Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1910-09-25
ALASKA IS A
POT OF GOLD
NEED or RAILWAYS no HARVEST
HER RICHES,
COUNTRY A COOL PRIZE
Has Little Assistance From outside
CnpitAl-pcoplc DO Nui Real
Ire Value.

ile value,
Alaska has varied treasure watt
ing to hp uncovered and borne out tu
thponrichmcnt OF its owners, the peo-
Pile And the great, pressing need lS
railroad transportation IL is lmpura-
taut, IL the tcrrtury's resources are tp
bee conserved 10 the use of all alike,
that the government shall build the
roads
Ifbullt with private capital furnish
ed by the large Interests which are
Dontcnding for the control OF Alaska,
they VIII not only tap and control the
known conl areas, but 40 their north
ern terminals they win bee waiting Ike
a hound In leash tO grab the coal
that viii Boz found 600 these uncAplurcu
rcgiouf
The Alaska Northern Railroad is
headed toward the Matanuska coal
ncldL It's builders say they viii push
on to the Tanana Valley but their ob-
icctiyc po.nt Us undoubtedly the coal
fields Further II rs the program for
friends In Congress to father some
sort of bill that viii awa.d them the
prize they are after and another
railroad win have bitten Off another
substantial chunk of our coal reserves.
Worse, IL viii be In a strategic position
to bite again as new coal areas are
discovered In the uncNplored country
TO the north
This is not a nightmare; see what
has happened In the Pennsylvania
coal fields There practically are no
private coal operators for the railroads
have refused To haul their coal and
have gathered them In True, there
are laws that are supposed to prevent
the ownership of coal lands by the car
riers but the railroads easily eyadc
them In counties such Plymouth,
Luzcrne and Lackawanna, the railroad
coal owners are supreme--farmH and
city lots are sold on the understand
ing that title passes 10 the surface
only. No uncertainty exists as TO the
intention of the private railroad build
ers in Alaska. And the building Of
government lines is the only escape
from monopoly
Rich h the Alaskan coal prize Ac-
cordng to the United states geological
survey million acres OF coal lands
have been discovered in Alaska, and
further explorations viii undoubtedly
show much larger areas Alfred H..
Brooks, chief of the division OF Alaska
mineral resources says that 10000
square miles of Alaskan territory an
area as great as that of New England,
New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio
combined, Is yet practically an un-
known land, a terra incognita, as far
as It's useful and precious minerals are
concerned Coal is known to exist In
this little explored region, and II is
not impossible that II will add billions
of tons to Alaska's coal reserves
Before former President Roosevelt
withdrew Alaska coal lands from pub
lic entry, the plans of the big fellows
for corralling all the coal lands were
working very smoothly,
The law then allowed eacI indiHd-
ual to locate a tract of l6O acres, Dunn
my locators. consisting largely of idle,
shiftloss fellows with no interest what
ever In coal lands, We're sent ont u To-
cate 100 acres each, and then for Il
small consideration turn II over to
their employers. In other cases man
would start out with Il pocket fun of
powers of attorney, and blanket thous-
ands of acres II was an attempt 20
validate titles TO Il lot of such locations
that precipated the Ballingcr- P!nchot
controversy
Alaska has produced about l4C mill
lions of gold with but little assistance
from outside capital How has this
been done Largely by using the nat
ural facilities at hand, The gold was
there, and so was the water and TIM
hcr Boilers to thaw the ground were
brought In 10y steamer and sleddhd to
the mines Most of the gold produc-
tion has come from the gravels, and
once the ground is thawcd on!' picks
shoNcls brawny backs and trClcsi
arms are needed.
Alaska needs are definite our gov
ernment should build railroads to tn,
known coal areas in Alaska. lease the
coal to bona fidc operators ~ faiD
royalty. and then reserve all future
discoveries of coal. to be leased only as
our coal necessities demand, Private
ownen3hip of railroads and railroad
ownership OF lands in Alaska will Gre
ate monopoly that viii make stand
ard oil look like a weakling, and If the
Guggenhem family dominates th,
smeltcr situation, its fortune win some
day outshine that of King solomon,
II Is astonishing that this great mine
of wealth bought for "A son" from
Russia for the use of the entire people
of the United States, and which toua l.
tutcs a reserve Storehouse as signili-
cant AS the store OF grain wisely con-
served by Joseph To guard agairs' the
seven lean Egyptian years is almost
an unknown quantity 90 the a'crds1
citizen. AN equal stockholdcr in this
vast property II is deplorabic that
the people who own this pot ot gold
at theend OF the American rainbow do
not realize just what it is that sc the
interests have their way will be taken
from them without remuneration