POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT
Until recent years one administration after another completely ignored
the real worth of Alaska. It was organized as a "non-contiguous
territory" in 1886. Not until seventeen years later was it supplied
with a form of government of any kind, and even then the laws of Oregon
were extended to it. In 1899, however, gold was discovered in the sand
on the beach at Nome! The attention of Congress was promptly directed
to this "non-contiguous territory" and the next year (1900) actual
civil government was granted. In 1906 the first representative was sent
to Congress. In 1912 a territorial assembly, with limited powers, was
authorized.
To say that Alaska has suffered and been hindered in her development by
this legislative apathy on the part of Congress would be putting it
mildly. First of all, one of the greatest needs of any new country was
wholly lacking. The absence of any kind of a criminal code was a bit
appalling. It is a matter of record that once the settlers, in dire
need, were forced to seek the protection of the English navy! There was
also a lack of proper legal, medical and educational facilities, and as
Alaska's importance increased she became a helpless victim of political
conditions some of the results of which were serious. One of these
results was an unnecessary Forest Service. Another was the belated
opening of the coal fields. A third was a long period of very meagre
transportation facilities.
The discussion of all these important matters by government officials
was lengthy and profound. But, as usual, wherever and whenever new
policies are projected there is always the pessimist who stubbornly
blockades progress. Alaska was no exception. So advance in her affairs
was negligible.
One hears much, especially in these restless days, of the red tape
which results from the lack of coördination in our government. But,
with the possible exception of the Secretary of the Interior, only one
who has dwelt in Alaska can appreciate to what lengths it extends. In
an article published not long ago in the _Outlook_, Mr. Franklin K.
Lane, Secretary of the Interior, expressed himself forcibly upon this
subject as it concerned Alaska, making use of the following
illustration:
"A citizen who wished to lease an Alaskan island for fox farming
carried on a correspondence with three different departments of the
Federal Government for several months in an effort to find out which
had jurisdiction and authority to make the lease. It was finally
decided that none of them did!"
Further investigation brought forth the following astonishing facts:
The control of Alaskan lands is in one department, the control of
forests in another. The control of roads is in a third, of fisheries in
a fourth, of railroads in a fifth! The black bear is entrusted to one
department and the brown bear to another! Cables and telegraphs comes
under another department, reindeer and the native races under still
another. Entry for homestead or mineral land, if it lie _outside_ the
national forest, is made through one department, if _within_ the
national forest through another. Timber in the national forest is sold
at auction under the _Department of Agriculture_. Timber outside the
national forest is sold (under wholly different rules and regulations)
under the _Department of the Interior_. One may export the pulp made
from timber in the public lands, but the timber itself may not be
exported.
A child could readily understand how all this, or much of it, might be
avoided by the creation of governmental offices in Alaska with
sufficient officers to get over the large territory which must be
covered. As a further illustration of what all this red tape means to
those desiring to live in the north I cite a case (also referred to by
Secretary Lane) which came to my personal knowledge. On October ninth,
1906, Mrs. Mary A. Dabney, of Seattle, filed a claim, recording the
location on this day. The survey was made September twenty-fourth,
1908. It was approved by the Surveyor General January twenty-first,
1909. Application for patent was made March twenty-fourth, 1909. There
was no protest against the validity of Mrs. Dabney's claim, and no
conflicting claims. But the mineral entry was not patented until
October seventeenth, 1913--_seven years after the claim was filed_! Had
there been an officer on the ground, with power to act, with authority
to investigate and prepare the case for the General Land Office all
this long wait would have been avoided.
This lack of coördination affects almost every phase of Alaskan life
and industry. Certain islands are set apart as bird reserves under
protection (?) of the Biological Survey which sends a keeper _in
summer_ to guard one or two of the islands! At other times they are
unprotected. Game animals are supposedly under the protection of
wardens hired by and under the direction of the Governor of Alaska.
These wardens enforce the rules of the Department of Agriculture and
are paid out of the appropriation of the Department of the Interior!
Fur-bearing animals are under the protection of wardens appointed by
the Secretary of Commerce and working under the regulations of the
Department of the Interior. The Department of Agriculture has sole
authority over the animals which are shipped as specimens for
scientific and propagating purposes, except reindeer, which are
controlled by the Department of the Interior.
Not long ago it was discovered by the Bureau of Education that the
walruses were being slaughtered by the wholesale. As this is a menace
to the food supply of both the natives and their dogs the Bureau at
once reported it to Washington. The report was turned over to the
Department of Agriculture and this Department promptly decided that the
killing was illegal. When it came to putting into motion the machinery
to stop it, however, the usual thing occurred. There was no machinery
available to prevent it.
The prize story along this line, however, is the evidence in the case
of the black bear _versus_ the brown bear. Some years ago a law was
passed making the brown bear a game animal. The law was intended to
protect the Kodiak bear, the "great brown bear" as it is called. So the
brown bear passed under the control of the Department of Agriculture.
The black bear, recognized as a fur-bearing animal, remained under the
jurisdiction of the Department of Commerce. And then the fun began!
Scarcely a litter of black bear cubs but contains one or more brown
ones! To which Department of our National Government shall the little
brown brothers and sisters be awarded? One protests against the
separation of families in this manner! The question we are asking
ourselves and which yet remains to be solved is: Is _a_ brown bear of
Alaska _the_ brown bear?
The Forest Service as it was inaugurated also proved a detriment. Rules
and regulations which worked well in the States could not be
intelligently applied to Alaska. As an illustration,--there was a
territorial law in force at the time the Service took charge which
forbade the shipment of timber into the United States. Under the new
Service, timber might be exported provided stumpage were paid to cover
the Service's expenses. In case of the reserve forest on the Alexander
Archipelago, however, an exception was made. This forest was withdrawn
(it was said) in order that the timber kings could not rifle it for
export purposes. Yet----. The old territorial law would have furnished
ample protection and would have been a better measure of conservation
than the one introduced by the Forest Service.
Any system which imposes irritating restrictions (as this one
undoubtedly did) upon the pioneers of a sparsely-peopled country is a
mistake for many reasons. Such a system never fails to operate against
itself. And this system proved a boomerang. Under it the railroads,
wishing to buy Alaskan lumber for construction purposes, had to pay for
it at the stumpage rates of the Forest Reserve! Meanwhile Alaska was
suffering for lack of transportation facilities and it is difficult for
even the most optimistic conservative enthusiast to see _improvement_
in such measures.
The belated opening of the coal fields was but one more instance of the
legislative indifference which hindered Alaska's development. Eastern
coal operators were shipping coal in large quantities to the Pacific
coast. In Alaska the belief was general that when the Panama Canal was
once in operation these operators would intrench themselves strongly on
the coast, confident that they would be able to compete with operators
from Alaska as soon as the latter's coal fields were released.
Naturally, the first man on the ground would have the advantage and the
Alaskans grew almost desperate as time went by and the troublesome
situation was not relieved. In 1914, however, a bill was passed in
Congress which authorized the leasing of the coal fields and permitted
the lessee to rent two thousand five hundred and sixty acres at a
yearly rental of one dollar an acre, this to be applicable on the
royalty demanded, which was two cents a ton.
In the matter of highways Alaska was also handicapped. Wheeled traffic
here was out of the question until roads were built. Railroads which
can not touch the interior are limited as to their usefulness. The
highways are of paramount importance to the development of any country.
But a Board of Commissions for Alaska was organized a few years ago and
since then the building of roads has increased.
Even in the face of all these handicaps and difficulties, however, we
are not pessimistic. In time they will, they _must_, adjust themselves.
As soon as sufficient roads are built to enable settlement it will be
only a question of time (and a short time at that) until Alaska will
become self-supporting. Her vast resources can not be dealt with
singly. They must be dealt with as a whole. When once the United States
grasps Alaska's needs and conditions, when her receipts and
disbursements pass through a single, responsible Board which shall each
year report to Congress the revenues and expenses, the government will
undoubtedly form an Alaskan budget which will render legislation in her
behalf much simpler and more intelligent.