The Alaska daily empire., 1918-12-16
Includes the ReCOmmenda- tionS and Report of Gov. Thomas Riggs, Jr.,
 in His Report.
OUR GREATEST LOS s
Territory Has Suffered the Most from Lack of Man. power; Report on
 Fisheries.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16.-Secre- tary Franklin K. Lane, in submit ting his annual report to Congress includes the entire report of Gov. Thos Riggs, Jr., regarding Alaskan affairs, touching on all phases of the Alaska situaticn
 Secretary Lane shows that Alaska is the last American frontier and says that assistance must be given to have homes located there. He gives much space to the need Of edu- eating and "Americanizing" the for eigners, to the problem of making use of public lands for returned sol diers, to the necessity of co-opera' tion for reconstruction problems and refers to Alaska in several places aside from including the report Of the Governor, from which the follow ing is taken, and which is in addl- tion to the recommendations made by the Governor for Alaska and print ed last Saturday.
 The report of the Governor shows that while the industry of the Ter ritory during the past year has shown marked progress along certain lines, notably in the production Of fish, yet in the main it has been ser iously affected in consequence of the great war. The young men of the Territory have flocked to the Colors in great numbers, either through the e of ho nj hou answered the call of the Government for skilled labor, and large propor- tion of the population seized by the general restlessness of the country has left for the scene of greater ex- citement and activity. As a result the normal industry of the country has been paralyzed; mines, fisheries, railroad construction, shops, and ships are all working with insuffic- tent forces.
 The greatest loss, he states, has been in man power; practically every outgoing steamer is loaded to capac- ity, and when the seasonal indus tries of fishing, placer mining, and railroad construction are finished for the year the exodus will be almost in the nature of a stampede. The loss of population is particularly notice able in the interior and on the Sew ard Peninsula.
 Under such circumstances, new de- velopment is practically impossible, nor will be found until after the close of the war. It is reasonable to suppose, following the declaration of peace, that men drawn from the more settled and staid portions of the United States and thrown into the atmosphere of adventure and outdoor life will not be content to settle down to their former humdrum existence in the factory, the office, or on the farm, but that they will seek a wider horizon and greater possibilities than offered by their re turn to former occupations; great immigration to the Territory is look ed for when once the armies of the world are disbanded.
 Population
 study of the census report of 1910 in conjunction with the figures of arrivals and departures furnished by the Collector of Customs seems to indicate that on June 30, 1918. there was a population of approxi- mately 40,O00 white people in the Territory. The manager of the Al aska Red Cross membership drive, in December. 1917. after extensive correspondence with postmasters and commercial organizations, made an approximate estimate of 25,200 per