The weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Craig County, Okla.) 1905-1913, 1910-12-02


adverse factors in the present problem |
I territorial progress. Governor Wal
ter E. Clark, Of Alaska, in his annual
report to the secretary Of the interior,
made public today. declares that the
lill-advised policy Of forbidding all de-
veiopment Of the large coal resources
Of Alaska. or of placing such restric-
tons upon development as to make the
embarkation Of private capital impos-
sible, is to be deprecated. while the
policy Of conservation by proper use
is to be encouraged.
This coal" he says, lis needed
for the industries Of the territory and
for the physical comfort of our peo-
pie. and on no account should it be
withheld from these uses"
The present impossibility of mining
coal. either under title or lease, he ex-
plains, is in a measure responsible for
the suspension OF one Of the principal
ailroads This has caused a general
ceiling Of discouragement over the
business situation in those parts of
Alaska where development and settle
ment ought to be going on most rapid
lly
Governor Clark says it appeared in
public discussions Of the subject that
the opposition to opening the Alaska
coal fields Springs chiefly from two
sources-those persons who fear
monopoly and those who would have
this coal held as a reserve supply for
the future" He further says that
while the present coal land law is not
good one "it certainly lends no hope
to monopolists, but rather is calculated
to discourage the embarkation of CAPT
tai"
In declaring his hope for the adop-
ton of the leasing system to develop
these lands, Governor Clark says: ut
will be found quite feasible, according
to the best authorities, to devise suit
able terms for leases, protecting both
he public and the operators, and in
suring intelligent conservation
The governor says that the view of
1.-THE extremist that all the Alaskan coal
should be kept as a reserve supply has
nothing to command it. A conserVa-
tive estimate, he has, made by Alfred
r. Brooks, Of the geological survey,
shows that at the present rate of con
sumption the marketable Alaska Goals
would last five or six thousand years.
AT the end of that period" he con
tinues, "posterity may be using solar
energy or some other means other than
coal for light, heat and power"
Little progress has been made in
railroad building in the northwest ter
ritory during the past year 1t is as
serted. The officers of the Alaska
Northern railway, which will tap the
Mantanuska coal fields, declare that
the principal factor in preventing a
J continuation of construction is the un
settled state Of the coal land question
and the inability of any citizen to OBJ
tain title or lease to these lands.
Governor Clark recommends govern
ment aid for the railroads in the form
!. of guarantee of interest on theil
: bonds. He declares that the opening
of new wagon roads and trails, witt
the accompanying lower freight rates
, on supplies. has enabled mining to be
carried on in districts which either
, could not have opened at all, or woult
, have offered only a precarious oppor
tunity to the miner.
The governor recommends that un
der the present conditions of fuel sup
ply in Alaska and until the territor,
reaches a more advanced stage Of de
i. velopment the government shoult
make no charge on the cutting of fire
a wood
d It is also recommended that larg
Q portions, If not all, of the Chugach ma
tional forest be restored to the publ
) domain, as many thousand acres 0
: this reservation are almost treeless
. and the conditions are such as to rer
o der any measures for the conservatio
Q of water absurdly unnecessary. Agr
cultural possibilities in the territory
declares the governor, are no longe
in doubt
q Certain changes in the mining LAY
4 are recommended These are charaC
/ terlzed to discourage speculatio
Il among nonresident claimants VIII
S give powers of attorney to some pc
e son in the territory.
II Signal corps men who have charg
4 of the telegraph system in Alaska al
= commended by the governor The
= endure great hardships in the mali
tenance of some of the lines and al
ito be commended for their brave e
forts which result in keeping the line