The Cordova daily times., 1915-03-02
s60,000 FUND OF FOREST MONEY
 AVAILABLE

The disposition of a fund exceed ing $60,000 paid into the Alaska Ter. ritorial treasury as 25 per cent. of the proceeds of the sales of timbers and leases of land within the Ton gass and Chugach forest reserves is
 'e of the matters that the legislature will be called upon to decide, and it is one that promises to create some division of sentiment. It is conaend. ed by some that this fund should be expended for the benefit of roads and schools within the First and Third di. visions, as the forest reserves are situated within these divisions.
 Others contend that the funds should be distributed throughout the territory.
 The Law on the Subject The federal law which controls tba expenditure of this money reads as follows:
 That hereafter twenty-five her cent of all moneys received from each forest reserve during any fiscal year. including the year ending June 30 1908, shall be paid at the end there of by the Secretary of the Treasury to the state or territory in which said reserve is situated, to be expended as the state or territorial legislature may prescribe for the benefit of the public schools and public roads in the coun. ty or counties in which the forest re- serve is situated; provided that when any forest reserve is in more than one state or territory or county. the dlstributive share to each from the proceeds of said reserve shall be pro- proportional to its area therein"
 While Alaska has no counties, mem bers of the legislature from the first division contend that the judicial di- visions under the Alaska organic act are equivalent of the counties of other states and territories.
 However, the members of the legis- lature from the Second and Fourth divisions, who favor the division of the fund into four equal parts for expenditure in all four divisions have a ruling of the Treasury department to justify the legality of the fund.
 Department Ruling
 The following is decision of the Comptroller of the Treasury, rendered for the guidance of Governor J. F. A. Strong at time when the disposition of this fund was a matter of cores pondence between the Governor and the Treasury department,
 "The underlying purpose of the stat utes is that their benefits shall go to the public schools and public roads of the fiscal subdivision whose re- sources have been impaired by the withdrawal of land for national for ests. If Alaska has no fiscal units corresponding to counties in other states or territories then the terri tory of Alaska is itself the fiscal unit in which any of the forest reserves are located and should be so considered in dealing with these statutes.
 Alaska was divided into political subdivisions called judicial divisions do not find, however, that in the col lection of revenues and their appli- cation to the expenses of public schools and public roads division lines have been recognized by her fiscal laws.
 Revenues of incorporated towns were applied to school and municipal expenses of the municipality in and for which they were collected but revenues collected outside of incorpo- rated towns were carried in what was known as the Alaska Fund which was available for school and road pur- poses throughout the territory gener- ally There was no segregation of l the revenues of each division and no separate apportionment by divisions of the revenues collected.
 "The national forests of Alaska were not taken from any county or counties or corresponding fiscal di- vision or divisions. The territory itself is the fiscal unit from which the forests were taken, and the territory Is the unit to which any benefits of | Al.