The Cordova daily times., 1920-11-15

PAc,ooO,OOo. over the shipments sent out during September, 1919, or September, 191S As the total represents more than twice the amount which the United States paid for Alaska in 1867, and this being one of the banner months for production in the history of the northern territory, it is appropriate to here remark that with such a show ing there certainly appears to be no good reason for anything being the matter with Alaska.
 Any person who is at all interested in the industrial development of a country, must regard this September showing as one of truly marvellous value, especially in view of the handi- caps under which the products were developed. During the same month several millions were represented in the value of the shipments of sup plies northward, so we have the very latest monthly record showing total valuation of commerce in round fig ures of $19000,000, all of which is credited to the individual efforts of miners, fishers, furrers or business men, and to the collective work of the larger mining companies or fisheries; coal is conspicuous by it's absence and lumber is represented by an in finitesimal amount. Yet these two commodities represent the basis for the unfair, hysterical and wholly un- true attacks made against the Alas ka industry for the past decade by the politicians and bureaucrats.
 Mention is made of this September report at this particular moment be- cause it is the very latest statement at hand, and as it shows conclusive 1 ly that the business man or the cor poration are the ones who are still developing the territory, and as yet absolutely no results can be credited to the professional reformer. Finally, this record month is made possible | loudest as to the transportation lines being responsible for holding Alaska back, and when certain people in the north have been bitterly complaining that business is very bad. In closing this reference for the calendar year 1920 is going to be surprisingly good.
 There is nothing the matter with Alaska any more than there is with a watermelon or a pumpkin. If one were to take a pumpkin and cut it open with the expectation of finding something far more rich than is usual ly found therein, or if one were to expect a watermelon to produce some thing entirely different and richer than the luscious fruit, then those illustrations might apply to the rich territory of the north.
 | Alaska should not be expected to be something it is not nor to produce other than that which nature and the economic laws have ordained.
 l Alaska is the land of Adventure, the region of the great gamble. Outside it's furs, some fishing and the Tread we'll mine, it had no commercial his tory prior to the Klondike rush. Then thousands of people moved to the Northland with the sole idea of stalk l inc hni al for nothing, or at least making fabu- lous return upon a limited invest ment. Speaking in a general manner then that has been the trouble with Alaska. The successful merchant in a busy town does not complain, the banks are doing an excellent business, and it is a well-known fact that some of the larger mining institutions can look back upon their ten or twenty years of development with a great deal of satisfaction. It is also re- called that in the Yukon valley pros porous merchant some time ago put out fullpage advertisement in which he announced a sale of Hart, Schaff- ner &5 Marx suits "at Seattle prices," and this at a time when other mer- chants were having published state ments that steamship rates caused them to charge excessive rates over the Seattle retail price. Many illus trations of this kind could be pro duced but one very imDOrtant cOmDar- ison only need suffice to show that upon analysis Alaska rates are not higher than Atlantic rates to similar ly situated districts.
 It is noticed in a recent issue of the 1 Panama Canal Record that the pas senger rates on the steamships of the United Fruit Company had been changed and this had made a change