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Show ! ALASKA UPHELD IN ITS BID FOR STATEHOOD An unknown editor in writing about Alaska offers the following follow-ing worth-while comments: "Not since February 14, 1912, when Arizona became the 48th an addition to the family of an addition to the family of states. Now the question is being asked: Will Alaska become state number 40 There is a bill in Congress Con-gress to give her that status. A congressional investigating committee has indicated, however, how-ever, that Alaska has not attained attain-ed sufficient economic stability and political maturity to qualify for statehood. President Truman and Secretary of the Interior Ickes disagree with this conclusion. con-clusion. membership in the Union for economic ec-onomic reasons it is largely the fault of the United States. There has been too much exploitation ex-ploitation of Alaskan resources and too little effort toward helping help-ing that territory build itself up on a permanent basis. Too many American business concerns and individuals have made a practice of grabbing as much as they can in Alaska and leaving as little as possible. The Federal Government's Gov-ernment's tendency to treat that area as a step-child has not helped help-ed much either. Alaska is much more than a frozen wilderness. There is extensive ex-tensive acreage of fertile land that is wonderfully productive in the summer. Being situated on the shortest route to the Orient, Alaska has great possibilities at an air center in the coming age |