The Daily Alaska empire., 1950-04-27

l ~~0~@~~ @O~ >- mining were developed, and fur' continue to be considerable factor in the Territory's economics.
 The richest portion of our re- source in furs is the Pribilof Islands fur seal herd During the eighty three years Alaska has been owned by the United States these tiny is- lands, less than TO square miles in total area, have probably produced more wealth than any like area iil Alaska, and the United States Trea- surrey has benefited to a not incon- siderable extent.
 For many years the sealing busi- ness was conducted by private en- terprise, but since 1911 the sealing on the islands has been done by the government and seal hunting in the open ocean has been outlawed by international treaty.
 It has frequently been argued that Alaska should take over the Prib- ilofs and the sealing when it ac- quires statehood. That would cer- tainly be an asset worth having. There appears to be no reason, under the present system of opera ton, why these islands should not produce several millions of dollars each year for the treasury of the proposed state.
 Some forty years ago number of Congressmen favored cutting Alaska in on the fur seal revenues and it was suggested at that time that Alaska might eventually op- crate it's own sealing industry. That was, however, before the Depart ment of the Interior got the seal islands and the sealing business into its clutches.
 No Mention, Seal Herd
 The present statehood bill, H.R. 331, makes no direct mention of the Pribilof Islands or of the seal herd. This is not at all surprising. The original statehood bill, introduced by Delegate Bartlett three years ago, would have turned these islands over to the new state along with the rest of the natural resources. But the Interior Department hes largely rewritten the bill to suit it's own purposes. Its purpose do not include turning over to Alaska any of the resources the Interior De- partment wishes to keep.
 The Interior Department controls, operates and, you might say, virtu- ally owns the Pribilof Islands. Under the provisions of H.R. 33l the new state would not get any of the lands or resources presently in government reservations. The Prib- ilof Islands are the oldest govern ment reservation in Alaska, created on March 3, 1869, so presumably the new state would be left out in the cold so far as this particular re- source and ready source of revenue is concerned
 HR. 33I does provide, in section 5, that "The State of Alaska shall possess and exercise the same juris- diction and control over the fish, cries and the fur and game of Alaska as are possessed and exer- cised by the several States within their respective territorial limits, in- cluding adjacent waters"
 Ace In Hole
 Since no present state has fur seal herd or control over a fur seal herd, 1t may be doubted that this section would cover the Pribilof Is- lands herd. If, however, this section were so construed as to turn control of the seal herd over to the State of Alaska, the Interior Department still has an ace in the hole.
 A United States Senate subcom- mittee two years ago, studying the question of Indian claims and In- dian reservations, discovered that the Secretary of the Interior then had under consideration proposals for the creation of IS new Indian reservations in Alaska, totaling 5.2sO,OOo acres.
 Another Reservation
 Included was proposal to make an Indian reservation of the Prib- ilof Islands. It was one of the smallest of the proposed reserva- tions, but it was certainly one of the most valuable. There is little doubt but that the Interior Department would find some grounds for creat- ing such a reservation should it de- eide to do so. The department has frequently asserted Indian claims to areas where no other body, in- cluding the higher United States courts, has been able to discern them.
 To this date the Pribilof Islands Indian reservation remains only a proposal, but the very fact that the Secretary of the Interior had it under consideration should serve as warning. Two other proposals in that same list of IS were proclaimed reservations by that same Secre- tary of the Interior on his last day in office.