The Holly chieftain., 1923-10-04

u
plea in behalf Of Alaska-the name means Great
Country" and John Muir used to call 1t my beau
tIful. fruitful wilderness" Said Mr.. Harding
must firmly. Our dopted program must be
development of Alaska for Alaskans.
Incidentally, in his Seattle speech, Mr.. Harding
made these points: That Alaska does not
"government-managed, federally-paid-for. hothouse
Development that more restriction of the fish
Ing industry Is necessary and urgent; that
liberal terms in leasing may be necessary to de-
velop the oil fields; that there should be orgun.
ization capable of the readiest response to de-
mands for roads and trails; that there Is the
cessity to provide feeders for the government rail-
road; that '.n very few years we very we'll
set off the Panhandle and large block Of the
connecting southeastern part as state"
The purpose of this article, however. is nfor
native. not argumentative. What follows is largely
compilation from the latest authoritative sources
OF Information of interesting facts about Alaska
OF course. until development takes plnce 1t Is i'm.
possible to estimate, even approximately, the prob
able value of Afaska's natural resources There Is
no question that they varied and immense:
Coal, oil. copper gold, silver lend various metals
marble timber, fish. fur, agriculture, water power
scenery. Probably no state in the Union has so
great a variety Of assets and so much potential
wealth.
Even now, when ii is admitted that Alaska is
not tiourishng. that its production is decreasing
III, IL
ally several hundred per cent Its original cost
in 1s6T--S7,200,OoO Ness than two cents an ncre).
The total mineral production in 1927 was S17,OO4-
124 The total of fishery products In 1921 was
S240Se.sG1
Alaska, since 1867, has produced mineral fish
and fur products considerably in excess of one
billion dollars.
Gov. Scott c. Bones latest available report tn
the secretary of the Interior contains these figures:
According to the 1920 census, the population was
o5o36. an apparent decrease of $500 from that of
1910 though the former was taken In the dead
of winter and the latter In the spring.
In 1927 the number of persons employed in the
fisheries Industry was 1000 and the total active
investment was s3o.001s74. The total value Of
the fishery products. exclusive of seal and other
aquatic furs, was S24,os6S87 n decrease of sl7,.
4o5.257 from the preceding year. The output OF
canned salmon consisted of 2,596,S26 cases valued
mt S1o632 I44. compared with APO 463 cases
In 1920, valued at S:35,602 800
The total commerce of Alaska for the calendar
year 1921 was S65,954566. decrease of s4237h
800 from the amount in 1920. The total commerce
with the United States was s63,541 3S1, as against
S1oG.5s6095 in 1920, decrease of S43,044S14
There were Approximately 100000 reindeer two
thirds of which belong to the natives
There were fifteen territorial and three national
banks; pa domestic and 42s foreign corporations
Tile government of Alaska is more perplexinp
than any Chinese puzzle. The executive power Is
vested in the governor, who is appointed by the
president for a term of four years by and with
the advice and consent of the senate The leyisla.
tive power Is vested In territorial legislature
consisting OF Il senate and house of representa-
tives. The judicial power of the territory 10
vested in the District court of the United states
for the District of Alaska. The territory elects n
delegate to congress- who may participate in do
bate but who has vote
Yet, according to Alusknns. 1t is n case Of .stoo
much government by too many bureaus too for
n lpugt rfy i.
the several departments that have hand in this