The Alaska daily empire., 1921-02-03
GREAT PROMISE FOR ALASKA IS
 CITED BY PARKS
N! -
 lnterdepartmental Board Chairman Says All Recom-
 mendations Accepted. ENLARCINC ACTIVITIES
Things Already Accomplished For Territory and Those
 In Prospect Are Told.

The officers of the Cabinet are giving the Alaska Interdepartmental Board the strongest kind of supporI and every recommendation so far made by the Board has been ac cepted." declared Chairman George A. Parks. of that body, speaking before the Juneau Commercial Association at its noon luncheon meeting today.
 More than all else, more than the work which the Board has al ready done and what it is now undertaking, the thing that i'm presses me as containing the great est promise for Alaska is the desire of every Washington governmental department to have a man here on the ground who will have absolute authority to deal with any question arising, except where it involves a matter of general policy, which is, of course, never designated to any one" he stated.
 While the Alaska Interdepart- mental Board was not completely or ganized until sometime after the first of December, it has been able to accomplish few things for the Territory and is steadily enlarging its activities and is functioning we'll" he said.
 Accounts Activities.
 7. MT, Park recounted a number of things taken up by the Board for the Territory. One of the first things was to secure ah executive order for the restoration fo approximately 300,00 acres of land to entry in Western Alaska What is known as Alaska Withdrawal No. 1, contain ing 286,000 acres around Seward and Resurrection Bay, and 5000 acres adjacent to Talkeetna on the Government Railroad are specified in the order The Board took up the question of restoration with all the departments and secured a waiv- CT from them of any objections to prepared by the Board and prior to Chairman Parks departure from Washington was in readiness for the signature of the President In an ef- fort to effect this restoration the Territorial Legislature in it's 1919 that the necessary action be taken, but nothing was done until the Board took up the matter.
 Many changes have already been effected by the Board among the departments themselves, said MT. Parks. which are already greatly facilitating the handling of Alaskan questions. Others will be made from time to time, in fact. he said, wherever possible, there will be a consolidation of authority of bureaus functioning under the same depart ment as the first step in wiping out interlocking authority in the bu- reaus and departments dealing with Alaska
 Measures Introduced.
 Realizing that it would be inn possible to secure the passage of any large number of bills relating to Alaska, the Board prepared and had introduced three measures which it believes will be enacted into laws before the end of the present session of Congress" said Mir. Park. "The first of these. while designed primar- fly for the relief of certain home steaders in the Cook Inlet country. will be of great benefit to the entire Territory This is the measure authorizing the Departmental In- terior. to issue patents to surface lands 10 Alaska homesteaders and retaining title for the Government to minerals lying beneath the. sur face. This measure had passed the Senate and was fayorably reported in the House and placed on the un- animous consent calendar early this month.
 s"The second bill is the result of a nropossl made to the Board by MT. Sherman, representative thereon for the Department of Agriculture, and provides that from 1921 to 1880. in elusive, 50 per cent of the gross total revenue delivered from Alaska National Forests shall be turned over to the Territory The Terri tory now receives only 25 per cent of the Forest receipts.
 Prospecting Permits.
 The third measure. said MT Parks. lis one which we are con- -