The Daily Alaska empire., 1928-01-31
THE EFFECTS OF PINcHoTIsM.

The New York Times, US comment upon the recent article by Gen. w. P. Richardson in Atlantic Monthly permits the inference that the writer disposed of the contention that the with drawal of Alaska's resources by President Roose- welt at the suggestion of Clifford Pinchot held back Alaska development That is not the at all While Gen Richardson paid deserved tribute to the in which the Forestry Bureau in recent years. has contributed to the outlook for the Territory he made it very plain that the Roosevelt-Pnchot withdrawals di- rectly responsible for stopping development that underway.
 The New York Times said
 Colonel Richardson believes that AL
 aska has suffered directly from
 enthusiasm, whether born of romance
 commercial propaganda. Exaggerated
 statements of it's wealth and opportuni-
 ties led among other things. to the
 launching of the Government railroad,
 that Great White Elephant of the North.
 To it's exactions Governor Parks pays
 unconscious tribute when. in the course
 of his latest annual report he re-
 marks that flor the first time in the
 history of the project the deficiency for
 operation was less than $1,000, ,000."
 When the Territory did not grow as fast
 as they had expected, the enthusiasts
 blamed the conservationists and the poli-
 toians. They said that Clifford Pnchot
 and his friends trying to flock
 up'' the resources of the Territory, and
 that the bureaucrats at Washington had
 it's progress tied in red tape. Develop
 Alaska" became the popular slogan.
 which found champion in Secretary
 Fall In fact President Harding him.
 self when he set out his visit to the
 Territory in 1923 leaned toward accept
 ance of that doctrine.
 He learned better He saw with his
 own eyes that what holding the
 Territory back not much either
 Govern
 nent neglect, but memorable economic
 Gen. Richardson said that the exaggeration of the extent and richness of Alaskas resources led to the withdrawals and he said that this locking up of the Territory stopped develop ment that may have kept in Alaska the people that were brought to it by the discoveries of rich placer fields, and thus bridged the gap after the placers began to show exhaustion until other industries were developed Gen. Richard son places the injury from the conservationsts undertaking as first among the ills suffered through exaggeration of boomers.
 One of the effective arguments in favor of the Alaska Railroad that the Government owed the expenditure to the people because wholesale withdrawals of resources from entry had stopped the building of railroad into the Interior by private enterprise The argument was based on fact If such a railroad had been con structed ten years before the building of the Alaska Railroad at time when the population of the Territory larger, the beneficial results would have been much greater than those fol- lowing the Government line. It will take two or three additional decades to demonstrate how nearly the Alaska Railroad will compensate the growing generation of Aaskans for the injury that AIr Pinchot and MT Roosevelt did to the generation that is now fast passing away and the generation that is now in it's full tide years