The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-07-18

the cables and telegraphs. There is a
| government for certain public lands
and forests. another for other lands
| and forests. Each of these govern
ments is intent upon its own par
| ticular business, jealous OF it's own
success and prerogatives. and all are
more or less unrelated and independ-
ent in their operation.
Secretary Lane is convinced that eff
| cient administration is best secured
| by centralizing responsibility and au-
| thority in the hands of a small num-
her of men. who can be held to strict
I accounta hility for the results of their
| actions. Consequently he is urging the
| esta bIiShment of a development board
| for Alaska hoard which would
! unity governmental activities in the
country and greatly expediate affairs.
| The red tape in administration Is
frequently ludicrous in its complex
ity. The bare fact that this isolated
Ia nd of the far northwestern corner
Of the continent is governed almost
entirely and exclusively from Wash
ington. the capital of the nation. a
city more Than 1000 miles distant. re-
veals something of the righteousness
of the situation. The delay caused by
the unsCientifc arrangement is enor-
nous and involves considerable waste
of time. money and patience.
Procedure. Are Numerous.
There is one procedure for making
homestead, mineral. and other land
entries within the national forests.
There is another procedure for max
ing such entries in lands outside the
forest reserves. A citizen who wanted
TO lease an island for fox farming
carried on a correspondence with three
different departments for several
months in an effort to learn which had
jurisdiction and authority TO make the
lease. II was finally decided that none
Of them possessed this authority. 1t
has taken as long as three years for
patent to issue in uncontested land
claims in Alaska. after final certificate
was issued. merely because of the
lengthy procedure involved in secur-
ing the proper filing out of papers.
The game laws are badly mixed. An
amusing and to some extent trouble
some conflict of authority has been
occasioned by the law making the
brown bear a game animal. under the
control of the Department of Agricul-
ture. while the black bear is recog-
nized by law a fur-bearing animal
coming under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Commerce. The Ques-
ton has more than once come up for
judicial consideration whether every
brown bear is a game animal. even IL
its parents are black. The law was
intended to afford protection to the
great brown. or Kadiak. bear and did
not take cognizance of the fact that
in a litter of black bears one cub may
he black and another brown.
while this patchwork system of ad
machinery has answered
we'll enough while the governments
policy has been merely to keep the |
door shut and discourage development. |
it will not answer under the new pol /
ICY" says pamphlet on Red Tape |
In the Government of Alaska" issued |
recently by the Department Of the In
terror.
Number of Unrelated Agents.
III the work needed in the future
were to be purely and solely admin
istrative it must still be efficient and |
under responsible and readily respon- |
sive supervision. Alaska's remotenesst
alone makes anything like supervision |
by bureaus located in Washington |
more or less perfunctory and super
hcial. What we now have in Alaska is |
little more than a number OF indie
pendent and unrelated agents. acting
largely upon their own initiative, each
only to some special branch
Of police work. and no branch ad-
equately organised to cope with its
problems. without even attempting to
coordinate its work with that of the
other branches"
As solution of the matter. Secre-
tary Lane is urging the establishment
'f development board composed of
members appointed by the President
Ind confirmed by the Senate. rhI.
board would have its headQuarte.s II
Alaska and its members would live in
he territory. it4would have authority
% appoint its own agents and super.
rise their work. The board would make
- reports and be directly rsepons,-
lie 10 the Secretary Of the Interior
The board would do the work now
being performed In Alaska by thel
ssnsral Land omeA the Forest 1srv.l