By decisions of the Commissioner of the Land Office all of the claims in
the Matanuska coal field were set aside, and by act of Congress a
leasing bill was put into effect over the entire field. Under this law a
number of claims must be reserved to the Government. The field was
surveyed, and some of the most promising portions of the field have been
so reserved.
Two leases have been entered into by the Government, one with Lars
Netland, a miner, who has a backer, Mr. Fontana, a business man of San
Francisco, and the other with Oliver La Duke and associates. There are
many thousands of acres in this field which are open for lease and which
will be leased to any responsible parties who will undertake their
development. Government experts who have examined this field do not
promise without further exploring a larger output of coal from this
field than 150,000 tons a year.
The population of Alaska has fallen off during the war. She sent, I am
told, 5,000 men into the Army, the largest proportion to population sent
by any part of the United States. The high cost of labor and materials
closed some of the gold mines, and the attractive wages offered by war
industries drew labor from Alaska to the mainland. All prospecting
practically closed. But with the return of peace there is evidence of a
new movement toward that Territory which should be given added
confidence in its future by the completion of the Alaskan Railroad.
There is enough arable land in Alaska to maintain a population the equal
of all those now living in Norway, Sweden, and Finland, and all that can
be produced in those countries can be produced in Alaska. The great need
is a market, and this will be found only as the mining and fishing
industries of the country develop.