The Washington times., 1912-02-02
CONSERVATION IN
ALASKA URGED IN
TAT rs MESSAGE
Control Of Resources and
Ownership of Railroads
Recommended.
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Continued from First Page)
| and especially the part OF that domair
which Is In Alasla. The report Of tn,
Secretary of the Interior, which 81
| transmitted herewith. and the repor
to him Of the governor Of Alaska, sci
out the public need in this regard Will
great force and in satisfactory detail
The progress under the reclamation
act has made clear the defects of III
limitations, which should be remedied
The rules governing the acquisition OF
homesteads, Of land that Is not arid
the perfectinc of title to land made
arabic by Government reclamation
work.
concur, with the Secretary Of the
Inferior in his recommendation that
after entry Is made upon land bein..
reclaimed. actual occupation as Z hoxue-
stead Of the same he not required until
two years after entry. but that cultiva.
that the present PROVISION under which
the land IL to be Paid for In ten annual
irstallments shall be 80 modified as to
allow patent to issue for the land
three years' occupation. with a reserva-
tiun Of a Government lien for the
amount OF tho, unpaid purchase money.
This leniencv to the reclamation home
steader will relieve him from oecrpa,
tion ut u time when the condition OF
the land makes 1t most burdensome AMI
difficult. and at the end Of five years
will furnish him with q title upon which
he, tan borrow money ard continue the
Improvement OF his holding.
Believes in Classification.
I also concur, in the Recommendation
of the Secretary Of the Interior that
all of our public domain should be
classified and that each class should
be disposed Of or administered In the
manner most appropriate to that par
ucular class.
The chief change, however. which
ought to be made, and which have
already recommended in previous mes
sages and communications to Congress
is that by which Government coal land
and phosphate and other mineral lands
containing non-metalliferous minerals.
shall be leased by the Government, with
restrictions as to size and time, re-
throughout the country between the
owners in fee and the lessees who
work. the mines, and In leases like
those. whiclr~ have been most success
Nova Scotia. The showing made by
Investigations into the successful work.
ing OF the leasing system leaves no
doubt as to its wisdom and practical
utility stns as the to tee % ~ors ay
be so framed as to prevent any hold
ing Of large mining properties merely
for speculation, while the royalties may
be made sufficiently low. not unduly
to increase the cost Of the coal mined,
ana at the same time sufficient to fur
nish q reasonable income Tor the use
of the pubic in the community where
the mining goes on. In Alaska. there
is no reason why spbstansnai IN n.
such public works as may be deemed
necessary or useful.
There is no difference between the
reasons which call for the application
Of the Leasing system abe 70 oyernment tne GHn % in
the United States proper ana those
which exist in Alaska.
Two Alaska Coal Districts.
There are now in Alaska only two
we'll known high-grade coal fields OF
large extent-the Bering river coal Held
and the Matanuska coal field. The
Rering river coal field, while 1t has
varying qualities Of coal from the
bituminous to the anthracite. is very
much lessened in value and usefulness
by the grinding effect to which IN
geologic.I ages past the coal measures
rave been subjected, SO that the coaI
does not lie or cannot be mined In large
j
a roWdered condition. TIE same diff
Guilty does not appear to the same ex-
tent IN the Matanuska coal fields. The
Eering river coal fields are only twenty
five miles from the coast. Ihey are
within easy distance of an existing rail-
read built by the Morgan-Gusgenheim
interests, and may also be reached
through Controlley Bay by the con-
struction Of other and competing rail-
1oniroIIer Paw ia not q good harbor,
hut could probably be made practical
with tho expenditure Of considerable
money. The railroad Of the Morgan, gan,
Guggenheim interests ranr,nG cnaI .carpv. lpya
Ing read for the Bering river :ields by
the construction of branch 70 those
fields not exceeding fifty or sixty miles.
1t Is practicabla, and II the coal meas
the branch would be built. In the pres
ent condition of things, There ls no
motive to build the road, because there
is no title or opportunity to open and
mine the coal.
Advantages of Matanuska.
The Matanuska coal fields are lon
ger distance from the coast. They are
from 15O to 200 miles from the harbor OF
Seward, on Resurrection Bay. This is
one OF the finest harbors In the World,
and 2 reservation has peen tnaae tha I1nitaS ,I
States. A road constructed from sew,
ard to the Matanuska coal fields would
form part of a system reaching from
the coast into the heart of Alaska, and
open the great interior valleys Of the
Yukon and the Tanana, which have
agricultural as well as great mineral
possibilities
The Alaska Central road has been
constructed some seventy-one miles OF
the distance from Seward north to the
Matanuska coal fields, but the construc-
tion beyond this has been discouraged,
first by the fact that there has been
no policy adopted of opening up the
coal lands upon which investors could
depend, and, second, because there
scemrd to be a lack of financial backing
of those engaged in the enterprise. The
Secretary of the Interior has ascer-
tained that the bondholders, who are
the real owners of the road, are will
inp to sell to the Government, and he
recommends the purchase of the exist
| ing road, such construction as may be
| necessary, Its continuance to the Mata-
nuska coal fields, and thence into the
valleys of the Yukon and the Tanana
| 1t would be a great trunk line, and
would be an opening up of Alaska by
Government capital.
On Government Ownership.
H.. 10.