The Wrangell sentinel., 1946-11-15

| islature, the regular session anu
 the extraordinary session, have do monstrated their worth as public servants and their splendid qual- l ity as representatives of the people l They made a fine record. a record of which they. as well as you, and all the people of Alaska may well feel proud To them is added for the next session, Frank Price s-tka, who I am confident, VII prove no less entitled to your trust. And finally note, and this is q matter for rejoicing. that these men, while deservedly having your support in the elections of 1914 and 1946, could not have been nominated and elected without the support of the majority of the pe0- pie of the First Division, white as well as native.
 With these trusted representa- tives to represent the needs of AL aska in the next Territorial Legis- lature, it is important that you consider well the problems that face our Territory. They are ser ious and difficult problems. They involve the transition from a far time economy to a peace time economy, They involve the return to civilian life of our young vet erans, of our boys who left their homes and their communities Io go out and fight for our country.
 In this connection I want to tell you that the special session of the 1945 Legislature convened last March for two purposes, namely, veterans legislation and tubercu. D. sis, performed extremely well II response to my recommendations
 That special session passed d splendid veterans bill. This bill en- titles every Alaskan veteran t3 either a bonus or a loan. He is en- titled to a bonus of $10 a month for every month that he served ia the armed forces. Or he is entitled tc loan up to $10,000, either to go into some business such as lc- gUiring fishing boat, store, work shop, or to buy or build himself a home. If he chooses the bonus, tie veteran cannot also have the loan unless he first repays the bon us. It is an excellent bill, and it has been eXcellently administered tt. date. In appointing the Board to administer the bill, I selected its members with great care with the view to having it consist of Alas kans wholly sympathetic with the needs of our World War II vete-- ans. 1 desired, in so far as it lay within my power, to have this Board which would consider it it's duty and obligation to try to help the veteran, and not a bureau cratic agency that would find ex- Cuses for not helping him. The act as created by the Legislature provided for a Board of five, one member from each judicial divis- ion and one at large. For the posi- tion at large, I am very happy to say that I was able to find a most excellently qualified young man, a veteran of World War II whom many of you know personally, L. Embert Demmert of Klawock.
 The only difficulty and the only present problem in connection with the Territorial Veterans Board is that the funds appropriated by the extraordinary session for the pur- pose have proved insufficient. The Legislature appropriated a lump sum of $350,0OO and also ear- marked for the veterans all the proceeds of new tax, a gross sales, tax. This tax produced about q quarter of a million dollars in the first three months period, and therefore, seems likely to produce about a million dollars a year. We'll a million dollars is only a hundred loans of S10,00O each or two hundred at 5000 each. And Alaska has some $500 veterans of World War II. So it is clear that the next Legislature will confront, as one of it's immediate and most rressing problems, the fulfilling If it's obligation to our Alaskan vet erans. I am confident it will do so.
 In this connection there is an- ether obligation to the veteran which remains to be fulfilled-that has to do with education. We like to think of America as a land of opportunity, and it is our joint task, the task of the people and of their public servants, either a3- pointed or elected to office, ever to strive to make the promise of Am- erican life a reality. It is import