The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1911-09-08
|P|NCA0T EXPLAINS
HIS POSITION

GIVES OUT INTERVIEW At o.
ATTLE REGARDING ALAsk.
DEVELOPMENT.
Declares In Favor Of Reaso,.,,
System Of Leasing Coal Lana.
Goes North With Senator p..
dexter in Order to Get View.
Alaskans ON Opening Of Resou,,..
Seattle. Sept. Clifford pinoo.
conservationist and former chic, =.
ester of the United States, said fra.
he would go to Alaska with an ona"
mind ready to receive the testimnu..
of Alaskans on the question of ono.
ing the Northern district to devo,on
ment. Mr.. Pinchot and Sen.ta.
Miles Poindexter arrived from W,sh
ington, D. c., Thursday. Thew lof.
on the Northwestern last night fl,
Cordova.
Beyond Cordova our trip has M,
been planned" said Mr.. Pinchot
1T is my aim to get the facts in tbo
Alaska situation and to hear from
Alaskans their side of the story 7
shall go to Alaska with an onon
mind, ready to be convinced if there
is a better way than that which I
have advocated for opening the dis.
trict to development.
''At the next session of congress
one of the principal topics of debate
and subjects for legislation will he
Alaska.
Asked what part he would take
in the settlement of the Alaska de-.
velopment question, Mr.. Pinchot
said:
Prepared to Take Part.
II shall be prepared to take such
part as I may be called upon to per-
form. From the beginning the men
who have stood for the idea of con-
servation have been in favor of de.
veloping Alaska. / have advocated
the patenting of all the valid coal
claims filed on Alaska land. Theo-
dore Roosevelt in special messages
to congress has urged the immediate
development of the resources of that
territory. The difficulty has been
that the group of men trying to grab
Alaska have checked the Legislation
which would have relieved the stu
alton.
cat present I believe that the
system of leasing the coal lands in
Alaska is the best solution of the
problem. l believe that it is neces-
sary and right that the title to the
coal lands should be held in the pub
lie hands.
''The country knows that private
ownership of the coal lands of Alas
ka means monopoly-andc can mean
nothing else. To lease the public
coal lands in Alaska means that the
government will retain the right to
regulate the development and the
sale of the coal in the public inter-
est.
Lease Better Than Purchase.
unless he wants a monopoly, a
good lease is better for the coal
miner than the right to buy. Under
lease the miner pays only for the
coal he takes from the mine, and ne
pays no faster than he takes it;
under the present laws he is obliged
to invest his capital in the purchase
of the land itself, at the price OF
SO or $40 an acre. Thus, for an
area of eight square miles-not an
holding for a coal mining
company-the initial investment OF
$40 an acre for the land would be
upward Of $4,000. This preliml'
nary investment would be wholly un'
under the leasing system
Under the government lease tne
coal mine operator is not given the
land in perpetuity; but he must nave
it long enough to get the capital 10
has invested out again-a length VI
time we may estimate at thirty OF
or forty years. He must have coa'
land enough to maintain a prontaole
output during the whole term OF III,
contract with the government anu
30 may need in certain cases as mu.A
as $4,000 acres under his lease. lno
on q ton of coal must De se'
low enough and the price ne na.
charge must be set high enough
insure a profit commensurate wiz.
the risk he faces. The regulation'
under which he operates must W
simple, practical from the point ~
view Of the man who does the ~o'A,
and wholly free from unnecesSa''
and red tape"
As to Forest Reserves.
Mr.. Pinchot was asked what ~
would do with the forest resel. 'ss
II the state Of Washington VIM.
nave withdrawn from the puDii' ~.