Valdez daily prospector., 1915-05-29
ALASKA FOX FARMS
 REPORT FAILURES
Deputy Commissioner of Fisheries Puts the Chief Blame On the
 Government.

ed by E. Lester Jones, Deputy Con- missioner of Fisheries, in the report on his recent investigations in Alaska for the Department of Commerce. He finds that the promise of big pro- fits caused many to rush into the bus mess, and small fortunes were sunk by men who did not understand the difficulties of the industry.
 The rush to raise foxes, the conl- missioner says, was due to the exorbi- tant prices paid for live black and silver-gray foxes raised in Canada. These prices, he declares, did not in- dicate a healthy condition in the in- dustry. Nevertheless, there was a rush to raise foxes in Alaska in the hope of reaping big profits quickly. One of the chief reasons for the large majority of failures, according to the commissioner, was the governments system of leasing certain islands to prospective fox farmers at mini mum of $200 a year for five years. The system was intended to encour- age fox raising, he points out, but in reality it proved one of the chief ob stacles in the way of success.
 Two hundred dollars per annum does not seem much to people when they hear of foxes being sold for $5,- 900 to $10,000 a pair," he says, but these unnatural and artificial prices cannot possibly apply to the islands situated in the Pacific ocean off the coast of Alaska. The quality of the fur from these islands is not as good as that from inland areas further north. The man who goes out to that isolated country to carry on his work alone has hard row to hoe. With a capital of say $3,O00 he must lay aside $500 to pay for his lease for the first four years, as he must not expect any return from his in- itial stock before the end of that time. Then he has to buy his foxes for a starter. Supposing he buys half a dozen blue foxes, the cost will be in the neighborhood of $1,20O. There is $2,00O gone already, and the bal ance will be we'll utilized in feeding himself and his stock and in paying other expenses.
 T have not allowed anything for corrals, for in most cases on these islands te foxes do better to run at large, but it must be understood that on many of the islands of west ern Alaska, including some of those offered by the government on lease, there is not enough natural food to take care of what would ordinarily constitute a fair number of foxes for such an area. Therefore, man must provide food the year round. If he does his own work he has no in- come for the first four years. If he is fortunate enough to have good position and still more fortunate in securing a reliable man to look af ter things for these four years, the chances are that matters will be in pretty good shape at the expiration of his lease. Then what is going to happen? Some other man may out bid him, and time, labor, and build ings are all gone.
 "The government, if opening res ervation in one of our western states, would permit the land to be acquired free, under certain restrictions, and cannot understand just why any man who is reliable and industrious and willing to go out and help to develop that far away frontier coun- try of Alaska should not be encour- aged by the same privileges instead of being hampered and disheartened at the start.
 If it seems wise to lease the is- lands at $200 per annum or there- abouts, should certainly be in favor of arranging it so that after the first five years man would either re. ceive rebate of perhaps half of the leasing price paid by him when he has proved his good faith or I would suggest sliding scale for leasing these islands at $50, for example, for the first five years and then a sta- tionary price for the next ten years with the privilege of renewal, if de- sired, for another ten years, and so on.
 Under the present leasing sys- tenn, at the end of five years a man may lose the island where his money and efforts were spent during the life of the lease. I would suggest that the men who have already leased