The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1916-11-25
FTER hearing Stephen Mather
of the department of the In
terror and James Wickersham,

A FTER hearing Stephen Mather
~ of the department of the in
~ terror and James Wickersham,
delegate from Alaska to con-
greSs, talk about that country and its
future possibilities you almost think
that one of the routine duties of the
United States ambassador at Petro-
grad ought to be to apologize TO the
Russians every other day or 50 for
buying that peninsula for only ST.
100000. And what Mather and Wick
ersham are saying is what the 10000
people of the territory and all the big
game hunters and naturalists of the
United States are thinking, and what
all the travelling. sightseeing world
will gladly admit, say those who al
ready know, as soon as the federal
government is ready to invite the world
to come and ride on its new railroad
to the new Mount Mckinley national
park, remarks a writer in the New
York Times.
The railroad, strictly a governpent
enterprise, is now under construction.
a bill to set aside 1900 square miles
of the Alaska range, the highest land
on the continent, as a national park
has been introduced by Mr.. Wicker
sham and is pending in congress. But
park and road should be considered to-
gether in making any forecast of what
Alaska is going to mean to the country
at large. The railroad, which starts
at Seward, on the southern coast of
the p~eninsula-the Gulf of Alaska-is
to Il north to Fairbanks, a distance
of 400 miles, or almost half way to
the shores of the Arctic. The primary,
commercial purpose of the road is to
provide an outlet for the products of
the rich Tanana valley, but, plus that,
it will make Mount Mckinley, now not
much more than a name except to a
handful of explorers and hunters, as
accessible as Yellowstone park.
The new railroad will bring Mount
Mckinley within three weeks travel
of New York city, which is another
way of saying that the sledloads of
dead animals will become q great deal
more numerous unless the government
is armed with protective park author
ity before the sale of railway tickets
begins.
Little Gold in Proposed Park.
There is no fear that the mining
and hunting privilege will be a menace
to the region as n park. "As a matter
of fact" said Robert Sterling Yard,
who is associated with Mr.. Mather in
all national park matters, 1--WE do not
expect the mining operations to
amount to much, for the evidence of
the geological experts indicates that
there is little gold in the region which
IS to be set apart. As to the game,
we will have in Mount Mckinley park
the repetition of the story of the yell
lowstOne, where there has not been a
gun fired legally since 1872 and where
there is more game now than before
the coming of the white man, for now
there are no Indian hunters. Cavalry
patrols and ceaseless watching for
pOachers have made the Yellowstone
n paradise for animals. Mckinley is
that nOw, always has been and with
the passage of this bill, always will
be-"
But the conservation of wild life. rs
important as that is, is bur one of the
objects which the government has il
view in the Alaska range.
The railroad, at least to Broad pass
will be ready for operation by the sum
mer of 1917, either by the government,
itself or by private capital under fed
eral lease, a detail that has not We
been worked out, but the main poin
is to get Mount Mckinley and the 2,2Ot
square miles of surrounding country
under the jurisdiction of the depart
ment of the interior as a national parl
before the stream of tourist travel Il
turned into the country over the new
, line. Otherwise there will be seriou
damage to n OF the chief assets O
the region, its present abundance o
great game. So keen is the apprecia
{ ton of this danger that Assistant Sec
, rotary Mather is being backed in hi
/, efforts TO get the required Legislation
| by the American Game Protective as