The Cordova daily times., 1922-08-24

l tratiVe head of this wonderland, so rich in resources and so potent with possibilities. It can and will contri- bute materially to the strength of the union.. But I realized when I assumed my official duties and realize more fully after a year of service that there is no enduring honor in being | Governor of Alaska unless I can &C., complish something worth while for | the people of Alaska and aid sub stantially in bringing the Territory into it's own. To this task and under taking I am committed unreservedly and giving the best that is in me to attain the desired ends and hasten the re-birth of a newer and greater Alaska.
 I crave the support and cooperation of all Alaskans- the brave spirits who have survived the ups and downs of country beset with natural diffi- culties and unknown and misunder- stood by the world at large-and be- speak continued faith and courage and a pulling together to speed the trans formation so long delayed.
 Alaska is not monumental iceberg or glacier It is not snowbound and in the grip of bitter, biting elements. It is not cut off from the world. Its climate on the coast is generally mild and equable, with much rainfall, but comparable to the climate of Portland and Seattle. Blizzards such as rage in Minnesota, the Dakotas and Mon tana and occasionally in New York and the East are sometimes experi- enced in the northernmost part of the Territory, but are uncommon, if not unknown, to coastal Alaska and Alas ka as a whole.
 Millions of people live happily and thrive in Norway and Sweden and in sections of our own country under climatic conditions no more favorable, if not more severe, than the general climatic conditions of Alaska.
 Alaska's summers are ideally pleas ant and delightful on the coast and gloriously bright and beautiful and often hot in the interior. Tempera- ture ranging from 80 to 90 degress is frequently encountered in the Arctic Circle. Throughout the Territory flowers and berries grow in profu- sion. Long days and warm sunshine give sturdy growth to plant life. Fair banks is a veritable floral bower in June, July and August.
 The midnight sun on the Yukon is worth travelling thousands of miles to see, especially when 1t ilIuminates Mt. | Mckinley, the towering peak of the American continent. So, likewise, the aurora borealis, with it's columns of dancing lights, which may be seen in Alaska in more magnificent display than anywhere else in the world.
  miles of agricultural lands and today numbers hundreds of occupied home steads under successful cultivation. Farm products of the estimated value of $250000 were grown and sold in the Panama Valley alone the past season. Year after year there is in-
 
 creasing cultivation.
 Talking through The Churchman, an Alaskan publication, am aware that these facts and others equallyjI striking are well known to Alaskan readers. But it is with the thought that through this splendid medium people not so well informed will na- turally be reached that the facts are chronicled anew here:
 Comparatively few people know Alaska. Fewer still comprehend it in all it's greatness. Alaskans them selves in major number, have seen little of Alaska. Eight out of ten of them have glimpsed only small sec tions of the Territory. The tourist who visits these shores is over- whelmed with the scenic beauties pre- sented to the eye on every side, from Dixon's Entrance through the pano- ramic Inside Passage to Skagway at the head of Lynn Canal and, per. chance, on over the White Pass, in the Yukon Territory, to Whitehorse. But, if his journey ends there, he does not know Alaska. He has seen only the beginning of Alaska. Alaska lies beyond.
 As well may the tourist who sails along the Virginia and Jersey coasts and takes a Fall River steamer to