The daily Alaska citizen., 1919-03-18

arch IS, 1919
 ture of any pretensions. And we have seen that the future of the mining industry is en- tirely dependent on the solution of the power question. Therefore from the viewpoint of the railroad if from no other it will be good sound business reasoning to invest the six million dollars required to insure the success of fifty million dollar expenditure.
 To Increase tho Gold Reserve
 The United States is ill need of large gold reserves to back up the extended credit caused by the war, and in fact the need for gold Is so intense that at one time the placing of bonus or subsidy on gold production was seriously considered. Interior Alaska has been heavy producer of gold in the past but production under present conditions on any great scale is practically out of the question, because only the creeks having rich pay streaks will justify the present very expensive methods of mining, due chiefly to the cost of power, and most ground of this character has been exploited. With this ever-pressng need for gold, and more gold, congress would be more than justified i'll investing the compara- lively small amount required to build this plant, If for nothing else than to insure the continuance of supply to the gold reserves of the United States treasury
 To Replace tho Metals Wasted by War The waste of the world war has destroy ed beyond recovery many thousands of tons ot metals, among which are tungsten, tin and antimony. Cheap power such as will be fur nished by the plant in consideration, will per init Alaska to assist in the repletion of this waste by enabling her to develop the known resources ot these metals i'll the interior To Pay the War Debt
 The Nation has emerged from the war with heavy debt to pay; but the Civil W ar lett debt which in proportion to the re- sources ot the country at that tune was heavy also. And how was that debt paid: By the development ot the West. The government tostered THAT development. 1t gave land grants, It opened tracts tor homesteadlng and timber, 1t leased water power sites, built bridges and roads and tostered the railroads, and 1t has reclaimed, and is today retaining, vast areas ot desert land which are made to reJolce and blossom as the roSe" And the resources and the wealth produced from the development ot that great Western country have pald the heavy debt within the memory of men who fought III the war. History can repeat itself. Alaska is new and undev eop- ed country. Its very name means The Great Country. It has resources Ill mineral wealth and Ill agricultural possibilities which, ii de- veloped and added to the wealth of the coun- try will, merely as an increased source of tax ation, duplicate the results of the past hat century. And the first vitally necessary step towards that development depends on cheaper power such as will be furnished by the project outlined in'this report.
 To Insure Quick Relief
 Action must be taken quickly, however, because the interior ot Alaska IS facing grave crisis. Costs are prohibtive, except tor the extremely rich bonanzas, and the cream has already been skinned from most of these. The completion of the railroad will help by reducing the cost of supplies, but it cannot o1 itself solve the problem, because it cannot fur nish the prime essential factor-that of cheap power. Without this no advance can be pre- dicted for the mining industry of the interior; and unless relief is ill sight at once the small population that has remained thru the past stress of dark days will drift away
 It lies within the power of the congress of the United States to determine the future course of the interior of Alaska; whether the outcome of the crisis is to be unparalleled development, or rapid and sudden reversion to the condition that prevailed before the dis covery of gold, such as must surely result un- less cheaper power can be obtained for the mining industry But with power at the price to be had from a plant such as has been outlined above, the future, and glori- ous one, is assured for the mining industry, for agriculture, for the railroad and for the settlement and development of the