2d 204; Dowie v. Becker, 149 La. 160, 88 Sol 777; Bostwick v. Thomson, 149 La. 152, 88 So. 775. Iii many cases the Louisiana courts have simply stated that statutes of prescription are remedial statutes and that, in the absence of a clear expression of legislative intent to the contrary, remedial statutes are retrospective in their operation. Splane v. Tubre, La.App., 6 So.2d 361; Barrow v. Wilson, 39 La.Ann. 403, 2 So. 809; Kearns v. City of New Orleans, La.App., 160 So. 470; Shreveport Long Leaf Lumber Co. v. Wilson, 195 La. 814, 197 So. 566. The plaintiff suggests that the application of Act No. 315 of 1940 to sales made to the United States prior to its effective date would violate Article 8 of the Louisiana Civil Code, which provides: “A law can prescribe only for the future; it can have no retrospective operation, nor can it impair the obligation of contracts.” The Louisiana courts have repeatedly held, however, that the application of prescriptive statutes, or other remedial statutes to causes of action which arose, or contracts which were made, before the effective date of the statute do not violate Article 8 of the Civil Code, usually on the “ground that such application is prospective only. State v. Alden Mills, 202 La. 416, 12 So.2d 204; State v. Bermudez, 12 La. 352; City of New Orleans v. New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad, Company, 35 La. Ann. 679. ■ The plaintiff .also suggests that the use of the word “is” in the statute indicates that the legislature intended Act No. 315 to apply only to sales made after the effective date of the act. A similar argument, based on the use of the future tense in a prescriptive statute, was rejected in State v. Alden Mills, 202 La. 416, 12 So.2d 204, and an argument based on the use of the word “hereafter” was rejected in Shreveport Long Leaf Lumber Co. v. Wilson, 195 La. 814, 197 So. 566. And similarly in the present case this Court should not discard the salutary rule that statutes of prescription and other remedial statutes have retrospective operation, particularly when the Supreme Court of Louisiana has held Act No. 315 of 1940 applicable to the facts of this casé and when the note in the Tulane Law Review, upon which the plaintiff relies, concludes: “A recent ruling by the Department of Interior indicates that the federal government will contest the constitutionality of Act No. 315 of 1940 insofar as it retroactively applies to sales which were made to the federal Government prior to the effective date of the 1940 statute. The holding in Whitney National Bank v. Little Creek Oil Co. that Act No. 315 of 1940 is retroactive is supported by prior decisions interpreting prescriptive statutes, and in addition the holding is justified by equitable considerations.' There is considerable evidence to the effect that agents of the federal government have made many land acquisitions upon representations that the Louisiana ten year rule of prescription has no application to mineral reservations in sales to the federal government.” 22 T.L.R. 503. The history of Act No. 315 also makes it clear that the Act has retrospective operation. The Louisiana Legislature of 1938 enacted two statutes rendering the reservation of mineral rights in deeds to the United States imprescriptible. The first, Act No. 68 of 1938, reads as follows: “Whenever land situated in any spillway or floodway is sold to or acquired by the United States or the State of Louisiana, or any subdivisions or agencies thereof, for use in the construction, operation or maintenance of any spillway or floodway constructed, operated or maintained under authority of the Acts of Congress of May 15th, 1928, June 15th, 1936, or June 22, 1936 (Flood Control Act), as amended, or as hereafter amended, or under authority of any other Act or Acts of Congress, and the owner of said land reserves or retains the mineral rights or the rights in and to the minerals in said land, said rights shall be imprescriptible.” The second, Act No. 151 of 1938, reads as follows: “When real estate is acquired by the United States of America, the State of Louisiana, or any of its subdivisions, from any person, firm or corporation for use in any public work and/or improvement, and, by the act of acquisition, oil, gas and/or other minerals or royalties are reserved, prescription shall not run against such reservation of said oil, gas and/or other minerals or royalties.” Let us assume, for the sake of argument, that both of these statutes were repealed by Act No. 315 of 1940. It seems clear, however, that the Louisiana Legislature did not intend that sales made under the 1938 statutes would not be protected by the 1940 Act. Yet that would be the effect of a holding that the use of the term “is” indicated that the Louisiana Legislature did not intend the Act to apply to sales made prior to 1940. Under the circumstances it is clear that such an interpretation must be rejected. The plaintiff also contends that Act No. 315 of 1940 is not merely a remedial or procedural statute, but affects substantive rights. This argument is clearly without merit. It was specifically rejected in Kearns v. City of New Orleans, La.App., 160 So. 470, 473, where the court said: “If it be contended that since the paving in question here was completed prior to the enactment of the Act of 1921, that act can have no bearing on the matter, the answer is that nevertheless that statute is applicable because it in no way affects the substantive rights of the property owner. A change in a prescriptive period is not an interference with a substantive right. It merely affects the remedy.” And, as has been pointed out, the Supreme Court of Louisiana specifically held in Sample v. Whitaker, 172 La. 722, 135 So. 38, that Articles 789 and 3546 of the Civil Code were prescriptive, and not peremptive, provisions. Clearly, therefore, Act No. 315 of 1940 which amended the effect of those. Articles was a remedial and procedural statute and did not affect substantive rights. The argument was recently considered by the Supreme Court of the United States in Chase Securities Corp. v. Donaldson, 325 U.S. 304, 65 S.Ct. 1137, 1142, 89 L.Ed. 1628. There Mr. Justice Jackson, who wrote for the Court said: “This Court, in Campbell v. Holt [115 U.S. 620, 6 S.Ct. 209, 29 L.Ed. 483], adopted as a working hypothesis, as a matter of constitutional law, the view that statutes of limitation go to matters of remedy, not to destruction of fundamental rights. The abstract, logic of the distinction between substantive rights and remedial or procedural rights may not be clear-cut, but it has been found a workable concept- to point up the real and valid difference between rules in which stability is of prime importance and those in which flexibility is a more important value.” The plaintiff also contends that Act No. 315 “in effect divests the United States of a right of property and attempts to make outstanding mineral rights valid forever.” That is, in effect, an argument that the United States has a vested right in the statutes of prescription. Under the deed dated November 12, 1932, Bodcaw conveyed to Good Pine Oil Company, Inc., all of the oil, gas and sulphur in, on and under the tract in question in perpetuity. The United States purchased the lands involved in this suit subject to that prior sale. Consequently, the only hope that the United States could have had of acquiring the mineral rights was based on the possibility that the period of prescription would not be interrupted and that the prescriptive provisions of the Civil Code would not be changed. At most its claim to the minerals was ¡based on a mere expectation, which can hardly be considered a vested right. The argument that a litigant ha.s a vested right in a statute of limitations or a period of prescription which was in force when a contract was made, or a cause of action arose, has been repeatedly rejected by the courts of Louisiana and by the Federal courts. Terry v. Anderson, 95 U. S. 628, 24 L.Ed. 365; Davidson v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 5 Cir., 91 F.2d 516; Shreveport Long Leaf Lumber Co. v. Wilson, 195 La. 814, 197 So. 566; Splane v. Tubre, La.App., 6 So.2d 361; Bostwick v. Thomson, 149 La. 152, 88 So. 775; Kearns v. City of New Orleans, La. App., 160 So. 470; cf. Ex parte Collett, 337 U.S. 55, 69 S.Ct. 944, 959. In view of these decisions, it is submitted that the plaintiff’s argument that it has a vested right in the precriptive provisions of the Louisiana Civil Code must be rejected. In addition to the cases above discussed, Act No. 315 of 1940 can be supported upon the doctrine of proportionate prescription. This is a refinement of the Roman law coming to us through the Louisiana civil law. Goddard’s Heirs v. Urquhart, 6 La. 659; Xanpi v. Orso, 11 La. 57; Daniel Deal & Co. v. Patterson, 12 La.Ann. 728; Whitworth v. Ferguson, 18 La.Ann. 602; Fisk v. Bergerot, 21 La. Ann. 111; Dunlop & McCance v. Minor, 26 La.Ann. 117; McAdams v. Southern Express Co., 14 Orleans App. 276; Musick v. Central Carbon Co., 8 La.App. 136; Opinions of the Attorney- General of Louisiana, 1932-34, pp. 821-823. That doctrine is stated as follows in Goddard’s Heirs v. Urquhart: “When a new law alters the period of prescription, whether it makes it shorter or longer, the time which elapsed before the change is to be reckoned according to the former law and vice versa.” Under these cases, therefore, it is clear that the rights of Nebo Oil Company, Inc., in the oil, gas and sulphur under the tracts involved in.this case will never prescribe. Differently from the plaintiff, we consider that the cases of Tyson v. Surf Oil Co., 195 La. 248, 196 So. 336; Coastal Club v. Shell Oil Co., D.G., 45 F.Supp. 859; and Colgin v. Harris, D.C., 27 F.Supp. 798 (all three- cited by plaintiff),. hold in affirmance of our present conclusion. Therefore, Act No. 315 of 1940 is applicable to the sale from Bodcaw Lumber Company to the United States under the deed dated February 11, 1936, and to the sale of minerals by Bodcaw Lumber Company to Good Pine Oil Company, Inc., under the deed dated November 12, 1932, and renders the mineral rights now vested in the defendant imprescriptible. Now, the plaintiff has contended that the application of Act No. 315 of 1940 to this case “would constitute an interference with the use by the United States of its property and its right of disposal and regulation arising' under Art. IV, Sec. 3, Cl. 2 of the U. S. Const.” The cited Constitutional provision reads: “The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claim of the United States, or of any particular State.” By its own terms Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2, is plainly limited to property “belonging to the United States.” If the federal government had actually owned the mineral rights here involved, the above quoted provision of Article IV would be applicable and any state legislation which was in conflict with the ownership of the minerals by the United States would be invalid. When Louisiana Act No. 315 was passed in 1940, however, the United States did not own these mineral rights and never had owned them.' The federal government had no vested property right in such minerals, either present or future. It had nothing more than the vaguest expectancy of acquiring them at some future time, and that expectancy depended for its existence solely upon the uninterrupted running of a period of prescription established by state law, — a contingency which could readily be prevented by the discovery and continuous production of minerals, by periodic exploration, or by a change in the local law by the Louisiana Legislature. Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2, by its own clear terms had no application to the Congressional regulation of such contingent rights. The only case cited by plaintiff which requires consideration is Utah Power & Light Co. v. United States, 243 U.S. 389, 37 S.Ct. 387, 389, 61 L.Ed. 791. In that case the forest reservations in question were already owned entirely by the United States. No question of title of the property was involved. The Utah Light & Power Company had constructed dams, reservoirs, pipelines, power houses, transmission lines and miscellaneous structures on the property without requesting or seeking the permission of "either the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture. The Light & Power Company contended that their claims must be tested by the laws of the State in which the lands were located. The Court rejected the contention, saying: “Not only does the Constitution (Art. Four, § 3, cl. 2) commit to Congress the power 'to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting’ the lands of the United States, but the settled course of legislation, congressional and state, and repeated decisions of this court, have gone upon the theory that the power of Congress is exclusive, and that only through its exercise in some form can rights in lands belonging to the United States be acquired.” This case holds only that a state legislature cannot give third parties an interest in, or the right to use, land owned by the United States. Even if Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2, is regarded as having some application to a situation similar to that here presented, under the law as settled by the United States Supreme Court, Louisiana Act No. 315 of 1940 in no way conflicts with this constitutional provision. It is clear, and the plaintiff concedes, that the United States has not acquired exclusive jurisdiction over the lands here involved. Wilson v. Cook, 327 U.S. 474, 66 S. Ct. 663, 90 L.Ed. 793, specifically held that the United States and the state had “concurrent jurisdiction” over lands acquired for national forest purposes under the Weeks Law, 16 U.S.C.A. §§ 480, 500, .513 et seq., 521, 552, 563, and under ,a statb enabling act identical to the Louisiana statute. Where the United States has not acquired exclusive jurisdiction, or, stated conversely, where the United States and a state have concurrent jurisdiction, the Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld state legislation which does not interfere with the purposes for which the land was acquired by the United States. Fort Leavenworth Railroad Co. v. Lowe, 114 U.S. 525, 5 S.Ct. 995, 29 L.Ed. 264; James v. Dravo Contracting Co., 302 U.S. 134, 58 S.Ct. 208, 82 L.Ed. 155, 114 A.L.R. 318; Atkinson v. State Tax Commission, 303 U.S. 20, 58 S. Ct. 419, 82 L.Ed. 621. The only question raised by this case, therefore, is whether the application of Act No. 315 of 1940 would interfere with the purposes for which the United States purchased the land in question. The land in question was purchased under the Weeks Law for inclusion in the Kisatchie National Forest. The terms of that Act expressly allowed mineral reservations, thus indicating unequivocally that outstanding mineral ownership would not interfere with the purpose for which the land was acquired. Section 9 of the original enactment provided: “Sec. 9. That such acquisition may in any case be conditioned upon the exception and reservation to the owner from whom title passes to the United States of the minerals and of the merchantable timber, or either or any part of them, within or upon such lands at the date of the conveyance * * 36 Stat. 962, c. 186, Sec. 9. That section was amended in 1913 to read in part, as follows: “Such acquisition by the United States shall in no case be defeated because of located or defined rights of way, easements, and reservations, which, from their nature will, in the opinion of the National Forest Reservation Commission and the Secretary of Agriculture, in no manner interfere with the use of the lands so encumbered, for the purposes of [the Weeks Act] * * 16 U.S.C.A. § 518. It thus appears that the acquisition of lands subject to outstanding mineral .reservations, either in the vendor or third persons, was authorized by the Weeks Law, as amended, provided that the Commission and the Secretary of Agriculture found that such a reservation of minerals would not interfere with the use of the lands for national forest purposes. In the present case, therefore, since the lands were acquired subject to the prior sale of the oil, gas and sulphur to Good Pine Oil Company, the Commission and the Secretary of Agriculture must necessarily have found that the ownership of the minerals by Good Pine Oil Company would not interfere with the use of the land for the purposes for which it was acquired. Moreover, the uncontradicted evidence shows that prior to the acquisition by the United States of the tracts involved in this suit, the National Forest Reservation Commission had adopted the, policy of purchasing the lands subject to the reservation of mineral rights in perpetuity. And, the Commission had repeatedly stated that the acquisition of lands subject to outstanding mineral rights did not interfere with the use of the lands for national forest purposes. On the contrary, the view was expressed that the exercise of retained mineral rights were beneficial rather than detrimental to good forest management. The Commission had' also taken the position that it had, no authority to purchase mineral rights with funds which had been appropriated for the acquisition of lands for national forest purposes. These views were expressed as follows in the memorandum attached to the minutes of the meeting of the National Forest Reservation Commission held February ,25, 1931, which were introduced as Nebo Exhibit No. 115: “The Act of March 1, 1911, as amended, provides that lands may be purchased subject to the retention or reservation by the vendor or other parties in interest of the right to explore the lands and to develop and remove minerals therefrom. The present question, therefore,, is one of policy, rather than of legal authority. * * * * * * • “In the cases submitted to the Commission for consideration, the United States is buying and paying for land and timber only. It is not consciously buying deposits of valuable minerals. If minerals are known or believed to exist within any given tract of land, and if it is the intent and policy of the United States to also establish title to the minerals, it will be necessary to add to the land and timber value an additional value for the mineral deposits; to pay much higher prices per acre than would be necessary to acquire the lands subject to a reservation of the known or assumed mineral values. In many instances the value placed upon the minerals markedly would transcend the values at which the land and timber could be acquired. “The first question which therefore arises is as to whether large investments in mineral values would be in accord with the purpose and intent of the Weeks Law [16 U.S.C.A. §§ 480, 500, 513 et seq.,.521, 552, 563] and Clarke-McNary Law [16 U.S.C.A. §§ 471, 505, 515, 564 et seq.] which primarily were designed to promote-the protection of navigable streams and the production of timber supplies. With' practically limited appropriations available-for purchase work and with the acquisition requirements largely in excess of the available appropriations, every dollar expended in payment for mineral values-, would be one dollar less available for the purchase of lands to carry out the primary purposes of the Acts and appropriations. One logically may inquire whether in the event Federal acquisition of mineral deposits is deemed desirable, the cost of" . their acquisition should not be borne by-other appropriations. :Jc H* >ji * * * “So far as can be foreseen, the net effect accruing from the exercise of the retained" mineral rights will generally be beneficial, rather than detrimental to good forest management. Oil and gas development in the Allegheny Purchase Area seldom involves the withdrawal from timber production of more than one per cent of the surface,, much of this is carefully cleared and patrolled pipe-line rights-of-way. The fire: preventive measures of the oil men contribute more to timber production than would the use of the small surface areas they occupy. In the Lake States, the shaft type of iron mining, the only practicable method within the Forests, involves the occupancy of only limited percentages of the surface, more than offset -by cooperation in fire prevention and in the establishment of local markets for the less valuable forest products. In the Southern Appalachians, mineral occurs in small localized deposits, easily exhausted and of such character as to minimize interference with proper forest management. “The extinguishment of outstanding mineral rights and the acquisition of all mineral rights in all lands hereafter acquired for forest purposes under the Weeks Law is, not essential to the use of such lands for stream-flow protection or timber, production, but would have to be justified on the basis of new public policies with reference to mineral resources and the social and economic necessity for their permanent control by public agencies. On such a basis their acquisition would be something separate and apart from the purchase of lands for National Forest purposes, and while the two objectives could be combined in a single purchase transaction they could not very well be both charged to forestry. On the contrary, the purchase of minerals, which would entail ultimate outlays probably surpassing those for forestry, should be recognized as a separate social and economic objective for which separate financial provision should be made.” The same view as to the authority of the Commission to acquire mineral rights with funds appropriated for the acquisition of lands for forest purposes was expressed at the meeting of the Commission held on' March 3, 1938: “Mr. Doxey remarked that all of our purchases have been at a low price per acre and stated that he was of the opinion that we cannot expect the best of everything for the amount we are paying. Mr. Kneipp said that it is pretty hard to acquire land in oil counties where reservations are not made by owners, and that if we try to get land with minerals we will have to pay more. Mr. Kneipp added that former Secretary of War Hurley raised the question a number of years ago relative to the advisability of buying land subject to mineral rights, and the conclusion was reached that the expenditure of money for minerals from the appropriation authorized by the Weeks Law would not be in accordance with the Act. It is for this reason that we are acquiring lands without mineral rights he added.” Moreover, the minutes of the meetings of the National Forest Reservation introduced as Nebo Exhibits No. 115-124, inclusive, conclusively prove that the Commission has authorized the acquisition of millions of acres of land subject to the reservation of mineral rights in perpetuity, and has repeatedly authorized the acquisition of tracts where the mineral rights were outstanding in third persons on the ground that “such mineral rights will not interfere with the use of the land for national forest purposes or diminish the value of the land.” Finally, at the time the land involved in this litigation was purchased from Bod-caw, the United States was buying vast areas in Northern Louisiana subject to perpetual or other long term mineral reservations; and agents of the United States were advising prospective vendors that the Louisiana law of prescription did not apply to lands purchased by the United States and that mineral reservations in excess of ten years would be valid. It seems apparent, therefore, that when the land involved in this suit was purchased from Bodcaw, the United States did not believe that the mineral rights outstanding in Good Pine Oil Company would interfere with the purposes for which the land was being acquired, and this view has recently been reaffirmed by the Department of Interior. Another recent reaffirmance of the conclusion that mineral exploration will not interfere with the purposes for which the land "was acquired may be found in the transfer of jurisdiction over government minerals to the Department of the Interior in 1946 and the decision of that Department in July, 1947, to issue a mineral lease on lands, the status of which is identical to the lands here involved. Jurisdiction over the development of mineral resources on lands acquired under the Weeks Law was originally vested in the Department of Agriculture. This responsibility was transferred to the Secretary of the Interior by Section 402 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1946, which reads: “Sec. 402. Functions relating to mineral deposits in certain lands. — The functions of the Secretary of Agriculture and the Department of Agricúlture with respect to the uses of mineral deposits in certain lands pursuant to the provisions of the act of March 4, 1917 (39 Stat. 1134, 1150, section 520 of Title 16) * * * are hereby transferred to the Secretary of the Interior * * *: Provided, That mineral development on such lands shall be authorized by the Secretary o.f the Interior only when he is advised by the Secretary of Agriculture that such development will not interfere with the primary purposes for which the land was acquired, and only in accordance with such conditions as may be specified by the Secretary of Agriculture in order to protect such purposes.” 5 U.S.C.A. § 133y— 16 note. In a decision of January 20, 1947, the Department of Interior said: “The Secretary of Agriculture has advised that the execution of an oil and gas lease .to the applicant will not interfere with the primary purpose for which the land to be leased was acquired, subject to the usual provisions a'nd regulations for the protection of the surface arid surface users.” Since the outstanding mineral ownership in a third person is not regarded by the United States as interfering with the primary purpose for which lands were acquired under the Weeks Law, it cannot successfully be argued that Louisiana Act No. 315 of 1940, which affects only the outstanding title to such minerals, is unconstitutional in violation of Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2, of the Federal Constitution. The plaintiff suggests that “only those laws which Were in effect when tile United States acquired the property should be held to apply”, and cites as authority for this proposition: Arlington Hotel Co. v. Fant, 278 U.S. 439, 49 S.Ct. 227, 73 L.Ed. 447; Williams v. Arlington Hotel Co., 8. Cir., 22 F.2d 669; Capetola v. Barclay White Co., 3 Cir., 139 F.2d 556, 153 A.L.R. 1046; and James Stewart & Co. v. Sadrakula, 309 U.S. 94, 60 S.Ct. 431, 84 L.Ed. 596, 127 A.L.R. 821. Each of the cited cases, however, as well as United States v. Allegheny County, 322 U.S. 174, 64 S.Ct. 908, 88 L.Ed. 1209, from which the plaintiff quotes, relates to instances in which the United States had acquired exclusive jurisdiction over the property. The cases uniformly recognize that where the United States has acquired exclusive jurisdiction, the property is not subject to state statutes subsequently adopted. It is also held that state statutes in effect when the United States acquired exclusive jurisdiction remain in effect until they are abrogated by Congress unless they are inconsistent with the laws of the United States. James Stewart & Co. v. Sadrakula, 309 U.S. 94, 60 S.Ct. 431, 84 L.Ed. 596, 127 A.L.R. 821; Williams v. Arlington Hotel Co., 8 Cir., 22 F.2d 669. Where the jurisdiction of the United States is concurrent with the jurisdiction of the state, however, as is the case where lands have been acquired under the Weeks Law, it is uniformly held that state statutes enacted after the land is acquired are applicable unless they interfere with the purpose for which the land was acquired by the. United States. Additionally, the plaintiff contends that, if Act No. 315 of 1940 is applied in the present case, it will impair the obligations of contracts and thereby violate Article I, Section 10 of the United States Constitution. An examination of the appropriate instruments, however, establishes that, far from impairing the obligations of those contracts, Act'No. 315 of 1940 actually enforces those obligations. The rights of Nebo Oil Company are based upon the conveyance of minerals from Bodcaw Lumber Company of Louisiana, Inc.) to Good Pine Oil Company, Inc.,' under the deed dated November 12, 1932. By the terms of that instrument, Bodcaw bargained and sold to Good Pine “all the oil, gas and sulphur in, on and under the following described lands”, which lands included the tracts involved in this litigation. The instrument also contained the following provision: “It is intended hereby to confer upon Vendee absolutely and without limit for time of their enjoyment of any and every right, title and interest which this Vendor has to the oil, gas and sulphur within said lands, including the exclusive right to extract and produce same. And the rights herein conferred may be assigned, transferred or leased, in whole or in part, by Vendee or under its authority and shall inure to the benefit of Vendee, its successors and assigns, and lessees hereunder, it being expressly stipulated that none of said rights in any of said lands shall be prescribed unless there shall elapse a full period of ten (10) years in which there shall be no exercise of any of the foregoing rights or user of any of the lands aforesaid under and by virtue hereof.” It is clear that under the deed dated November 12, 1932, Bodcaw conveyed the mineral rights to Good Pine Oil Company in perpetuity. The last clause sets forth the minimum term of the grant and in no way seeks to restrict the terms of the conveyance. Moreover, five wells have been drilled upon the lands conveyed to Good Pine by Bodcaw under the deed dated November 12, 1932, and three of those wells were on tracts conveyed by the deed from Bodcaw to the United States dated February 11, 1936. And, consequently, even under the interpretation urged by the United States, the defendant’s rights would not have expired under the terms of the conveyance dated November 12, 1932, since it specifically provided that none of the rights would prescribe unless there was “no exercise of any of the rights or user of any of the lands”, and some of the rights were exercised. The tracts involved in this suit were acquired by the United States from Bodcaw under a deed dated February 11, 1936. That instrument contained the following statement: “This sale and transfer is made subject to the sale of all the oil, gas and sulphur, in, on, and under all of the lands conveyed herein, as shown by act of sale dated November 12, 1932, and recorded in Conveyance Book 168, Page 419, of the Records of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, and also by an act of sale dated May 3, 1934, and recorded in Conveyance Book 171, Page 72, of the Records of Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, wherein Bodcaw Lumber Company of Louisiana, Incorporated, was the vendor, and Good Pine Oil Company, Incorporated, was the vendee. The mention of these mineral sales and of the rights granted therein is made solely for the purpose of limiting vendor’s warranty to the United States of America in the present sale, and the recital of the said mineral sales shall in no wise extend or enlarge the same in point of time, or limit, control, or otherwise restrict the manner of exercising its rights by the Good Pine Oil Company, Incorporated, its successors and assigns.” It thus appears that the United States acquired the tracts involved in this litigation subject to the prior sale of the oil, gas and sulphur as evidenced by the deed dated November 12, 1932. It would also seem to be clear that Bodcaw and the United States could not take any action which would in any way prejudice the rights of Good Pine Oil Company. Therefore, the defendant’s rights depend entirely upon the covenants contained in the November, 1932, deed. The undisputed evidence in this case also establishes that at the time the United States purchased the land involved in this litigation, they did not expect or intend to acquire the mineral rights under the tracts purchased. Witnesses for the plaintiff testified that at the time the sale was made Bodcaw’s officers had been advised by representatives of the United States that the prescriptive provisions of the Louisiana Civil Code did not apply to lands sold to the Federal Government. This interpretation is supported by a memorandum dated May 29, 1935, issued by the Alexandria, Louisiana, office of the Forestry Service, which memorandum specifically declared that Article 789 and 3546 of- the Louisiana Civil Code did not apply to lands sold to the United States for national forest purposes. A. copy of-this memorandum was submitted -to Bodcaw Lumber Company before the deed dated February 11, -193.6, was executed. The officers of Bodcaw Lumber Company at that time were of the opinion that the mineral- rights were extremely valuable and, Mr. Boyce, who- was associated with Bodcaw at that time, testified that he did not believe the sale would have been made had the officers of Bodcaw been of the opinion that the minerals, would prescribe in ten years, o'r had the representatives of the Government taken the position that the Louisiana laws of prescription applied. The undisputed evidence also shows that the price paid by the United States for the lands involved in the deed dated February 11, 1936, covered only the value of the land and timber. The minutes of the National Forest Reservation Commission, which were introduced as Nebo Exhibits 115-124, inclusive, establish that long before the sale involved in this litigation was made-to the United States, the National Forest Reservation Commission had taken the position that the Louisiana laws of prescription did not apply to lands sold to the United States. It had also taken the position that, as a matter of policy, the National Forest Reservation Commission would not approve the purchase of mineral rights, and had declared that it had no authority to purchase minerals with funds which had been appropriated under the Weeks Law for the acquisition of -lands for national forest purposes. The general policy followed by the Commission was established at a meeting held on February 24, 1931. The pertinent portions of the minutes of that meeting read as follows: “Secretary Wilbur stated that as he understood the general attitude taken by the Solicitor, and from the practicable standpoint, the acquisition of these outstanding mineral reservations is not a necessary feature of the acquisition of forest lands.' “Mr. Marshall said the Forest Service felt that the expense of setting up the machinery to condemn mineral rights would probably exceed any practicable, benefits, of that'policy. He said that the Forest Service .has had very little interference due to reservations. ■ “Secretary Wilbur asked if the Forest Service thought it would be impracticable to pursue such a policy. “Mr. Kneipp stated that the original Weeks Law authorized -and contemplated purchases subject to mineral reservations and the amendment of March 4, 1913, authorized purchases subject to mineral rights outstanding in third parties. The existing policy of purchasing lands subject to mineral reservations therefore is in full accord with legislative policy. Every effort is made to secure title free from reservations but that cannot always be done. Up to date the exercise of such rights has not unduly interfered, with the use of the acquired lands for forest purposes and such interference as might occur is generally more than offset by cooperative benefits and savings in purchase price. Unless lands are acceptable subject to mineral rights it would be very difficult to consolidate the Government holdings. “Senator Keyes asked what the question-before the Commission was and Secretary Hurley said he raised the question as to the policy of acquiring forest lands without the complete title in fee and the solicitor has-now made a report in which he shows that the policy of buying lands with mineral reservations outstanding, has the sanction of law and has been heretofore considered the best policy. The question is now whether we are going to adopt the suggestion of the solicitor. “Senator Harris expressed the opinion that the Commission should have the power to act on individual cases. In nine-tenths' of the cases the land could be acquired without the mineral rights reserved. Where the mineral rights amount to a great deal,, he did not think it is intended by law that the Commission should put the Government into the timber or mineral business, which would be using funds which should be put into the purchase of lands. “A motion to continue the prevailing policy of buying lands subject to mineral reservations was moved by Secretary Wilbur, seconded by Senator Keyes and carried.” The question of acquiring lands subject to outstanding mineral reservations was again considered by the Commission at the meeting held on March 3, 1938, and the conclusions reached in 1931 were again restated. At the meeting of the Commission held on May 20, 1947, Secretary Davidson referred to two tracts being acquired for inclusion in the Kisatchie National Forest with long term mineral reservations, “one until December 31, 1957, and another until December 31, 1997.” The minutes of the meeting then read as follows: “He added that there is a State law that mineral rights can only be held for ten years, but where they are for longer periods than ten years, the Department has administratively said it would respect commitments made by the Department of Agriculture. However> in view of the law, he wondered about the policy of this Department— whether it intended to continue to allow reservations of minerals for longer periods when acquiring lands. “Mr. Hopkins inquired of Mr. Florance whether this had been given consideration in the past. Mr. Florance stated that the question came up about 1935 or perhaps a year or so earlier when national forest purchases first began in Louisiana. The Solicitor, at that time, he said, ruled that the State law (to the effect that if efforts to develop minerals are not made within a 10-year period the minerals accrue to the owner of the surface) would not apply where the Federal Government goes in and purchases lands by contract. That opinion has been reconsidered in the Solicitor’s Office within the past four years and a recent ruling was made that minerals could be reserved beyond the 10-year period prescribed in the State law.” It was finally decided to pass the matter ■until the next meeting. At the next meeting of the Commission, which was held on June 24, 1947, the matter was again passed. Attached to the minutes of that meeting is a memorandum dated June 23, 1947, from Howard Hopkins, Assistant Chief, Forest Service, addressed to the National Forest Rerservation Commission. That memorandum states: “During the meeting of May 20, 1947, in relation to purchase proposals in Louisiana, Secretary Davidson raised the question as to the legality of reservations of mineral rights for terms longer than 10 years, in view of the Louisiana statutes which regard mineral reservations as servitudes and provide that they are extinguished by nonuse for 10 years. “This question was considered by the Solicitor, Department of Agriculture, in 1935 and again in 1944. His conclusions, in general, are that under pertinent laws the decisions, including the Louisiana Act consenting to Weeks Law purchases, the validity of reservations in deeds from Private grantors to the United States is determined not by the laws of the State of Louisiana, but the laws of the United States. He further concludes that under Section 578 [518], Title 16 U.S.C.A., amendment to the Weeks Law, reservations are valid which ‘in the opinion of the National Forest Reservation Commission and the Secretary of Agriculture do not in any manner interfere with the use of the land so encumbered’. Copies of opinion 13845 dated September 4, 1935 and opinion 4943 of March 25, 1944, Solicitor, Department of Agriculture, are attached. .“The Forest Service, in recommending purchases subject to reservations of minerals for longer than 10 years, has been guided by the foregoing legal opinions.” The memorandum of September 4, 1935, referred to in Mr. Hopkins’ memorandum, is also attached to the minutes of the meeting of June 24, 1947. The September 4, 1935, memorandum was from C. W. Boyle, who was then Assistant Solicitor of the Department of Agriculture, to Mr. McConville. It specifically considered an opinion rendered by Mr. McGregor in which he concluded that the laws of Louisiana applied to reservations granted by the-United States in the purchase of lands in Louisiana “under the federal forest laws and the Act of Consent of Louisiana.” Mr. Boyle rejected Mr. McGregor’s opinion and concluded that the Louisiana laws of prescription were not applicable to -lands purchased under the Weeks Law-for national forest purposes. “With some qualifications and limitations not now material, I think that the author-has stated correctly the general principles' of applicable law. " Therefore, the opposite conclusions are based upon a variant conception and construction of the’Act. I am fully persuaded that Section 578, [518], Title 16 U.S.C.A., if not expressly, by inescapable implication shows clearly that the United States, by sufficient legislative action with respect to the purchase of forest lands with reservations, has substituted its law for the laws of Louisiana; that Congress has positively exercised its power directly upon the subject matter involved and that such action entirely supersedes the Louisiana law.” The views expressed in this memorandum were also set forth in Mr. Hartman’s memorandum, a copy of which was transmitted to Bodcaw before the sale to the United States was made, and they have recently been accepted as binding on the United States by the Department of the Interior. It, therefore, conclusively appears that at the time the sale represented by the deed dated February 11, 1936, was made by Bod-caw to the United States, the parties to the transactions were of the opinion that the prescriptive provisions of the Louisiana Civil Code did not apply, and that the mineral rights owned by the Good Pine Oil Company were governed solely by the terms of the conveyance from Bodcaw tó Good Pine under the deed dated November 12, 1932. Act. No. 315 of 1940 does no more than support the interpretations previously made by the United States, as is stated by the Solicitor of the Department of Agriculture in an opinion dated March 25, 1944: “This statute (Act No. 315 of 1940) is in. harmony with the view of the law expressed in Acting Solicitor Boyle’s opinion and is consistent w