The Seward gateway., 1922-05-10
4. GROSvOLD
 BEI|EvESFUR
 TAXLAW UNJUST PLACES BURDEN ON MAN AT TEMPTING TO DEVELOP TER RITORY-TRAPPER DlS-
 SATISFIED

A. Grosvold, the Sand Point mer. chant and fox farmer. will leave or
 the steamship Northwestern for Valdez
 to attend to court matters in connect
 ion with a case which involves one of
 his fur animals. MT. Grosvold arrived
 here on the last trip of the Starr the llatter part of April and will be unable
 to return to his home until some time in June. MT Grosvold stated that one of the greatest arguments in favor of moving the court from Valdez west ward was the time it took for litigants to make the trip to the Prince William Sound city. He stated that if court headquarters were established in Sew ard, litigants could come to Seward, transact their business and return on the same trip of the Starr There are fifty men in the vicinity of Sand Point who have take out their first citizen i ship papers and who cannot afford tr go to Valdez to take out their final papers. MT. Grosvold states that these men could ship on the Starr for a trip and take out their papers in Seward at an expense that would be practical | ly nil, but that it costs too much tc go 1 from Seward to Valdez for them to make the trip, as they are thus con- pelled to miss their boat and lay ovsr monUn at heavy expense. Nil. Gros- void said that without exception the citizens 0 the westward were praying for the removal of the court headquar- ters to a point farther west and would energetically support any movement tending to this end.
 Speaking of the fur industry, MT Grosvold declared that the Territorial law passed by the last legislature was working hardship on trappers and traders, and was working to throw the l fur trade into outside buyers hands He | declared that many tacders to the westward have refused to take out licenses the past year, as the price was confiscatory. To buy furs the trader must pay $25 for a license, and if he visits other sections must pay $50 more.
 q have been in Alaska since 1886, said MT Grosvold, "helping build up the territory. At the present time I i have an investment of nearly S150,000 in fur islands For these islands I pay : the government Federal license Of $2O5; the Territory $10 and now the 1 Territory wants me to pay $50 per skin as a further tax. This seems an Insignificant sum but when one kin from 300 to 400 skins per year it adds greatly to the cost of doing Business. 1 I hire twelve men with their families, and the business requires buildings. boats, gear and supplies. I have made human habitations out of bare islands, end helped the wilderness don the as- poets of civilization. I cannot see how ! i is any more just to tax man for raising foxes, than it is to tax man ! for raising cows, hogs, or reindeer. All are domesticated animals. All help de- ;, velop the country.
 q have not taken out license to buy furs this year." continued MT. i Grosvold. because they limit and cir cumscribe ones business to such ex- tent that it is nuisance. Formerly 1 bought furs within a radius of 300 miles of Sand Point furnishing trap ! pers supplies which were charged and paid for out of the seasons catch, my i self taking the risk. If the trapper had a poor season or failed I lost money. , The burden is now thrown on the trap per who must pay the tax on each skin of from $50 to $500 and this takes away large part of his profit. The law is unjust and discriminatory
 in that it taxes the breeder of one kind of animal and allows the breed
 CTS of other animals to escape taxa
 tion. The islands to the westward are
 well suited to fur farming and are fit
 for little else. By helping and co-opera
 ting with the fur farmer the Territory
 could build up large revenue from
 the fur business. By harassing him and taxing him out of existence, it will ruin