HOUSE COMMITTEE
REPORTS ON
ALASKA TRIP
Stating that it believes Alaska
has not developed to a point
where it is ready for statehood,
the Interior subcommittee of the
House Appropriations Committee
has submitted to Congress its re
port on the trip taken this sum
mer to Alaska to inspect Interior
Department operations in the Ter
ritory.
The conclusions and recommen
dations of the members of the
subcommittee are briefed as fol
lows:
1. Believes that appropriate ac
tion was taken by the whole Ap
propriations Committee in refus
ing the initial blanket request of
the Interior Department for
$3,860,000 for the establishment of
an Alaska development fund to
make extended surveys in Alaska
and the subsequent request for
$1,072,600.
2. The General Land Office
should have additional personnel
to investigate agricultural possi
bilities in the Territory.
3. Further opportunities for
homes teading in Matanuska,
Homer and other isolated areas
are limited and by no means as
ample as some reports have indi
cated. The committee believes
that Homer could become an ag
ricultural and fishing mecca if
roads could be constructed for
markets. The committee feels it
cannot recommend to returning
veterans that they cut all ties and
go to Alaska to homestead with
out making careful personal in
vestigations.
4. The Territory has failed to
accept its full share of responsi
bility in the construction and
maintenance of roads, bridges and
highways.
5. The committee feels that ad
ditional hospitalization among the
natives remains urgent and be
lieves that many army and navy
installations in Alaska could be
used to this advantage. The mem
! bers found that the army was
willing to turn over Base Hospi
tal No. 2 at Fort Richardson,
which would accommodate 400
patients, over to the Territory or
to the Interior Department in the
near future. The committee recom
mended one of the six buildings
at Excursion Inlet, which are per
manent, could be used as a hospi
tal for the natives or for a hospi
tal for Alaska’s insane in place of
Morningside Sanitarium at Port
land, Oregon.
6. The committee stated that in
many villages and towns, especi-:
ally in southeastern Alaska, the1
Indian schools should be aban-;
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LAKES’ AFTERNOON
EVENING DRESSES
1
4
50 % Reduction
4
Attention
Deliveries are now leaving store
at 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Bon Marche
Store
doned and the Territory should
operate all schools for both native
and white children.
7. States that The Alaska Rail
road should be improved with the
$6,000,000 now surplus with mod
ern equipment for handling freight
and passengers. The members be
lieve every effort should be made
to maintain adequate railroad fa
cilities between Anchorage and
Seward until an all-season high
way is constructed.
8. The committee does not feel
justified in recommending appro
priation of additional funds for
the improvement and development
of existing parks and monuments
in Alaska but feels instead activi
ties involving health, education
and general welfare of the natives
of Alaska should have first call
on any funds spent in Alaska.
9. “Although the committee
feels that eventually the claims of
the Territory must be given seri
ous consideraiton, it appears that
up to the present time the Terri
tory has not developed to a point
where it is ready for statehood,
that it has not enacted tax laws
and other legislation, including in
many instances modern social
laws, which would place it on a
par with most of the 48 States of
the Union, and the Committee has
serious doubts that it is ready to
assume the role of a sovereign
State now or in the near future.”
Embodied in the report were
observations made by the mem
bers which revealed some inter
esting facts. The Federal Govern
ment, according to advice given
the committee, has expended in
excess of $336,000,000 in the con
struction of 44 airfields in Alaska,
32 having been built by the War
Department, and twelve by the
Civil Aeronautics Administration.
Ladd Field, according to the re
port, cost approximately $35,000,
000 to construct.
The committee believes Alaska
is a mecca for tourist travel and
states people should be encour
aged to visit Alaska as tourists.
The members also stated that
many new mines will be brought
into production during the next j
decade.
The committee has called upon
[ the Interior Department and the
Federal Public Housing Authority
for an explanation of what they
state is a “glaring example of the!
serious lack of coordination be
tween government agencies” in
the matter of building 80 small
frame houses at Hoonah at a cost
i of more than $650,000, which is
believed to be a price for in ex
cess of the amount which should
have been spent. The members
I
j stated they could not understand
why surplus lumber and other
materials at Excursion Inlet
| could not be used to rebuild the
Indian village at Hoonah.
* * *
PUBLIC WORKS
LEGISLATION
Two projects in Alaska totalling
$1,150,000 are included in a bill
authorizing a total appropriation
of $193,000,000 for Federal build
ing projects outside the District of
Columbia. One item, $1,000,000,
calls for remodelling and extend
ing the Federal building at Jun
eau, and the other, $150,000, is
earmarked for a post office site
’ and building at Kodiak.
The purpose of the legislation is
to grant authority to the Public
Buildings Administration to pur
* chase sites, prepare working
| drawings and specifications and
Who The Defendants Are
In The War Crime Trials
<JP) Newsfeatures
FRANZ VON PAPEN
Lean, handsome Franz von Pa
pen, 65-year-old diplomat, was
expelled as ambassador to the
United States in World War I for
I “improper activities in military
and naval matters.” He helped en
gineer Austria into the Nazi orbit,
taking Chancellor Schuschnigg to
the “friendly” meeting with Hit- (
ler that paved the way for the An- j
schluss.
Not only his glib diplomacy made
him indispensable to Hitler when
the heads of other noblemen were ;
rolling; observers think he had j
something on der Fuehrer, possi- j
bly the forging of President Hin
denburg’s will, which helped Hit
ler into power. If not, observers
say, why did Hitler decorate von
Papen for the failure of his mis
sion to insure Turkey’s antago
nism to the Allies in World War
II?
GEN. ALFRED GUSTAV JODL
Thin-lipped, balding Col. Gen.
Alfred Gustav Jodi, Wehrmacht
staff chief who signed the surren
der last May at Reims, was per
haps closer to Hitler, as his per
sonal chief of staff, than any other
Nazi soldier. A career warrior,
Jodi was a colonel and a lesser
known cog in the High Command
when war came. He signed Greek
capitulation terms in 1941 and
was named Hitler’s military aide
a year later; took part in most of
the Fuehrer’s 'conferences with
Mussolini and was at his side dur
ing tactics meetings. He directed
the Armed Forces Guidance
School, was wounded in the 1944
bomb plot on Hitler’s life, then |
jumped in rank to colonel gener
al. He sped to a command on the
caving Russian front . . . made a
last plea for “mercy” at the sur
render ceremonies.
construct those building projects
most essential to efficient opera
tion of the Federal Government.
Commissioner of Public Build
ings, W. E. Reynolds, pointed out
that the inclusion of a building in
the eligible list is no indication
that a recommendation for its con
struction is to be expected in the
near future and that many may
not be constructed for years, but,
rather, the Public Buildings Ad
ministration will be able to start
construction of certain buildings
having high priority and do all
preliminary work on the others,
“so that in case it is judged in the
public interest to undertake a
large-scale Federal building pro
gram to combat a recession, the
Government will be in a position
to do so.”
National War
Relief F nd
COMPOSED OF ALL CHARITY
ORGANIZATIONS IN THE
UNITED STATES
(With Exception of the Red Cross)
Will Start Their Final Drive
For Funds
— on —
Monday, October 1, 1945
Your’ Contribution Is Earnestly Solicited