Evening star., 1923-08-05

W WHAT is to be expected as Il
result of the 'close- up in
y " spection of Alaska by the
official party. and what
place will Alaskan affairs take in the
reorganization of government admins
tration which is now in progress? 1t
will be recalled that the reorganization
Of the federal activities in the interests
of economy and efficiency and good
government was one OF the particular
tasks to which President Harding ad-
dressed himself President Coolidge has
already announced that he will seek to
carry out the policies Of President
Harding.
Commerce, Agriculture and Interior
made the Alaskan trip has gwen
rise to speculation that something In
the nature of assistant secretaries IN
each of these three departments will
be named to give particular attention
co-ordinated plan.
That some sort of reorganization
of Alaskan affairs is necessary is
obvious from the fact that there are
135 different activities now admins
tered through thirty-five departments
and agencies of the federal govern
ment.
Plan Being Prepared.
The only concrete proposal for re-
organization is now before the joint
congressional committee on reorgani-
cation, coming from the institute for
government research. This recon-
nends the creation In the state De-
partment of a bureau of territories
and dependencies to take over tne
duties of the bureau of insular affairs
(War Department. and of the Sec
retary of the Interior in respect to
the territories. This plan includes a
change in administration for the Ma
tional Capital as we'll as for Alaska.
The national government now exer-
cises supervision over the affairs of
the following dependent territory
The District of Columbia. the terrific
ries of Alaska and Hawaii. the in
sular dependencies of the Philippines,
Porto Rico. the Virgin Islands. Tu-
tuila or American Samoa, Guam and
a few smaller islands. such as Wake
Islands, Midway Islands. and the
Panama Canal and Canal Zone.
Favor Central once.
Important as is this territory, 1t is
not sufficiently extensive, the insti-
tute feels. to warrant the setting up
of d colonial department such as is
possessed by other governments hav-
ing important colonial interests. 1t
is desirable. however, that the admin
istration of the affairs of this terri
tory, in so far as control Is exercised
over the local governments. should
be concentrated in a single service.
At the present time no one service
has responsibility for looking after
the interests or of exercising any
control over the administration of
the affairs of these territories. Su-
pervision of the most general charac-
ter over the territories proper
Alaska and Hawaii-is vested in the
Department of the Interior. The
bureau of insular affairs of the War
Department exercises a similar
though somewhat greater authority
in respect TO the governments of the
Philippines (where now there is seri-
Gus friction between the governor
general and a native leader). Porto
Rico and some of the smaller islands.
Status of District.
No department or service other
than the President himself exercises
complete supervision over the Dis
trict of Columbia, notwithstanding
the fact that the administrative rela-
tions between the government of the
nations capital and the national