The Alaska citizen., 1917-04-02
r II 0 NE 26 ?
UTILIZING OUR WATER POWER

On this fiitieth anniversary of the pur- lchase oi Alaska, ii one stops 10 think Io1 a moment of the transformation that na: taken place since the Russian Bear withdre" 1 in favor of the American Eagle, it is mar vicious We in Fairbanks, who have deslgnat cd this day as Seward Day, i'll honor oI the memory oi the statesman who conceived anC carried out the purchase of this vast northern lcountrv, have a right 10 be proud of the mag |nificent showing that has been made up tC the present time Boiled down to bare fig lures on an original investment of s ,2OoQU we have shown q gross return 0I SO6S/4 49, .4Ol i'll combined Alaskan products. Out oI this total mines and mineral, show a Sranc laggrcgate oi S3+5I52IIl. The remainder ot the total is represented by sea and Iul products.
 The base of any counuy's prosperity ls its natural resources. So far we have beer drawing on our source of supply and not re pcnishing 1t. This system will eventual! bankrupt any country. While there still rc mains vast store of mineral wealth in the territory, and especially in the interior, whjcI His practically untouched, thi, store mus .evcntually be exhausted, bccause it is incapa bc of reproducing itself
 Since the past has taken care ol Ijscl so well, there seems to be no real need oI pay ing further attention to it. It is the future HWeIiarc of the country which most concern. the present generation. We, who build ane #plan now, do so not for ourselves alone bu .Wth all eye to the continued prosperity o our sons and daughters who are coming oI 31o take our places Ii we lay the proper l foundation, Alaska in their hands will grow t q greatness in stature that will far eNcccl any image that our vision may conceive. Pas history concIusivcIy demonstrates this. We are all of one mind that the thing needed most, both for present uses, and loI laIl time to come, Is a source OI cheap power lThe present generation requires it for the sue CessfuI operation of vast areas of low grad( 8mineralzed ground, upon which We realize that the prosperity of the country now de bends. Future generations will need it jus as urgently for other purposes. Nhethel ! these purposes be agricultural for stock rais ing, manufacturing or some other line tha 3 has not yet been determined, we are not con cerned with.
 We are even now awaiting the coming of the government railroad, which is to bring us cheap fuel, in the shape of coal, and thi: l in turn is to give to us source Of cheaper power in steam While it is true that thi> s will be much cheaper than what we are a
 present forced to use we are still following
 our former methods of achieving prosperity ] by taking 1t away from the natural resources A Of the country and leaving 1t that much poor
 CT We grant that there are sufficient cOa < deposits to last more than our time, but they
 are by no means lneXhaustlble, and each veal
 as the supply diminisheS, following natura s laws, the price will steadily increase, and l 3 Is only question of time until we are agail a up against the same old propoistion of higl
 priced power.
 We have still better and cheaper sOurC
 of power than steam. Unlike coal, it is in 2 Iexhaustible, and practical demonstration ha shown 1t to be more suited for all uses thai I icoal We refer to the water power suppl, resources, from which limtless electrical en < ergy can be drawn and made a servant to min ister to our needs in a manner that Woul(
 draw blush of shame to the slaves of Alad
 din's Lamp.
 The government railroad, while 1t vii
 afford us much relief coming in any way i \ 1t is run by steam power, will itself be draw ling on natural resources of the territory tha
 can never be replaced. We are reliably in 8 formed that no source of power has yet beer < determined on. It therefore seems to us tha
 this is the proper time to begin a movemen
 for the identification of this road from it very beginning. Economically there can b.
 no reasonable objections raised to the propo
 sition. But if 1t is once installed with stean
 power, past history in government owned pro jects proves that 1t will remain that way unti ! a change is absolutely forced.
 From an economical standpoint electri < city is the only real power with which t operate railroads Statistics furnished D,
 steam railroads which are now converting 3 themselves into electric roads give ample proc