The Cordova daily times., 1921-06-08
ALASKA GETS
 MUCH BENEFIT
 FROM HEARING

enter upon new era of prosperity
 fostered by a sympathetic federal ad-
 minlstration, was the statement made i b J. l.. McPherson, manager of the
 Alaska bureau of the Chamber of Commerce, upon his return from a
 trip to Washington. McPherson had
 been called to the national capital
 by Congresscan John F. Curry of Cali fornia, chairman of the house commit tee which held hearings all last week. This hearing, McPherson de- clared, will be productive of more good than any governmental action in regard to Alaska which has been taken since the United States acouir- ed possession of the territory. It has already stirred the various bureaus to action, he asserted but its most lasting effect will be the passage of la law coordinating all of the govern ment agencies in Alaska under com mittee or board in the territory. With such law and the friendly attitude which President Harding is known to have toward the territory, he contin- ued, nothing can keep Alaska from forging ahead as 1t has never been able to do before.
 All the witnesses at the hearing" McPherson said, "agreed that Alaska's need was more liberal laws and reg nlations to encourage settlement of home builders and aid in the creation of new industeries. They were equal ly unanimous in pointing out the value ofsco-ordinated effort by all the feder- al bureaus having to do with affairs. Nearly all of them agreed there should be single official in Alaska, at the head of all the bureaus"
 "Efficient administration of a country cannot be expected of resi- dent of far country, and that rulers are deaf to the relation of distant mis- cries, was the them of the testimony before the Committee of the territor- ies. The declaration was made that the lack of constructive progress in Alaska is due primarily to a lack of direct responsibility in any Govern ment Department or agency, that com mittees and commissions have made visit after visit to the country and that report after report has been filed in the departments during the past years, all nonproductive of results, until the saying has developed More commissions and committees more conflabs, more confusion;" one con- mittee has hardly reported and the re. results filed until another is sent 10 more inquiries. That body of men who are not personally acquainted with all phases of the subject, and do not have the responsibility of the con- sequences of their act to bear, cannot arrive at satisfactory solution of the problem was declared. That the fed eral functions are divided in many de- partments, and then subdivided into many bureaus, resulting in confusion and delay was alleged, and this was supported by convincing facts and statments of conditions bourne out by records of the Government"
 That a constructive policy meaning one thing and one thing only-the uti- lization of Alaskan resources in creat ing local industries and a permanent stable population; guarding in every possible manner against monopoly, and assuring the individual support and assistance in becoming produc- CT is absolutely necessity. That board charged with this responsibility, and resident on the ground where they may see the practical working of the policy, and who will suffer the conse- quence of it's miscarriage would be, the solution; and that in this maH&er the welfare of it's citizens will be pro- noted, and that then instead of a land of industry and the home of a strong and patdiotic people was the sum of the testimony offered by MT. McPherson.
 A formative policy on broad lines should be enacted, the same measures citizens of the western territories, the productor encouraged and aided, the prospective couraged and aided laws guarding against monopoly en- forced; surveys conducted and maps published giving information to the homeseeker and prospector roads and trails should be constructed, reduc- tion plants and allied industries es- tablished, coal and water power de- veloped, the coal utilized for public