| Show HARDINGS TRIP TO ALASKA hardings approaching visit to alaska undoubtedly will mark tho the beginning of a now new era in tho the history and development of that territory the president will be ac accompanied C ompa nied by three of 0 his bis cabinet members tho the secretaries of ag agriculture gri culture commerce and interior neither the president nor his bis cabinet companions are taking the trip to alaska for lonal purposes it is a business trip whatever ithe reason that territory which is the largest and richest territory in possession of 0 the united i states has not developed as it should without exaggeration it is the greatest storehouse of wealth now possessed by this government it Is estimated there are acres of coal land in alaska one gold mine alone the treadwell has produced seven times as much gold as the united states paid russia for that territory there are more than acres of arable and grazing land in the territory it contains the only tin mines on the north american continent its copper deposits although largely unexplored are known to be probably greater than any copper de d within the jurisdiction of the united states oil has been flowing into the arctic ic ocean from points in alaska tor for centuries what is believed to be the greatest oil field in the world Is located near the aleutian islands the alaskan cod fish banks are among the most valuable in the world its other fisheries are of enormous productivity and value properly safeguarded its fur bear ing animals will continue indefinitely to be the source of tremendous amounts of furs exceeded probably by no other section of the globe with the exception of siberia its virgin timber it if properly conserved and administered will solve tor for generations the problem of wood pulp for the united states despite all this alaska aska remains a sealed territory an insignificant mount amount of private capital has been 1 invested vested ri there immigration has been nil in fact the census reports show a decrease in the population of the territory during the last decade something is wrong there are many explanations offered the persistent one is that alaska is the victim of 0 bureaucratic red tape wound up at washington by individuals who have no knowledge firsthand first hand of the conditions in alaska or the needs 0 of that territory or its people this has bee been ri denied by others who claim alanskas is attributed to other causes it has been an endless warfare of words which led nowhere it is to ascertain it if possible e the reasons for alanskas being the cinderella of all the territories terri tores of the united states that president harding hark and his cabinet officers are ta taking the trip to that northern country the three cabinet officers who will accompany the president are the three whose departments have the most to do and in point of fact practically all to do with the administration of alaskan affairs it if there is a serious conflict of authority between bureaus administering alaskan affairs overlapping of jurl diction tio n and duplication of work it exists exis ts somewhere among these three departments part ments it is most fitting and businesslike therefore that the heads of these three departments accompany the th e president on the trip which is for the purpose of ascertaining how much it if any of alanskas troubles are due to a lack of ordination coordination co among the various federal agencies which have to do with the administration of its affairs the harding trip is but one more example of the working out of the policy of the harding administration to inaugurate more and better business methods in the administration of our public affairs it is exa the method that would be used by any successful business corporation it if it owned the territory of alaska were responsible for its successful administration and would profit by a development and conservation of its resources the trip of the president and his advisers will undoubtedly result in a formulation of a definio policy in connection with alaskan affairs and it is sate safe to say that this policy will lift the administration of alaskan affairs out of the ruck of politics and place it on a business like footing |
