Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1922-08-18
NOTHING IS DONE
To HELP ALASKA
CONGRESS HAS BEEN DEAF, so
FAR, TO THE ARGUMENTS OF
GOVERNOR BONE.
SELFISH BUREAUS PREVENT
LiberaIized Laws and Concentration
of Authority and Responsibility Are
Requisite to the Successful Opening
Up of the Great Territory.
Ry JAMES ?. HoRNApAY

Westinghouse looks now as If
Alaska would go along in the same
old way. When Scott c. Bone, an In
diana man, governor of the territory,
left here last April after having put
in many weeks arguing Alaska's case,
he carried with him assurances from
both the executive department and the
legislative department that before
midsummer the territory would re-
ceive proper attention. Governor Bone
now knows that not a thing has been
done in the way Of simplifying the
territorial government and that there
is small prospect of anything being
done during the present calendar year.
Indeed, there is not much likelihood
that anything worth while will be done
Tor the territory during the life of
the present congress.
What Governor Bone wants, and he
is of course speaking for the inhabi-
tants of Alaska, is liberalized laws
for the territory, more flexible rules
and regulations under such laws with
a concentration of authority and re-
sponsibility and an administration CO
ordinated and brought closer home.
First of all, the governor would like
to see a consolidation of the some
thirty federal bureaus that deal with
Alaska under one department head
here at Washington. Such a consoli-
dation he feels would be logical mi
tial step toward the ends desired. In
attempting to take this forward step
the administration was confronted
with the disinelination of any bureau
that has a hand in administering the
affairs of Alaska to surrender it's au-
thority This is the same spirit OF
selfshness the administration encoun-
tered when it undertook a general re-
arrangement of the administrative
branches of the government.
Wants Alaska Opened Up.
Governor Bone is ambitious to open
up Alaska during his term of Office.
He realizes that this cannot be done
successfully unless the present chaotic
system Of territorial government is set
aside, and modern methods substi-
tuted for it. The construction of the
government railroad from the coast
into the interior, from Seward to Fair
banks, a project that is now approach
ing completion, should, Governor Bone
feels, mark an epoch in Alaska's his
tory. The governor feels that coinci-
dent with the completion of this road
Alaska's natural resources should be
unlocked, not to be squandered but to
be developed under wise regulations
for the benefit Of the people of the
United States.
Governor Bone intends to keep up
the fight for a co-ordinated and sim
plifed system of government for the
territory, for more liberal mining and
land laws, for a colonization plan to
be worked out in conjunction with the
operation of the government railroad
for improved transportation facilities,
for more liberal mail subsidies and
for an appropriation for the construc.
ton Of an administration and execu-
tive building in Juneau. He is plan
ming to come back to Washington
early in the fall armed with additional
arguments in support of his program
Wood and the Philippines.
The Harding administration has, OF
course, decided that Philippine indie
pendence must wait. Having reached
that decision, the administration looks
to Leonard Wood, the governor gen
eral Of the islands, to handle things
in his own way. All the reports from
Manila indicate that the governor
general is making an excellent record
But his stay in the islands is to be
tempOrary-the understanding now is
that he will enter on his duties as
dean Of the University OF Penn syl
vania next spring it is admitted
here that the things he has accom-
plished as governor general Eaay not
all last after he comes away.
The Philippine parliamentaIy mis-
sion which came over to plead for i'm
mediate independence for the islands
is still in this country. It announce;
that the campaign for independence
will be maintained here at Washing
ton and that another parliamentary
mission may be expected early in 1923
Porto Rico, which has been on the
warpath most Of the time since the
Harding administration came in, is
according to the latest reports from
the island, in better frame of mind
The native population that took ex
ception to the appointment Of E. Mon,
Reilly of Kansas City as governor il
becoming reconciled to the Kansas
politician. Some Of the governor:
official acts that were questioned have
recently Teen upheld by the Porte
Rican courts, and it now seems prob
able that Governor Rely will stay OF
the job. There is at all times a gooC
deal of agitation in the island in favor
of local self-government, but obvious
~ that is long way Off.
More Needs Of Agriculture.
The congressional joint commits
sion on agricultural Inquiry say
there should be immediate furthe
reduction in transportation rates az
plicable to farm products. TIL
committnn makes thirty-opo rocoYn