The Cordova daily times., 1922-08-22
STATEHOOD IS
 ANSWER, SAYS
 FORESTRY MAN

and full fruition will come with state hood, is the opinion of E. A. Sher- man, associate forester of the United States, after an inspection of the interior MT. Sherman went in via the Richardson highway and the object of his visit was to check ur on the forestry work in Alaska, as well as gain additional information to serve as guide to developing the woods of the territory for domes- tic use. Accompanying MT. Sher- man were Charles H. Flory, dls- trict forester for Alaska; E. w. Cheatham, engineer in the bureau 'of forestry roads, and l.. J. MarkWardt of Madison, Wis, for the department of utilization of forest products ln- eluding a range from wood pulp to hardwoods, their stength, adapta- bility and treatment.
 AGRICULTURE FIRST
 Speaking of his gauge of the AL askan situation MT. Sherman said that first, in his estimation, were the agricultural possibilities, espec- ially butter and cheese for export and other crops for home consump tion.
 "Whatever might be said for other industries, agriculture supplies a source of wealth that is permanent and keeps money in the country Ex- port crops must be gauged by com- petition from other centers, there fore with abundance of natural feed such as abounds in Alaska, climatic conditions and silos for winter l perdict that the butter and cheese industry will become a great factor. Added to this will be the utilization of farm products for which there is now no market, such as grain pro- ducts. etc.
 WANTS SECRETARY TO SEE
 q wish the secretary of agriculture could make trip over the same ground I have travelled in this, my third journey to the territory. He would grasp the importance of its needs"
 At this point MT. Sherman was asked as to his opinion of just what should be done. Briefly he eptiomized the subject in any system that would end in colonization, supplying the things the agriculturist needs and lib- eral handling of the colonization question. This he will. if opportunity presents, impress upon the mind of the secretary of agriculture.
 USE ALASKA PRODUCTS
 Alaska is using imported wood products when she should be utilizing her own," continued MT. Sherman "As an illustration, when I was in Ketchikan I noticed a deck load Of lumber for equipping a cold storage plant Just why do you import lum- Der when there is a sawmil within a few hundred yards of this spot" asked We'll, said the manager, we know what the imported article calls for as to strength and service, and do not know what the native lumber will do
 And that is why l.. J. Markwardt is with me. His mission is to gather samples of all the woods of Alaska, take them to the laboratory and there make comparative tests and solve every question in connection with utilization. Once this knowledge is at hand Alaska lumber and timber may enter into competition with outside materials"
 Just why is it that Washington appears unable to adopt a standard policy toward Alaskan" Mr. Sher- man was asked.
 VOTES WOULD COUNT
 'Whenever Alaska assumes state- hood and has a couple of senators and representatives in Washington her status will change quickly" was the reply. Speaking of statehood, if there was a line drawn down the Yukon to a point at about 152 de- grees west to take in, say Cook Inlet and all the country included, it would place about 90 per cent of Alaska's population within an area of approximately 100000 square miles and would contain about 90 per cent of the taxable wealth of the terri tory. Ohio had but 45,O00 inhabi- tants when it acquired statehood in 1903; Nevada had less than 10000 and Oregon 52,000 in 59 when she