The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 44, July 1940 - April, 1941 Page: 307
546 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Oil, the Courts, and the Railroad Commission
preservation of what was, for the first time, regarded as an
important public resource. Beginning in 1899,5 the Legisla-
ture passed statutes which had as their purpose purely the
prevention of the physical waste of oil and gas by regulating
the manner of the drilling for and production of oil and gas,
and other mechanical features of the oil and gas industry.
For example, it was provided that oil and gas wells should
be cased off so as to prevent the intrusion of water into the
oil sand or oil and gas into fresh water sands, that abandoned
wells should be plugged, that gas should not be burned in
flambeau lights, and that gas from the gas wells should not
be permitted to escape into the open air.
Until 1917, the Legislature undertook to provide by statutes
such regulation as was thought to be necessary for the pro-
duction of oil and gas. In 1917, however, the Legislature first
passed a statute conferring upon the Railroad Commission of
Texas the power to act as the governmental agency to admin-
ister the conservation laws relating to oil and gas, and to pro-
mulgate and enforce the necessary regulations."' In 1917, also,
the Constitution of the State was amended so as to declare
that the conservation and development of all of the natural
resources of the State are public rights and duties, and that
the Legislature shall pass all such laws as may be appropri-
ate thereto.'7
At the time the Legislature first vested the Railroad Com-
mission with the power to regulate the oil and gas industry,
there was no overproduction of oil and gas, and the only sub-
stantial public concern was that the oil and gas should not
be wastefully produced or used so as to deprive present and
future generations of the full benefit of these natural re-
sources. The Railroad Commission was evidently designated
as the agency for the administration of the conservation stat-
utes, because the Railroad Commission had performed accept-
ably the duties which had been imposed upon it to regulate
1"Acts Twenty-sixth Legislature, R. S., Ch. 49, p. 68.
1BActs Thirty-fifth Legislature, Regular Session, Ch. 30, p. 48. For excel-
lent summaries of the background of these statutes and the subsequent
litigation relating to oil and gas in Texas, see R. E. Hardwicke, Legal
History of Conservation of Oil in Texas, and Maurice Cheek, Legal History
of Conservation of Gas in Texas, (Mineral Law Section, American Bar
Association, 1938).
" Article XVI, Section 59a.307
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 44, July 1940 - April, 1941, periodical, 1941; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth146052/m1/344/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.