The Cordova daily times., 1922-07-15
SATURDAY, JULY 15, 1922
STRIKING AT THE ROOT OF THINGS

Governor Bone made some suggestions ill his article in The Elks Magazine for July that are worthy of serious consideration, because they strike at the root of things. Discussing the ills of Alaska he declares that the task of applying remedies is one for Uncle Sam, and he proceeds:
 ''How is Uncle Sam to do it? By opening AL aska to settlement; by inviting people to come in and making it easy for them to gam a foot hold, by unlocking its resources and freeing the Territory from red-tape rule; by unreserV- inc millions of acres of forest lands sense lesslv reserved; by silencing and shuntlng aside the visionaries and theorists who succeed ed in bottling up Alaska and whose lddas have been expensively tried and clearly found wanting; by proceeding with the development of Alaska as a big business proposition: by dismissing the foolish, demagogical fear that any socalled predatory interests ever can or ever will gobbe up so huge land as Alaska or material section thereof, and, finally, by tardilv realizing that Alaska, unfettered and given an honest chance, will populate itself and 90 ahead and wax Opulent and develop grandly and gloriously, just as the Western domain of the Union, in spite of Daniel Web- ster's obscure vision and dark forebodlng, progressed and prospered and grew into States and added bright Stars to Old Glory. Then, and not until then, will Alaska become known to the world and the truths about Alaska pre- vail undisputed and endure for all time.'
 Particular attention is called to the cap italized portion of this excerpt It is based up on truths that are fundamental. It could be wished that the Governor had followed with looical declaration in favor of full Terri torial form of Government government by the people most concerned and best informed those who live in the Territory. However, they furnish an argument that forms an obvious basis for such a remedy, and if the situation is thoroughly understood the self-government remedy will suggest itself.
 The tying up of Alaska, the removal of the opportunities that were available before the reservations and the application of bureau cracv, the departure from the principles and policies that were applied to other American frontiers, have cost Alaska-and the country dearly They have precluded the probability of the development in Alaska of Jim Hill a Collis Huntingdon, a Cecil Rhodes-emplre builders, all of them. It curtailed the actlv- ities and all but drove out of Alaska the strongest combination of capital that ever was organized to develop the Ierrltory. Ahu the tragedy of it is that we have writers like Charles Bryant Powers, writing in Hearst's International Magazine, and Willis Mason West, his ''History of the American People, > a text book, by the way in the Alaska public schools, who claim that this havoc was done in the name of honest government, for the pur- pose of preventing the riches of the Territory from falling into the hands of corrupt capital fists!
 Through fear of brow-beating Missionaries and theorists the Federal Government yield ed to the demagogical contention that so-calleo predatory interests would gobble up Alaska and it shut off opportunities for development in so many lines that dozen precious years were lost and then when the resources were restored for development purposes so many strings were tied about them that the average man with money hestitates before taking 6 chance. u....-.,..,,...s., .,......