The weekly Alaska citizen., 1919-01-27
THE SAME OLD STORY


 there were numerous attempts to co]onize the new country and establish trading companies with the view of working the new land for the benefit of the old The Spaniards made several colonizing trips to the shores of North America with the idea of founding trading posts that would bring in immense profits to the trading companies backing the venture. England also sent over number of expcdi- tions for the same purpose, and in every in stance the settlements were shOrt-lived. The country was bleak and barren, covered with great forests, that seemed to defy the feeble efforts of these people,
 When the Pilgrims came, however, they were fired with the ideal of finding and es- tablishing for themselves permanent hones. They wished to live their own lives as they saw fit, and so they sought out the new coun- try, not for what they might gain from it in material wealth, but for a homeland, for themselves and their offspring for generations to come. Their efforts met with success. They wrested living from the so-called barren country, established their homes, and opened up the way for the great and nightly nation that is now the United States.
 Farther to the south the English colon- ists established settlements and started tobac CO pldllldlIOIIS, OIl lllCy WS1C WOlNl11S ois"iS the same lines as their northern neighbors and were founding permanent homes. Their attempts also met with success, and they also helped to open the way for the wonderful development that followed. In both instances it was the permanent settler that survived, and the nation stands monument to his purpose and his steadfast desire to make of America a homeland Those bands of people who came with the idea of making their fortunes, and then leaving the country for their former homes, met with failure, and fell down i'll the mighty struggle of life ill the new country
 The same is true of Alaska, the last new country of America. Since the first cry of 'gold," the territory has been exploited by the transient population, the men who came here to make their fortunes, with no inten- ton of making of it a homeland. They it was who dubbed it a country not fit for white men, just as the unsuccessful colonists said the Eastern United States was not fit for white men to inhabit They made money, large quantities of it, and took it with them Outside to spend. Many of them also made money, then lost it trying to make more, and this latter class included more than the first for some of them are still with us. There were very few who came to this country with the idea of making it their home, and the terri tory has suffered in consequence.
 Right at the present it is quite probable that there are mighty few people in Fair banks who really intend to stay in Alaska, and who are establishing permanent homes here The majority of the people are tran- sient, meaning to stay only long enough to make their big stake, and then go to some "better" place to enjoy the prosperity that they obtained in Alaska. The floating population is detriment to the territory, and until peo- pie come here with the idea of making it a homeland, and of settling here permanently, it will not see the successful development that should by right come to it. The transient population almost might be compared with highway robbers, for in reality they are rob- ping the country, taking of the good things that they can find here without doing any thing toward building up or developing the vast resources that will make the future of the country an assured success for coming generations.
 What Alaska needs, at the dawning of its era of development, is real bona fide set tiers. people who are ready and anxious to make this their home-for themselves and their posterity. This is new country, and jus: as the Pilgrim Fathers opened the way for the greatest nation on earth, so the pio- neers of Alaska-that is, the real pioneers those who love the country, who have its best interests at heart and who are making it their home for all time. will open the way and de- veop country the like of which it has never before been the privilege of Americans to call their own.
 The transient must either become a set tier or take up his way to that other ''better" place which he has at the back of all his plans'for the future, for there will be no room for him here. Alaska wants home-seekers,