Valdez daily prospector., 1915-10-21
COL. SLEICHER FAVORS
 ONE-MAN RULE FOR NORTH

To take the affairs of Alaska out of the hands of multitude of bureau chiefs at Washington and place them under the direction of one man, an assistant secretary of the interior for Alaska, is the suggestion made by Col. John A. Sleicher, of the Leslie Judge company, in the fourth of se- ries of timely articles on the North land in Leslie's Weekly. Col. Sleich- CTS idea is to have this assistant sec retary reside permanently in Alaska. In other words, he suggests that the government send one man to Alaska from Washington, rather than have thousands of men come from Alaska to Washington to do business with the government.
 There is little doubt that the sug- gestion will receive wide endorsement in the North, for Alaskans believe that the slow development of the ter ritory has been solely due to the fact that every time man desires to do any development work on either the water or the soil it is necessary for him to make from one to a half dozen trips to the National Capital in order to find out which department he is responsible to.
 At the suggestion of Secretary Lane a bill was introduced to create an Alaskan development board of seven members to take charge of the affairs of the territory which are now scattered through various govern mental bureaus and are so bound up by red tape rules and regulations that it is next to impossible to do any de- velopment work in the territory. The bill met with considerable opposition from the bureaus. The measure will come up again before the next session of Congress.
 Should a bill embodying Colonel Sleicher's idea be introduced it likely will meet with considerable opposi- tion from the bureau chiefs at Wash ington, but Col. Sleicher is not with out friends at the National Capital and should he make a fight for the passage of the bill he might be able to put 1t through.
 Leslie's Weekly. of which Colonel Sleicher is the managing director, was the lone Eastern journal that had the courage to tell the truth about Alas ka when the undertaking conserva- tion craze was at it's height and the truth was not popular. Instead of falling in line with other Eastern magazines Col. Sleicher hired num- Der of writers to go to Alaska and get the facts. He was immediately elected a member of the "In-Bad Club" by the Clifford Pinchot forces and was branded as a "tool of the corporations.
 In the series of articles which he is now running in Leslie's he explodes many of the untruths which gained currency during the promulgation of the conservatiou propaganda. In ref erence to the appointment of an as- sistant secretary of the interior for Alaska, he says:
 "We are on the eve of period of industrial reconstruction just as marked as was the reconstruction period in national politics at the close of the war between the States. Let us all shake hands and join in an ef- fort for prosperity. That is the feel ing manifesting itself in Alaska. The territory has suffered in common with the rest of the country from unreas- enable attacks on our captains of fln- ance and industry.
 "It is easy to find fault. Every body does it. But it is difficult to of fer remedies for abuses. How shall we cut the red tape of which Alaska complains so bitterly and so justly? Why not cut it by having an assis- tant secretary of the interior for hldShd, ODO WIIh CA0 LCIli- tory's needs and having the confi- dence of the people? Establish his headquarters at some central point in Alaska and let him issue mining and land grants and settle disputed questions. Instead of making Alas kars travel all the way to Washing ton--a long and expensive trip-;let Washington come to Alaska-one man on the ground to settle the griav- ances of thousand who have neither the time nor the money to go to Washington nor to pay for lawyers journey there. This would give relief especially to those of limited means. The latter are the greatest sufferers now and deserve the immediate con-