The Alaska citizen., 1911-04-10
A CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.

Down on the coast Valdez. Seward and C0rdova are assiduOusly adver- Using their geological and other at ractiOns and il is expected there will be a large increase in the popu lation of each town this summer. The work of advertising is in mos eases being conducted through cham well done because the citizens have aken a keen interest in it, realiz- ing that their own ultimate good is
 oncerned.
 A few years ago Fairbanks had a chamber of commerce and while it was in existence it accomplished certain amount of good. It never attained a very lusty growth, how ever. and il died a natural death, in luced by a lack of nourishment dur ing the past two years. Unfortunate V it has gone cut of existence at the jlllIt II lS llioSI ilttutu'
 There are many matters coming up for consideration from time to time which emphasize the need of such a body, and because there is nC such organization here excellent op- Dortunities to benefit the country are allowed to escape. There is here a peculiar necessity for cham per of commerce which does not eX- st to the same extent in other cities. Most of the matters of interest to
 he town, insofar as its sources of revenue are concerned, originate out side the city limits and are beyond he jurisdiction of the city council
 he only administrative body we nave; and consequently, unless some organization is formed on the spur 1f the moment. such as the develop nent company. to attend to them
 hey are entirely overlooked
 Fairbanks can support very much larger population, of the right kind, than it has at the present time. There is room in the hills for a small army of prospectors, both placer and quartz, and men who are qualified by experience for such work should be informed of their oppor- tunity. But the field for the laborine man is limited, and any chamber of commerce that tries to induce more men to come than can find employ ment is engaged in work that can only bring discredit on itself and Jn the town. The camp wants the biggest population it can employ, and no more.
 Private citizens are continually i'm portuned by people who are think ing of coming North for information regarding the camp. Some of these inquiries come, also from concerns hat have money to invest providing the field is promising. These com munications are entitled to more consideration than they receive, and if a good, live chamber of commerce were in existence they would be properly attended to. While our quartz properties have not yet at tained the stage of development re ositions to the big companies, it can truthfully be said they are much further ahead than could be expect ed when the manner of their devel- opment is taken into considerations and there is little doubt sufficien' capital could be interested to ac complish their thorough testing if they were better advertised.
 With this summer Fairbanks can be said to be fairly started on its new mining era, with certainty ahead that the camp is to be per, manent Many matters will come up that will need the attention of such body as a chamber of com merce, and much time will be gained if such an organization is immedi- ately brought into being. Extreme care should, however be taken in the selection of its executive board, only those being elected who are pre- pared to devote, unhesitatingly, portion of their time to the objects of the organization. No figureheads