Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-12-04
ALASKA WANTS
A HOMESTEAD LAW THAT WILL
ATTRACT SETTLERS.
Superior inducements offered by Can
Northwest Territory.

II am very much pleased with President
Roosevelts reference to Alaska in his mes
sage to Congress- said V. T. Hoggett of
Nome today to a representative of The Star
at the Riggs. Mr.. Hoggett is city attorney
of Nome, Alaska, and is a member of the
committee appointed to promote the well
fare of Alaska, consisting of Capt. J. ].
Healy of Eagle City, Yukon; Robert Blei.
Copper River valley. and A. J. McNear and
G. M. Esterly of Valdez. 1t was this COM
mittee that presented to President Roose
welt the mammoth antlers which now adorn
the White House dining room.
Population Equals That of Two States.
THE Presidents message to Congress"
said Mr.. Hoggett, lis the first evidence of
the awaking interest in legislation for Alas
ka, which embraces an area equal to all of
the United States east of the Mississippi
river. 1t is a great country. Her great
river, the Yukon, discharges into the Pa
cific ocean One-third more water than the
Mississippi river discharges into the Gulf
of Mexico. Alaska has a population of
$4,000 souls, yet since her purchase of Rus
STA in 1867 has not risen to the dignity of
territory The population is equal to the
combined population of the states of Ne
vada and Idaho, represented in Congress
by four United States senators and two
representatives. There is a prevalent be-
lief that Alaska is land of snow and ice.
When the purchase was under discussion
one member proposed to call the new pos
sessions Zero; while another named it
most northerly part of Alaska, on the shore
of the Boring sea, and there is no more
suffering from the cold there than there Is
the United States. The government reports
show that at Sitka it does not get cold
enough to freeze ice sufficient for summer
use.
Wants Homestead Law.
I'VE are anxious to secure immigration to
Alaska, that the fertile lands may be occu-
pied and cultivated. We do not want any
railroad subsidies, but we do want land
laws which will encourage agriculture,
laws such as were given Oregon when that
rich country was developed. The Canadian
government offers inducements to the
American farmers. and thousands of them
are going to the British northwest to get
the section of land, $40 acres, orered to
every man who will enter upon it and i'm
prove it. The United States has not given
Alaska one law calculated to promote inn
migration to that country, though the land
is every bit as desirable for agricultural
purposes as the British northwest. The
settler in Alaska under the present home
stead laws is allowed only eighty acres of
land, whereas he can get 1GO in the states,
near a railroad, and $40 acres in Canada
No one will go to Alaska under these con-
ditions. With laws such as oregon had,
predict that $1,000 persons will settle in
Alaska in the rich valleys Of the Yukon,
Tanana and Copper rivers within year
Fertility of Alaska.
Regarding the crops of these. valleys,
grass grows as high as a mans head, and
there are millions Of acres Of it. All the
hay wanted for winter use can be cured.
Hogs can be raised and fattened at little
cost. It is one of the best stock countries
I ever saw. There are $1,000 squar, miles
Of fine agricultural land in,the Copper river
valley alone, an area equal to one-half of
the great state of Iowa. Captain Wiesen
of the United States army said of this val
ley: The climate is good enoguh and the
seasons long enough to grow almost any
be sold by the pound for fertilizer ii it Were
in New York Mayor Steele of Valdez,
Alaska, exhibited to the chamber of COM
merce of Seattle, Wash, a month ago Vege-
tables grown In gardens In Valdez, turnps,
potatoes radshes, hay, oats and other
products of immense size, and, answering
a number of questions about the climate
and soil said: The coolest season known
was that Of last winter, when the thermom-
eter registered IA degrees below zero. Val
dez is open to navigation the year round,
and the summers are very pleasant. In the
interior the summers are longer than on the
coast
Trade With Alaska.
"Our trade with the United States has av-
eraged eighteen millions year in the last
two years." continued MIR. Hoggett Sta
ttstics show that every person in Alaska
b1ys from the United States 81 900 worth of
goods and merchandise each year. A miner