The Ketchikan miner., 1912-03-08
\ WASHINGTON LETTER
 By J. J. Underwood

ditions III Alaska have been ln-
 trodnced at various times in
 this session of congress. and 1t looks as though several Of
 them would be enacted into
 laws. Senator Jones Of Wash iinglon, has introduced bills for compulsory education. and for the inauguration of a sanitary
 system in the territory. Both ol these bills passed the Sem ate committee. and quite like ly will get by the lower House unless something unforeseen oc
 CUTS.
 Senator knute Nelson. tried
 and true friend of the north. who some time ago managed
 to secure the appropriation of cash for the erection of a light house at Cape St. Elias recently
 secured the passage in the Sem ate of a bill to provide for the 8indigents Of Alaska. It took } per cent. out of the portion of the Alaska fund used for road
 purposes and directed that 1t be
 used for the relief Of indiSents. Delegate Wickersham, who doesn't get along with the Min snesota senator very well, inn
 mediately introduced a substi-
 ute in the House which pro- yides that ten per cent. of the
 Road Fund shall be turned ov-
 CT quarterly to the U. s. Mar
 shals of the various districts to
 be expended for the relief Of persons incapacitated through age. sickness or accident. By
 striking out the enacting
 clause Of Senator Nelson's bill,
 fl will now be necessary to put
 the bill through the Senate
 again and it Is quite likely that
 the Delegates action will cause the measure to be defeated. { Nicker>ham's bill. if enacted
 into law. would arbitrarily put about s5000 into the hands of each of the L. :. Marshal>. this money being taken from the road fund. whether 1t is needed or not. and there Is no prOyi- sion bv which it may be return ed in ease it should not be need ed for the purpose for which it was set out.
 ]. Before the Senate Territorial 7 Committee, Senator John L. Wilson, representative of the
 Pacific Coast Chambers of Commerce, stated that one of the easiest out of the contro- lyersy on the Alaskan coal lands would be for the government to open up and develop coal mine in the Matinuska coal re- zion for the benefit of the L. $. navy and make $ contract with some private railroad enter prise to haul this coal from the mines to the coast. If COIL tract of that kind Is entered ill.,
 to. the Senator contended. there would be no need for the construction of a railroad by the Government, as the Alaska /! Northern Railroad company would be more than willing to { its railroad if the coal fields are { opened. He pointed o'It to the committee that the government could make a saving of mil- ! lion dollars a year. by. shipping ! its coal from Alaska instead Of all around the Horn from West i Virginia. Senator also infcrln ed the committee that an area of arabic land larger than the { thirteen original states has been dedicated to solitude in the West through the 50 callcd Conservation laws.
 { Senator Smith. chairman Of <. the Territorial committee. in- I formed his confreIS that few years ago, there had been much
 talk of the early exhaustion oI she ron fields. and that sincc that time they had discovered
 tiig! in one county iH Michl-
 gal, there lies enough iron to
 supply the people of ii,e United
 States at the present rate of consumption for more than a sihoJsand years. He expressed
 lse opinion that the s;Une may 6c true of the coal fields of tine erritory of Alaska
 ] Governor Walter F.. Clark ap- E x..s.re.d bafneo tha Gaus.fa cfsp1