The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-01-10
AL ASKA HOLDS OUT
MANY OPPORTUNITIES
Long Neglected Territory Is America Greatest Unexpected
Treasure Troves-Great American Desert. Too
Capable of Great Development.

Washington. n. G, Jan. with
THE great nations OF Europe wasting
their wealth and their resources with
/ free handed disregard. and this coun-
try being forced 10 depend more ana
more upon its own capital. agricul-
tturat and mineral resources, the aues-
ttion of our undeveloped stores takes
! on an interest such As ii never be-
fore has had. In this connection the
National Geographic Society has pre-
pared "A statement which says:
/ I'm addition 10 the wonderful agri-
cultural and mineral development.
which already has take nplace in the
United States, and which makes this
which already has taken place in the
world In the value of her crops and
the product Of her mines. we have
vast undeveloped resources. We have
more coal. more petroleum. more
phosphate. and more copper than any
/ other country, Our coal reserves
reach such overwhelming total AZ TO
make the combined coal reserves OF
tine next six greatest producing ma
,tions-ai OF whom are at war
/ dwindie into fnsignificance. Zinc.
lead silver, timber. salt, iron. ore and
other stapes Of commerce are here in
iundeveloped abundance. Alaska Is
1.-The greatest Of our unexpected treas
ure troves.
Alaska Largely Neglected.
The I--gest body of unused and
neglected land in the United States is
Alaska 1t is now nearly century
since we purchased this territory, and
IL contains today less than 10000
white inha hitants less thnn LOCO for
each year 1t has been in our posses
sion. The purchase was made as
means Of protection against possible
aggression Of foreign nation. and
without hope that 1t would be even
iseif-suppeftiag In the Intervening
rorty-six years we have given II little
more than the most casual concern:
yet its mines, fisheries, and furs alone
have added to our wealth the grand
sum OF $500, 900. 900. Individual for
tunes have been made in that country
larger than the price paid to Rus
STA for the whole territory.
Waters TEEN With Fish.
| Its waters are teeTning rich with
skins and fish. How rich we know,
because they have been proved. But
how rich its lands are In gold and
copper, coal and oil. iron and zinc,
/ no one knows. The prospector has
gone far enough, however, to tell US
that no other section of our land to-
day makes SO rich a mineral promise.
And in agriculture the Government
itself has demonstrated that Alaska
will porduce in abundance all that can
/ e raised in the Scandinavian coun-
tries. (Sitka has cooler summers and
warmer winters than Washington, ID.
tC), the hard cereals and vegetables,
the meats and the berries OF which
8. 1000. 600 people live in Norway
Sweden and Finland. 1t has been
estimated that there are $4,000. 900
~ Ia Int will n
homes for a people as sturdy az those
OF New England. Alaska can be
made seif-sustaining agricuturally
cit is territory one-fifth the size
of the United States, containing less
than 1000 miles of anything that
can be called n wagon road. 1t has
"a few inconsiderable stretches OF rail-
road, which terminate either in the
wilderness or at a private industry.
The Great American Desert.
Alaska does not by any means
comprise all of our undeveloped re-
/, sources Vast stretches of the Great
American Desert still remain To be
Reclaimed for fruit, grain. yegeta bla
and grazing land Millions of acres
of cia lands are In store ready to
! he opened as the need for their rich
/ ness arises. Southwestern oil fields
are storing vast quantities or petro-
leum for future use. Innumerable
4 water powers throughout the Middle
West are waiting to be harnessed.
f Our vast deposits OF phosphate rock.
embracing millions OF acres and CON.
tanning billions OF tons of phosphate,
Undoubtedly form the worlds greatest
supply. These deposits run for
hundreds OF miles through Wyoming,
! Utah, Montana and Idaho. In 1alD
the United States produced So per
cent of the worlds phosphate output.
| "A discovery OF deposit within the
/ United States was made. .eomae tins
ago, though little has been done in
tthe way of its development. The De-
partment OF tho Interior has ex-
| pressed tbs hope that this supply
would for soxne time. 81 Least. Aaakl
thu farnoereM tIAAa 0o1nfrX tu1e14j,