The New York herald., 1921-06-05


from nowhere and it's objective is a
played out placer camp with no business
between. The $4,000, 900 appropriated
by Congress was spent long ago. as was
$30,000,000 additional, and 1t is esti-
mated that $3o.0oo,00o more will be re-
quired to finish II and also finish that
part of Alaska.
The wonderful coal deposits which
have been so carefully conserved at the
expense OF throttling every enterprise in
the Territory have not proved to be
workable in a commercial sense. The
coal itself Is dirty, friable and lacks
heating qualities. What demand there is
comes from the local requirements of
Anchorage and Seward. but all other
towns still get their supply from the
Seattle boats at cost Of So ton less
than Alaska coal: this in face Of the
fact that at Katalla, on tidewater. mill
ions of tons are going to waste and no
one can remove scuttle Of 1t without
breaking the law.
What inducement has Alaska to offer
to the pioneer? On stepping off the
gangplank he finds that before he can
go into any kind of business he must
first pay a heavy Federal license and
then q Territorial license. He finds the
forests gathered into a system Of re-
serves from which It Is q Jail offence
to remove stick of timber; the water
powers removed from tho possibility of
development by reel Of red tape and
a bill Of expense that Is totally unheard
of in the Western States. while the prob
ability Of obtaining a patent to mining
claim is SO remote that the miners aban-
don them rather than proceed with
their development.
For generations we have been decry-
ing the heartless greed Of the Irish land
lords. yet In Alaska there Is system
Of landlordism that out-1rishes the most
Irish landlord that ever disgraced the
human race by his rapacity--a land
lord who refuses to develop his property,
refuses to let any one else develop 1t
except under tho most onerous condi-
tions and refuses to pay one cent OF
taxes to be expended by local officials
for local needs. The manifest injustice
OF all this needs no comment.
The whole idea Of conservation in
Alaska is ridiculous. The Chugach Re-
serve, where lived, covers thousands OF
square miles along the seacoast. more
than 90 per cent. OF which Is utterly
destitute of timber, being barren slopes.
glaciers and mountains above timber
line. Less than 10 per cent is covered
with a scattering growth Of spruce. hem-
lock and cottonwood of an inferior quail
ity, practically all mature and SUPER
mature. Not foot OF 1t will ever be ex-
ported except It be for paper pulp.
Forest reserves are supposed to be
created to provide timber for future gen.
erations, to attract rainfalls, to regulate
stream flow, to prevent forest fires and
provide Government revenue.
What Is the use Of preserving for
future generations timber that is falling
down and rotting Of old age?
AS to rainfall, the area embraced by
this forest reserve receives q rainfall of
from 70 to 120 inches per annum. AS
over 95 per cent OF this reserve is des-
titute Of timber and the treeless Aleutian
Islands to the westward receive more
rains than this does. the idea that the
cutting of the timber needed by our
citizens will have any effect on the
rainfall Is utterly absurd.
AS to stream flow, the rivers and
creeks largely have their sources in the
everlasting glaciers and would flow bank
full for generations without drop OF
precipitation.
Regarding forest fires, there never has
been a fire in this reserve and never
will be. 1t Is soaked with rain in sum-
mer and covered with snow in winter.
- -
the Government 50 for every 81 collected
so far, besides imposing a tax of thou
sands of dollars on the residents In OBJ
tanning permits. We defy the Forest
Service to show one single benefit 1t has
conferred upon the people living in this
reserve, upon the people who will live in
It in the future or upon the people Of
the United States generally. =
Alaska Is in a sad plight. but IL can
be remedied II the Government will face
the problem In a practical way.
First, the license and conservation
laws as applied to Alaska should be re-
pealed and the country thrown open to
settlers in the same manner that the
Western States were given to the pic-
neer.
Second, to abandon the present rail-
road enterprise that 1t has embarked
upon, and spend the money that 1t would
take to complete It in building a railroad
from Valdez to the Copper River. where
It could ramify with small branches into
the richest mineral belt in the world and
incidentally build pp mining oommu-
nifty that would be a rival of Butte.
Until this Is done you can look for q
gradual dwindling Of Alaska enterprise.
trade and population. ALFRED B. LIES.
SnvERToN. Col, May 81.