Douglas Island news., 1912-01-17

stand local conditions better than the mem bers of the Congress understand them, and would therefore enact more suitable laws; t3l that a local legisla- ture would devote to territorial i'm provements large tax monies which at present covered into the United States treasury and which lit is asserted9 eH- ceed the amount of the federal appro
 priations for Alaska. The advocates of a legislature either deny the truth or question the sutf1ciency of number of the statements set forth in opposition, among which are the following: CD That the population is so small, so lacking in homogeneity, and to so large an extent unstable, as to render the proposed new government impractica
 ble; (2l that the total amount of taxa ble property is too small to bear the expense of the new government, dn
 cluding the cost of necessary public works; t3) that under the proposed change, the territory would lose more of material benefits than it would gain.
 That the members of territorial legislature would have better under standing of local needs than has been shown by the national Congress, aud slso that their time would be devoted to the consideration of these things as the time of the Congress is not and cannet be, is obvious, and this fact IS almost exclusively responsible for the attitude of those who are both sincere and thoughtful in their advocacy of a change in the form of government. There are these Whe are sincere but very poorly informed who employ the statement that large tax monies are now G ct7ered into the national treasury and withheld from use in Alaska which would become available for local ase II a territorial legislature were in contro! of the licenses and taxes. brief statement will correct this misappre- hension, but it will at the same time lend some support to the adverse pro
 position that the territory is not yet able to bear the expenses of local gov ernment and of public works. The tax and license monies of every description collected in Alaska, exclusive of GUS toms and internal revenue receipts, which are usually not devoted to the expenses of local governments, and eX elusive of mRnicipal real estate taxes which are under control of city coun- .ciIs Incorporated towns was covered into the treasury, for use in building roads and amounted in the last fiscal year to S398, ,135.14. Of this amount Sl66 254. .98 was or will be turned over to the treasurers of the several incorper- ated towns, for the partial support of the municipal governments. The bal ance. com prising monies collected out
 k.,l ed into the "Alaska Fund" in the United States treasury, for use ln building roads and trails and maintain ing schools in the territory. The Con gress has made direct appropriations for Alaska for the next fiscal year (not including salaries or expenses of oth- cers, the expenses of the administra- tion of justice, the maintenance ot prisons and jails, or certain general appropriations which are applicable m part to this territory amounting to S799, 243.27-that is, S40l, 108l3 more than the total revenues of Alaska, eE- elusive of customs end internel rev enues. The items of direct and speci- fic appropriation included in the gross amoent as given above are, aids to navigation, care of insane, suppression of the liquor traffic among the natives, protection of game, education of na- tives, propagation of reindeer, con struction of roads and brails, pretee- tion of the fisheries, land surveys, and telegraph system. A few other appro. priations are omitted because they are purely temporary.
 do net wish to discuss in deteil at this time all the considerations which are being urged for and against sep arate territorial government and legls- lature. Since the subject of Alaska revenues and expenditures, however, IS a pro oftable one to look into, whether the form of government be changed or not. a brief discussion may be deemed .........,.al,. .,..;.t Ia rnA .naNfnl Lt is -raa.