Great Falls daily tribune., 1920-12-07
ALASKA STILL
AFFECTED BY
RAILWAY LACK
Government hallway
Will Be Completed by
1922, Is reelection.
Balks Commercialization
Of National arks; Pre-
servation Is First.

Washington, Dec. 6.-Need Of
a far-sighted government policy
with respect to many Of the
country's internal affairs is
emphasized in the annual report
of. Secretary Payne, made public
Monday at the interior depart
ment.
Lack of definite aim was said
to affect particularly the admins
tration of activities in Alaska, In dealing
with the Indian tribes in preservation
of the national parks and forests and
again in handling the greater reconstruc-
tion problem Of maintaining a high ag-
ricultural production.
Alaska Discussed
On the subject of Alaska, the secre-
tafy said the primal problem was trans
poftatiOn and advocated the operation
of a government owned steamship line.
The government railroad in Alaska to
be q total of $40 miles in length will be
completed and in operation in 1922, Mr.,
Payne reported. He added that it tap
ped fields of untold mineral wealth. He
advocated also government appropria-
tons for the construction Of scheme OF
highways To serve dS Iceuef wagon EUduS
to the government rail lines.
Communication Question.
The question of communication also
is one in which little progress has been
made. Mail is slow, being shipped as
freight or express and arriving frequent
ly in badly damaged condition. The
Alaskan governor however. believes this
is offset in measure by the army
cable and naval radio service
OF internal problems in the United
States, Secretary Payne mentions as
one Of greatest Importance the question
of domestic reconstruction as related to
farming. The secretary cited census fig
ures showing that the rate of increase
Of population on farms was only one
fifth as great aS that Of the nation as a
whole. He believed this foreshadowed
a dangerous condition in the future.
Secretary Payne advocated passage Of
the Smoot rural homes bill" which he
said would give he interior department
an opportunity to do much important
work in farming development and to
take steps to aid the restoration Of farm
ing population through increased land
ownership by those who work the land.
Reclamation Service
Along with the farm life question. the
reclamation service of his department.
The interest in opportunities on the land,
he said, has greatly increased with the
rehabilitation of the fighting forces
The department, although handicapped
by lack Of funds, has been assembling
"a large amount Of valuable information"
which will be of use to the country in
the future.
The government had spent to June 80
a total Of $125, 100000 on reclamation
projects, the secretary reported and ap-
proximately 2,150,000 acres of land have
been made ariable.
Discussing the Indian question, Mr.
Payne urged that citizenship be extended
to. all Indians and said their children
should, where possible, be educated with
the white children and encouraged in
every way to become a part and parcel
of our national citizenship"
Patents to Indians
The policy of issuing fee patents to
the Indians for their lands was siren
ously opposed by the secretary who de-
clared that to continue thus placing
them in a position to sell is, in my judg-
ment fraMgLt with the gravest dangers
and will inevitable pauperize thousands"
Discussing the national park system,
Mr.. Payne said that number of pro-
Jects involving the use of national park |
lakes as storage places had been pressed, |
but that he had opposed them on the
ground that it meant the establishment |
of a precedent which would eventually |
lead to the commercialization of the |
national parks.
CommercaIization of Parks
IF this principle is not recognized"
he said "and commercialzation is al
lowed to creep in it will be only ques-
ton of time until our wild west vii! be
only memory and the big game of our
country will be extinct and these places
and objects, now so wonderful, will be
seriously and permanently injured.
"The conflict between the demands of
commerce and the preservation Of these
wonder places involves constant vigilance.
In my views their preservation is of first
Importance. 1t should be a settled policy
of the country, regardless Of any question
of utility that when in the wisdom Of
congress national parks or monuments
are definitely set apart they must be
preserved in their integrity, forever free