The Daily Alaska empire., 1950-06-10
THE STATEHOOD HEARINGS
 No. 1
By BOB DE ARMOND

tilC kIlOtJlCSI LII tIlc pIOplCIIiS cIl- countered by a group of United States Senators when they studied the enabling bill and heard wit nesses upon it.
 Almost every witness had some- thing to say about the grants, and the testimony of the D, statehood people, unified on most points, was contradictory on ..Ls one. Moreover, the land grants provisions of H. R. 331 were the main point of attack by the op- ponents of the bill.
 Closely tied in with the land grants were the questions of ba reaucratic control of Alaskan re- sources and the development of these resources.
 The first of a long list of wit nesses to appear at the hearing was Oscar L. Chapman, Secretary of the Interior. Because of the vast power the Interior Depart ment wieldS in Alaska, Alaskans are likely to read with interest any statement by the Secretary And because of long experience with many Secretaries of the Interior they are apt to read such pro- Inouncements with care.
 Chapman Gives-and Takes
 Secretary Chapman started off on a note that was heartening to the Alaskan public. He said:
 "As an official of the Federal government, I know we have been accused many times of being grasp ing and looking for jurisdiction to extend our powers within our de- partments. I want to say to you gentlemen here I want to get rid of that power in the Department of the Interior. I want to trans Init 1t back to the people of Alaska, who have every right and I think the ability to manage their own affairs. I want to turn it over to them, insofar as it is practical and feasible at all to do so."
 Now there is statement that would receive round of applause from any audience between Hyder and Barrow, and a number of AL askan residents did applaud it in their testimony
 But wait. Let us look again at those last dozen words: insofar as it is practical and feasible at all to do so.' Do they have some special meaning? Evidently they do, because when Secretary Chap man got down to the specific pro- visions of the Alaska bill he pulled out different sheet of music, one written in the minor key. Here he says: Tn some places we are giving three sections iof landD and in some four sections. Some have suggested that we give more. I think it is unwise to give more. I don't think they will be quite proper to manage and ad- minister quite as efficiently as We are doing"
 Proper-Or Improper will confess that I am unable to understand exactly what the Secretary means when he uses the word proper" It is a word that fits very handily into officialese- a variety language designed to be impressive but vague. Perhaps that is why he selected it.
 Previously the Secretary had said he thought Alaskans have the abil- ity to manage their own affairs. Now he doesn't think they will be quite proper" to manage and ad- minister.
 My abridged dictionary lists an even dozen definitions for the word proper" It means, among other things, honest, respectable, deserved and fitting. We have the ability to manage but are not honest enough, or respectable enough, or deserving. Is that it? I do not know. One of the synonyms listed for proper" is modest" Per- haps we are not modest enough to manage as efficiently as the h. terior Department is doing. Here is another synonym: "con- venient." An, now maybe we are getting somewhere. We have the ability to manage our affairs but | it is not convenient to let us do so. That is an entirely proper" statement from the Interior De- partment
 Butler is Skeptical Senator Hugh Butler, for one, stuck his tongue in his cheek at the whole Interior Department rig amarole. Along in the hearing the Senator said he thought statehood should come when the people of Alaska can get the right sort of a deal from the Department of Interior; I would not say the Fed eral government because am sure that most people in government (Ccr.tinued on Page Six)