The weekly Alaska citizen., 1919-03-24
COOPERATION

full weapons that has ever been in the hands of civilized man. When more than one person begin to work together their power is many times greater than it would be if they were all working separately At no time is this more true than when it is applied to collec- tive body of men, or to communities, or even countries. An organization wherein the men all are working toward the same end is fac tor with which even tie most powerful forces must rccScn. It is simply the idea of two heads being better than one raised to the nth power.
 Igl -cw country that is beginning to de- velop this spirit of cooperation IS vital The development is hastened or retarded in direct r.,io to the amount of cooperation that there IS among the forces working for this devel- opmcnt, and its success depends upon this s-'rit entirely.
 Alaska is beginning such period of de- ve,opnent, and those people who are really interested in this new life are endeavoring to foster and encourage cooperation be- tween the different parts of the country and between the different potential industries of them all Mining is bound to be the main irl- dustry of the territory because it is essentially a mineral country But mining and farming
 
 dent one upon the other. Their interests are identical. The miner furnishes the market for the farmers produce, while the miner looks to the farmer to lower his cost of living and production by supplying him with food at great reduction in the price over that of food brot in from Outside.
 And since their interests are so closely associated, there should be the closest CO., operation between them. Certainly any miner who expects to follow up mining in this coun- try can see that every dollar that goes out is gone for good. It should be put to work right here, for this country should be estab- lished. Any miner who is here just for, the purpose of getting the riches out of the ground to go elsewhere to spend it does not deserve the cooperation of the farmer. And the gold would better lie buried on bed rock for all time.
 It is highly honorable to get gold, but to use it rightly is more honorable. The natural treasure of any country should belong to that country in which it lies, for that is the one means of making it possible to develop the country and bring it up to its maximum pro- duction eventually. We need gold, and more gold, but right along with it we need food, more food, and then still more food, and wherever there is land that will produce food the citizens of that country, no matter what their particular interest, should be determined to see that the food is produced.
 The farmer is as much interested in the miners power project as the miner, for it wi. r,eali cheaper production for him. They vii; al benefit by it either directly or indi- rectlv. Those farmers who are within. req scc'able distance of such power will become consumers, and will use it for all the station cry power machinery that is SO essential for tl.. up-to-date farmer. It will revolutonize lis farm life and bring the comforts of the city to the country. The farmer deserves the establishment of such plant for he knows tat it will mean more miners and bigger market.
 On the other hand, the miner should real ize that when this country is producing all the food it can produce, the cost of living will be reduced to the point where much of the low grade mining ground can be worked at profit and to where the hard rock mines will develop and the future of the country will be assured. They must work together, and when they do bring this spirit of cooperation to its full capacity there will be no need to worry over the development of the country, Alaska will be made.