The Alaska daily empire., 1918-01-08
BUREAU WORK
 IN ALASKA IS
 REVIEWED Chicago Herald Tells About "Civi|izing Alaska"
 by Mir. w. L.
 Chenery. AS THE ESKIMO SEES IT The Eskimo Has not De- velOped Any as a Wage Worker He As- SertS.
AS THE ESKIMO SEES IT

cry in the Chicago Herald
 People who care to get new point of view about themselves will dc well to read the latest official re port on what we are doing to civilize Alaska. The story is upsetting in it's complacency.
 It is not complicated-at least as the Department of the Interior purvey it-by scandals. Nobody seems especially to be trying to ex plot the Northern Alaskans. Nc great industrial wrongs appeal to the world for justice. No corporation is building feudal society for the enrichment of it's owners None oi the ordinary maladjustments of oul industrial era are here found.
 On the contrary, self-sacrificing brave men, and women are giving their lives to serving the native peo pies of this far northern territory School teachers and doctors make simple reports of the routine of life in the Arctic. Civilization takes on a new meaning. At one moment the reader wonders why the EskimOs should be disturbed by the invading white man. A paragraph later the inevitability of the process is appar ent.
 As the Eskimo Sees 1t
 For example, Walter c. Shields superintendent of schools in the l,,, ,,4, tot t111 L, ctr MT. Shields travelled 5,OS6 miles tc visit his schools. He remarks cas ually that reindeer transportation has it's disadvantages during the stormy winter But he does not complain.
 One of Mr Shields functions is de veloping leaders among the Eskimos They appear to have managed to ex ist without leaders during the cen turies before white men invaded their territory. He also comments tive opinion of work:
 "The Eskimo has not developed as wage worker. l am convinced that up to the present time our edu cation has not succeeded in making the Eskimo a laborer. He still re mains a trader above all things Most of the criticism of the Eskimo and of work for them by white people is based on this fact. The Eskimo must see the direct results to himself from his work. His labor gets him a seal or some other kind of animal, or it procures him meat and fur that he can sell; he turns out a pice of carved ivory that he can dispose of at profit. As a rein deer man his work results in larger herd from which he can sel meat. On the other hand, his labor for a white man accomplishes noth ing for himself directly. He ap pears to take little pride in the small jobs he does for others. The fact that he gets so many dollars does not appeal to him as it does to a white man. He prefers to gel his money by selling the product Of his work, not his work alone" The Eskimo is an interest fellow He has the artists temperament.
 Arctic Economies
 But civilization did have to inter vent to save the Eskimo people. They seemed to be facing starvation and so the government introduced herds of reindeer This industry has brought a certain measure of pros perity to the natives. All along the government has, however, had to do things which might be useful, even though unprecedented, in the states In order to protect the natives against the avarice of traders the bureau of education fosters co-opera- tive stores, owned and managed by natives but supervised by the teach CTS. For the same purposes the gov ernment transports by parcel post the ivory, fur and whalebone of the Eskimos of the Actic Ocean and Bering Sea to Seattle. There the hunters goods are sold and the gov ernment representatives buy at wholesale prices food. clothing, lum- Der and household goods for the na- tives.
 This paternalism is necessary. Oth- erwise. white traders would strip the Eskimos of all their possessions. So true is this that in certain sections the only white men allowed to own reindeer are the husbands of Eski- mo women. These are merely guar dians for the property of their wives and children. The reason for this prohibition is that to the bureau of education the reindeer industry is just one means to the development of the Eskimo" while ito the white owner the Eskimo is just one means for the proper development of the reindeer industry"
 That also has it's implications for our more highly organized society. The Medical Basis If one has any doubt concerning the propriety of disturbing the Eski- mos, the reports of the doctors and