The Alaska daily empire., 1915-01-29
RID TME lM A-AS
lconlInnaa ltom naEa Fl

aA-A afaa itN t
 (contlnued rom page S) eathored from tho following pcranont ln iho latest annual repor- of the Commissioners
 The laws and regulations have
 in general, been well received by
 Inc Hahlng interesls. with rare
 exceptions have been respected
 throughout Alaska so far as lhe
 Goid agents of Che Bureau hnye
 been able to determine The re
 zion is so vast, however and the
 facilities SO lamentably inadequate
 for reaching the various fishing
 localities. many in number and
 widely distributed, that peraonal
 Inspection in many cases was ut-
 terly impossible
 In the last ten years the Goyern' ment has spent approximately SEOUL GOO for the introduction Of reindeer Into Alaska and the encouragement. of the breeding of this animal by tho Natives as food supply There is increasing interest in the reindeer as a meot supply not only for Alaska but for the United Stales as well Be- cause Of the ability of this animal to find its own food throughout the year, without shelter or without care. the propagation of tbis animal is pecui' iarly adapted to Alaskan conditions and there are millions of acres of land whore the summer grasses and win ter Utchens or reindeer moss will support large herds.
 So far tho reindeer industry has been closely guarded and monopoiiz' ed for the benefit of the Natives. Piac' ing the value of existing herds at S25 an animal, the Bureau Of Education reports that the increase of herds and their sale since the introduction of reindeer has enriched the Natives to- che amount of S1162.00O.
 Since 1t has beon demonstrated that tho reindeer meat can be successful lly shipped and sold in the United States at a profit to the growers, and can be made or more or less import ant auxiliary food supply for thia coun- try. the question is pertinent as to whether or not the future monopoly ol Che industry by and for the Natives is justiflcable. Under existing con ditons the only way in which white men may secure deer for breeding purposes is by purchasing them from the Laplanders. whose herds are small and remote. or by importing breeding specimens from Asia, which is very costly Should this condition main- tain, 1t Is only reasonable to expect that the available supply of reindeer meat will be entirely in the hands of the Natives Of Alaska-a condition which would hardly make for com merciaI activity or the best results from Che standpoint Of tho consumer
 One does not have to touch upon the inadeQuacy of the road system in Alaska. upon Che manner in which thc sealing industry is being conduct ed. upon tho need for additional tele- graph lines and ocean cables, to seeI that the Territory of Alaska is being held prisoner in letters of red tape, which will have to be struck off before the vast wealth of this portion of the United States can be realized.
 The patchwork system of admlnis- trative machinery now in operation has answered we'll enough, while thel Governments policy has been merely to keep the door shut and discourage development. but it will not answer under Che new policy of settlement ;nd expansion.
 If the work needed in the future were. to be purely and solely admin istrative. it must stiii be efficient and under responsible and readily respon- sive supervision. Alaska's remoteneGs alone makes anything like supervise ion by bureaus located in Washington more or less poriunctory and super glclai What we now have in Alaska is Mtae more than a number of inde- pendent and unrelated agents acting largely upon their own initiative each only to some special branch of police work and no branch ade- quatoly organized to cope with It's own problems without event attempt- ing to coordinate It's work with that of the other branches.
 But the task Of administering the laws relating to the disposal and de-| velopment of the public domain and in Alaska is also a task of The problem Is the set clement and development of the coun- try and of all its resources to the best advantagen Each branch Of work, now under a different supervision, is 8 part Of one and Che same problem. IL is a huge task which is ahead; but it Is a single task. and to undertake 1t 1t must be put into the hands of 9 single authoratiye director | ate.
 I have pointed out in some detail ! .he shortcomings of the present sys- tem-its delays, red tape, clrcumlocu- [ ton, divisions and overlapping of au- l thority. as well as the discourage [ ments which it offers to settlers whom we want Co encourage. TO secure ef-I we must eliminate tho de- lays. the red tape, and the confusing and the confused machinery now in use. and substitute for it machinery
  s