The Alaska citizen., 1910-10-10
ALASKA AND SERvATION.


 savages and wild beasts. of des-
 erts of shifting sand and whirl-
 winds of dust. of cactus and
 prairie dogs? To what use could
 We ever hope to put these great
 deserts or these endless noun
 tain ranges. impenetrable, and covered to their base with per petual snow? What can We ever hope 10 do with this Western
 Coast of three thousand miles.
 rock.bound. cheerless and unin- viting and not a harbor on it what use have We for such country? MT President l will | never vote one cent from the 1 public treasury to place the Pa l citic Coast one inch nearer to i Boston than t is now"
 A little over fifty years ago these words rang through the hall of Con gress as the great orator of that day. 1 Daniel Webster. brought his fist down so emphatically on his desk. while his countenance and voice DOT trayed hs utter disgust for demands l from the far away Oregon country; What did a frontiersman like Dr l Marcus Whitman and other mission aries and explorers know of the fu- ture possibilities of this vast, waste less territory Why. here were men who had been in the fur trade for solutely worthless. excepting for the trappers."
 An. short-sighted Uncle Dan" He could not even see through the scheme of the fur traders 70 keep emigration out of their trapping ter rit0ry. The early missionaries were men and women of culture and edu cation. character. of prlncjpl" an1 determine tiOn-and with mind; clear and calculating. They Lad come from the far East, ana knew a COuntry'5 future when DrOucrlv de yeloped They realized the Allan tic coast was a wilderness at one time and could quickly re retoguiZe the West as a land of many advantages for great future commonwealth.
 These men braved the hostilities of savage Indians and the rayaees Of wild beasts-plodded through deep snDws and swan rivers. suD, istcd on ro1ss and raw meats. to roacl' the seat of government to lay the claims of the Oregon country before Con gress They begged of those "on the throne" to give the scattering emigrantS some protection and to assist in opening q better trail from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean. But the dilatory Congress lis tened 10 the speeches like Daniel Websters. while hundreds of emi- grants were being massacred by h. dians and years were lost which would have put the Northwest in its present progressive and commercial condition a long time ago Short sightedness and ignorance of social and civil matters of the Pacific North west on the part of some in Con gress has stunted many legitimate projects, and when the powers" are legislating on supposed conservation and giving the matter an artesian flow of oratOry-like Daniel Web ster they have powerful bad case of constipation of practical knowl edge.
 There is today in Congress quite a number of "uncie Dams" endeav- bring tO dictate to the pioneers ot Alaska. There are those in Washing ton who imagine that Alaska is populated principally by Esquimos. Indians and rough miners. and that the only real tame men We have is either the one sent as a delegate to i Congress or those whom the govern ment appoints 10 office and sends out from the East to show" poor, | ignorant CD Alaskans how to handle the affairs of the territory. Like the pioneers of the Old Oregon coun- ! try, these AlaskanS have come from far and near - opened trails and blaZed the way - to one of the rich est countries on the face of the | globe-men of sterling character, men of education and progressive ideas, and a wide and far-seeing knowledge of present conditions and future DOS sibilities. There are lawyers and judges capable of bringing to justice any who might illegitimately lay claim to any ground. Hundreds of pioneers have staked claims in con- | pliance with the law. and fully ex- | pecting the assistance of wise gov ernment in making it possible for highways and railroads to reach cer- tain localities which would put a mine on a paying basis. There are hundreds of vacant chairs at the | fireside in a far-away home-aching hearts and children deprived of the