Valdez daily prospector., 1912-01-06
GOVERNOR CLaRk'S REPLY
 TO SQUARE DEAL" CIRCULAR

III GcplH tp t ClTCuldF rom lUc Square Deal League" of Seattle, Governor Clark has written the following letter. The governor perhaps ovcrcslimatcd the num- Der of people in the territory who arc opposed 10 home rule, but he asks some questions, the answers Io which would probably cause the promoters of the league con 'Siderable study to make plausible.
 The letter is addressed tO Pres idrnL Piggnlt and reads as fol- lows:
 My Dear Mr. PiGgntI: have received in the mail a copy nf a circular letter bearing date of Dcccmhrr. i9ii,' which bears Inc facsimile signature of Rufus R. Wilson as secretary nf the Alas kan Square Deal League. IL iS not usually worth while iu reply there is a specific invitation 10 offer suggestions in regard to the aims and purposes of the Alaska square Deal League, and, more over. am deeply interested in the letter and the printed matter which accompanies if.
 "Sincc I am invited to offer sug- gcStiOnS,. it is fair inference that am invited to express what ever opinions I may have in the premises. To put it rather blunt : ly, it is my opinion that the or ganization which is sending out this circular letter is not exact ly worthy of it's namc--if we are to judge by the contents of the circular and it's accompanying printed matter is that of an elect i've legislature for Alaska.
 "NOw there are great many people in Alaska who do not be- lievc at all that it would be a square deal to give this territory an elective legislature at present. These people honestly believe that the territory would lose more than it would gain under what is con- mOnly called home rule Osten- sibly, the Alaska Square Dcal League is trying LO do something beneficial for Alaska.
 How was il determined that just such things would be bcnc- fcial for that territory, and just what things would not be bene- fcial? l observe that nearly all of the officers and the members of the executive committee as printed on the letter head of the league, arc residents of Puget Sound, and not of Alaska. Can you assure me that all of these men who arc prominent as offi- ccrs and committeeman in your league are fully informed as to the conditions in Alaska, and whether these conditions war rant at the present time the cs- tablishmeni of an elective terri tOrial legislature? am among those who appreciate the great interest shown by the people of the whole Pacific coast in the de- vclopmcnI of Alaska, and your cf- forts fail lo bc appreciated, if you champion measures which arc essentially political in char actcr, and upon which the people Iof Alaska arc themselves divided.
 '"Thc most important questions which concerns Alaska's progress today arc not political questions ai aIr, and arc not those upon vli.,h inc people of Alaska are seriously divided in opinion. If lIr Alaska Square Deal League wishes to. accomplish something beneficial and useful, would it not, in your opinion, entertain a better chance of success if polit- ical questions were let alone and the erorIx of the league directed towards securing for Alaska those things which arc not matters of political discussion at all?
 "I observe that there arc two organizations in Seattle whose names indicate that their purpose