The Alaska citizen. (Fairbanks, Alaska) 1910-1917, 1911-08-07
SECRETARY FISHERS ALASKA
TRIP


or if ii will be only one more of the
hurried pleasure jaunts OF which
Alaska has already had a surfeit
Nothing could please the real Alas
kan better than a regular good old
fashioned visit" from some of the
Eastern big guns who are always try
ing to conserve" us But if the
secretary is only going to step
ashore few times on the South
eastern coast. and look over the
rest of us with a two-bit field glass
from the steamers deck. he might
just as we'll stay at home and spin
his schemes of Alaskan salvation
out of his head. like the rest of
the breed. We do not in the least
doubt the sincere altruism Of Mr..
Pinchot and his kind; and not a de-
the silly prodigality and wastefulness
so often previously displayed in the
any part of Americas incredible nat
ural resources. But, as we once
heard famous cid Judge warn a
class of Young lawyers. a man may
miss the mark just as widely by
overshooting. as by understanding.
whether it be in trying a two-bt
lawsuit before a hayseed justice of
the peace. or in the most momen-
tous affairs of great naticn. And
some of this conservation business
very much reminds MS of an old
knsman who persisted in treating
his colt as a colt till it died of
broken heart at some forty odd
wears Cf age. never allowed to be a
picayunes worth of use in its life;
or the proverbial young New Yorker
who avoided drafts as Well as drink,
and denied himself pie and cake.
and other good things as if he had
Upton Sinclairs crouch against the
meat trust. till he fell downstairs
one fine morning and broke his
worthless neck.
They must breed special Kind
OF fools in the East-or think we
do-when they imagine that the
average Alaskan is bursting with
eagerness to take up claims for the
Guggenheims. or anybody else eX-
cept himself Human nature Is just
about the same in Alaska as any
where else and the average man
may be trusted to make just about
as sharp trade with the Guggen-
helms as congress will ever make.
But if PinchOt or any of the rest
Of the enlightened East know how
TO work a coal mine or a copper
mine or an oil field without large
capital. they can make neat pile
by selling the rest of us the secret.
There are hundreds of cases like
one told us by a Dawson miner last
ldlI. ne ldu q ~ 'u' p'''N -
claim which was dear to him at
four bits But he sold it to dredg-
ing company for $1,000. Did he
complain if they found it good
thing even at that price? And what
is true of such placer claim is
equally true of the coal situation as
whole.
We have no special brand of wis
dom to dispense for the solution OF
this problem; but We are getting al
mighty tired of the rot they have
been dealing out to us. If they want
TO lease these deposits for the com
men benefit. we'll and good. If the
rates named in the Nelson bill
clicked out. not for its merits or de-
merits. but by playing peanut poll
tics) are too low, raise them. Capt.
tai may be trusted to know what
it can do with these or any other
rates. But do something-and do
it quick.
In cur childhood we used to hear
of a doting mother who saved up
against the rainy day for her child
so thoroughly that the child died
Of starvation. After some years of
this conservation rot we can easily
believe the story.
And if Secretary Fisher and some
Ct the rest will really investigate
on the ground till they see something
of the problems Alaska really faces,
instead of wearing out their breaches
understanding schemes of salvation
for us they may do something prac-
teal after all