The Cordova daily times., 1922-01-19
FORMER GOVERNOR RIGGS
 ADVOCATES HOME CONTROL
 OF TERRITORIES RESOURCES

In a three-column article appearing in the New York Times of Sunday, December Is, former Governor
 Thomas Riggs advocates giving Alas
 ka control of her own resources as
 being vital to her development The
 article is written in the former Gov
 ernor's characteristic manner and is
 true to conditions as he knows them
 to exist.
 The article reviews briefly Alaska's
 history and her efforts at develop
 ment. It comments freely on bureau
 cratic rule and ascribes the decline
 in population and what he terms a
 "pessimistic outlook for future de-
 velopment'' to the existing system of
 Federal long distance administration
 CONSERVATION WRONGS ALASKA
 Conservation as applied to Alaska
 is wrong. The theory that predatory
 interests are only waiting to gobble
 up all it's natural resources will not
 even bear investigation. Capital will
 only go to Alaska when there is mo-
 where else to go. I do not know
 where a constructive enterprise ends
 and predatory interest begins, but
 I sincerely wish that few more of
 one or the other were allowed to
 come into the Territory to open up great mines. build railroads, explore
 for oil and coal, establish paper
 plants and pay the taxes. consider the lease system absolutely wrong
 both in theory and practice. The right to hold timber, oil coal. agricul- tural and grazing lands in any part
 of Alaska in fee is the only way in
 which to promote a permanent. law respecting population. A tenant un-
 fortunately seldom has much regard for his landlords property. 4s PUSSY sTEPMoTHERs Opened to exploitation. without the hampering apron strings of most of the 4S fussy old stepmothers in l Washington, each with different ideas as to how to bring up the child, ! individual to make mistakes and suffer for them, to build not only for l the present but for future genera i tions, to explore and to settle by
 right of law and not of revocable per
 init, to be selfish, to gamble on the
 future, to fight your neighbor and
 yourself, Alaska would slowly fill up
 with the type of pioneer people who | have builded for all time. People ! will soon make laws not only for
 their own protection, but for the protection of their mutual resources. After all, laws are only the crystilliz-
 ation of public opinion. Mans own selfishness, or self-interest, or disin- 1 terestedness all depending upon your line or argument - will insist
 upon sane laws. All people, how ever, resent the jurisdiction of the
 absentee landlord, and it is on this i principle that our Republic is found- ed Some of my conservationist 1 friends are rabid over the wrongs of Ireland, but see no parallel in Alas ka. I have dined with game con- servationists where the prohibition laws were violated, and I was told of the various methods by which such ! laws were evaded, but in their minds
 the Alaskan who shoots deer or a duck out of season should be hanged,
 drawn and quartered, and in conse-
 uuence of violations, which have come to their attention, of the unen forced Federal game laws, they open 1 ly brand all Alaskans as law break | CTS. "Alaskans want to be good Ameri-
 can citizens and@ should be treated as such At the last session Of the | toy Alaska legislature. one member introduced a proposed memorial toI Congress which simply quoted DOT | tion of the Declaration of 1ndeDend-
 ence.
 ALASKA NO EXCEPTION
 Another argument used against the demands of Alaskans for the
 rights of other citizens is the bitter political hatred found in Alaska. Now,
 I have been directly associated with | Alaska for "A years-miner, engineer 1 and Governor-and l suppose l nave been the target for as many poisoned | arrows as any one else in the Terri tory, yet I feel perfectly safe in stating that personal politics enters