The Daily Alaska empire., 1929-03-06

qulify. The present system is ob- jectionable for another reason, namely, that it is necessary to send examination papers to a ma jority of the Board for conssdera- tion before a license may be issued. This requires a long time and fre- ouently the papers are lost or mis- placed. It is believed that small CT board will function more satis- factorily and hence it is recom- mended that the number of mem bers be reduced to five, two from the First Division and one from each of the other three.
 "A further difficulty arises in the construction of the terms used in the Act. It is provided that the Board shall issue licenses for the practice of medicine and the Reve- nue law states that the Territorial Treasurer. shall issue a license on the payment of the required fee Clearly it is not the intention of the Legislature that these should be confused, but the license issued by the Treasurer, which should be termed an occupational tax, has been accepted as a defense in cases where proceedings have been ini- tiated against doctors of medicine who have not been authorized to practice by the Board This am- biguity should be removed an d probably the most simple way is to provide that the Treasurer shall not accept fee or issue tax re- receipt unless the doctor of nedi- cine has been authorized to prac- tice by the Board.
 "The law creating the Board of Dental Examiners contains many of the same defects that are inher- ent in the laws governing the medi- cal board and if we wish to make these acts effective, and it is most essential that these professions be properly safeguarded, the defects should be cured.
 Roads and Landing Fields
 Under the provisions of existing law Territorial road funds are ex- pended under cooperative agree ment with the Federal road build ing agencies. This is advantage ous to the Territory because it permits the expenditure of a major part of the Territorial funds for local projects since the cost of the larger projects is assumed by the Federal agencies. It has further advantage because the only admin istrative expense charge to our fund is the salary and trayeling expenses of the highway engineer. Last bi- ennium this amounted to less than 29o of the appropriation.
 "The sixty aviation fields that have been constructed during the past three years have been of in- estimable benefit to the Territory Aviation is well established and affords rapid and safe transporta- tion to the remote sections of the Territory Before the close of this year it is expected that a regular air service will be established be- tween Alaska and Seattle. The present law is not clear concerning authorizations for expenditures for construction of facilities at land ing ports for hydToplanes and this should be corrected.
 Two years ago attention was irl- yited to the fact that the Federal appropriations expire June 30th each year while Territorial appropria- tions expire March 31st. It was suggested that in view of the CO., operative agreements which exist between these agencies the work would be facilitated if the Terri torial appropriations are extended to June 30th as this will permit more accurate accounting and a better adjustment of expenditures. This matter should receive careful consideration.
 Fires and Fire Patrol
 Chapter 46, Session Laws of 1927 authorized the appointment of fire wardens in certain districts and appropriated $5,000 for the purpose of preventing and suppress ing fires. Less than half of these lu1luS were cApeIlueQ put eACtile1ib results were obtained and because of this law we were able to obtain the allotment of Federal funds for the same purpose. A similar ap- propriation should be made avail able for the next two years.
 Agricultural College and School of
 Mines
 
 Substantial progress has been made in the improvement of the Alaska College and School of Mines The institution has received further recognition from the Fed eral Government. 100000 acres of land have been granted to the Col lege and the provisions of the so- called Hatch, and Smith-Leyer Acts" were extended to include Alaska. This action by Congress is significant because it is indica- tive of the increasing prestige of the College. Your attention is in- vited to the fact that While these acts provide an additional $25000 for the College they do not become operative until accepted by the