The Cordova daily times., 1920-05-29

ka. moreover, would mean the up' building of population and growth 1n
 population involves increasing busl mess all around The north is now consuming enormous quantities o1 fuel oil which has to be bought here and transported to it's ports. The north also is importing Washington and British Columbia coal. It then can be easily understood why the de ve1opment of large oil fields in the north would mean so much to it's growth and prosperity.
 ! "All I have said in regard to oil however, is speculative. l have no means of knowing whether or not Alaska is to become large producer of oil, but it's possibilities must be kept in mind in considering future transportation needs.
 Business begets business. In the old days the Treadwell mine was the great factor in opening up Alaska. Miners would work there until they had saved a grub stake. Then they would push on into the interior in the search for placer gold. As a result new camps were established.
 "The chief problem of gold mining in Alaska, as elsewhere, is that gold now is not worth as much as it used to be. That is 8 worldwide condi- tion. It is an interesting fact that Alaska's gold production always closely parallels the gold production of the world. If you draw chart of the worlds production and a chart of the North's production you will find that the line of production in both cases always have about the same curve The production of gold has now been heavy for years and gold is now cheap. Various schemes have been suggested for helping the gold miner, including the bonus plan, but I have no opinion on that phase of the prob lem. It is a question for the finan- cial experts.
 GAS regards copper mining in the north, the problem is closely tied up with the transportation question.
 PULP WILL FURNISH CARGO
 Development of pulp wood indus try undoubtedly is coming in south eastern Alaska and it will help solve the transportation question, as it will furnish a steady cargo movement for ships.
 "As to farming in the north, there are large areas of agricultural land especially in the interior around Fairbanks. where there are enough arabic lands in that district to sup port any population, but the farmer will have to find his market locally. With few exceptions he will not be able to export. One of these excep- tions is stock-raising. There are real opportunities for stock-raising in Southwestern Alaska and on Kodiak Island, where there are extensive grazing lands. In connection with a possible export movement of farm pro. ducts, we should keep in mind the possibilities of the sugar beet indus try in the north. That industry may be developed to the point where il could engage transportation
 Tt is only fair to say that the committee has become convinced that the development of Alaska has been retarded by the present lack of local authority to pass on important north ern questions, it being necessary to refer these questions back to Wash ington, D. C., a condition that causes infinite delay.
 Alaska also has to contend with a definite lack of coordination in the activities of the federal and territor- ia1 governments. For instance there are something like six or seven funds for building roads in the north and at least three organizations are author ized to build roads. Federal and ter ritorial officers have tried to over- come this handicap by cooperating as much as the law will permit them. It is a condition due to the laws and not due to the execution of the laws
 "We conferred with nearly fifty persons in our Seattle meetings and the committee feels that we will go back to Washington with data and facts that will prove of great benefit to Secretary of the Interior John Barton Payne in his efforts to foster the developments of Alaska We are far more than satisfied with the re- suits of our trip to Seattle. The in- formation we obtained in any two or three days of the conference alone