The Nome nugget., 1939-10-06

heavy industry and for consum. er-goods sales in Alaska.
 It IS matter for serious na- tional concern that Alaska, with , a territory, climote and resourc a. territory, climate and resourc ! mas a static population Of about 6o,O0O as compared with a pon l, ton of 13,000,000 in Scandin, ! avia. l hope that the Slattery report will serve as a powerful thinking and intelligent action in the development of Alaska. Pa triotic capital and men and WIG men with the spirit of our pio- neers have an opportunity to en list in the service of the nation building cities on our last front fer"
 StresSing the military need for Alaskan development the report said in part:
 An underpopulated country, rich in natural resources and poorly defended, offers stand ing temptation to overpopulated, resource-hungry, militariZed na- tlons. Yet there are few terri tories in the world as rich in re sources and as hungry for new population as Alaska.
 The sparsely populated terri tory of Alaska, with its potential wealth of minerals, forests, fish cries, agricultural and grazing lands, lies closer by thousands of miles to Europe and Asia than do the eastern or western shores of the United States. The flask an mainland is approximately 54 miles from Siberia and a scant 8 miles separates the Unit ed States-oWned Little Diomede Island from Russian n-oWned Big Diomede, both of which lie be- tween the two great mainlands. The western-most end of the great Aleutian Islands bridge" Jutting westward from southern Alaska into the Pacific Ocean is only 660 miles from Japan's east ern-most port and naval base. Horomushiro, whereas it is 3.400 miles from Yokohama to highly fortified Honolulu; it is 750 miles from ketchikan in southeastern Alaska to Seattle and it is 2.1OO miles from Honolulu to San Francisco:
 Alaskan has been called the Achilles heel of our national de fense; only recently has Con- gress enacted legislation for the establishment of two great naval bases, one at Kodiak and the other at Sitka. The Coast and Geodetic Survey is even now charting the waters surrounding the strategically located Aleutian Islands; with an eye toward no tionai defense.
 With a population running into the millions and with the de velopment of means of transport ation and communication that such an increased population would demand and make pos slble, the problem of Alaska de fense would be very much sim pliied. Both the War Depart ment and the Navy Department have expressed their willingness to cooperate with and support other government departments in formulating plans for develop ing the facilities in Alaska that contribute to the national de- fense, such as-(a) civil aviation establishments, airWays, aids to flying and weather reports; (b) mapping, Co charting and aids to ship navigation; (d) develop ment of mineral resources, part icularly of strategic war mater ials; (e) roads; (f) control of alien fishing boats and fisher men; (g) prevention of alien monopolies of Alaskan resources; (h) the economic and commerce ial development of the territory as a whole"
 Defending Alaska's much-ma- ligned climate, the Slattery re- port laments that people who think of Alaska as a land of ice and snow, fit only for Eskimos, whereas the winter temperatur- es of it's southern seaboard are higher than winter temperatures of New York, Chicago, Boston or St. Louis.
 Of the attractions of Alaska as a haven for European refugees as well as Americas own unem- ployed, the report says:
 Tn the Alaska for the future there is room for men of many talents and of many lands. There is room for American technicians displaced by the contraction ot our foreign trade and the slow ing down of our population growth for boat builders and fisf ermen from the shores of the l ATa1;tarrn-aon foY froinoI fox