Valdez daily prospector., 1912-08-22
THURSDAY, AUGUST 22. 1912.
ALASKA IS INTERESTED.

The crust of bread thrown at Us by congress. when we are hungry, SuGSrSiS 10 Us that Alaska iS much more interested in nation al legislation than is the East, be- cause of the fact that all of our resources are in inc control of tho general government. Unlike Inc East. We are not made up of manufacturing communities and cannot work out our own saliva lion. Everything We have need of "" must import; the wealth we create comes from inc earth and j> new riches added iO the worlds supply.
 sixty llun. .n:l of Us. inrlud- ing the native population. have produced in one year SG0,0Q0. .000. Tn" EaSl knows nothing of the administration of our public re- sources or nf iiS rrnuirrm .nts. We have in the past found il a difficult matter to secure mOdi- fratiOns of the laws governing the working and disposition of our resources to fit conditions ill ihis northern section.
 Neither congress nor the ad- ministratiOn recognizes the fact that there is a marked difference between. the conditions obtaining in Alaska and the stales, with the result that Eastern theorists arc attempting to correct supposed evils here which exised in the old CT communities. Instead of help ing us every administrative act is directed towards the making of the development of this country more difficult.
 The great resources, such as coal, oil and wafer power of the states was there for any man to utilize and every induccmcnt was given to lead mon to develop these resources. to the end that the wealth of inc nation could he added io and the growth of com munitirs be stimulated.
 The present policy. as directed toward Alaska, iS tn discourage investment so far as inc dcvel- npmcnt of resources is concerned. Ignoring inc fact that il is much more difficult iO develop coal, oil, minerals or even water power. in Alaska. than in inc Eastern states. Ihe powers that he not only made il harder for an Alas kan to do anything with the vast resources af our hand. but any man who has any idea of bringing into Us" such resources Is TO- Gardcd with suspicion and as a potential criminal Snrking fO Sioal Illo peoples birthrighI: with the result Ihai tn" departments in WaSIlinrou pass moro Sfringrnf r"cIllaii ions even io tlIr point of making arlS of congress innprr- alive. in ih ir mad desire to 'r"nS"rvc lh" nations hrriIa-r.'
 There is in Inc United States much money seeking lucrative in vrstnrnl and ihcrr are hero in Alaska magnificent chances for such Investments. To open tho doors with reasonable safeguards for inc publir's protection would mean that much money, now idle, would hc employed in developing r"sourc"S now lying dormant.
 Just SD long as the national government continues tho policy of Roosevelt, Pinchof and Taft. legitimate capital will refuse Alaskan investments. Capital is too sensitive to risk itself af Inc caprice and whim of experiment. alisiS, who have set aside a policy which built up nation, inc most powerful on earth, in hardly more fhan century, and is now build ing q second, in Canada. fo sub sIiLutc in ifs sIcad a theory of development which ls-bascd per sc upon inc hypothesis that all AIaskans arc knavcs and hence arc righifully placed under Inc han nf suspicion.
 Of thosc responsible for Inc present policy, Theodore Roosc- welt alone had experience in tho west, using Ihe term in iis from Her sense. As a cafilcman hc no doubt Drontcd as other Caillemc