fantasic debts which had been
allowed to accumulate. Wvcn
the Follyannas realized that no
homestead could'carry a debt-load
of 10,000 -- 12,000—or 14,000
dollars. A debt adjustor was
appointed at a salary of '''.25.
a day. Ostensibly, debts were
reduced in compensation for work
done on improvements. Actually,
the man who really worked on their
places, who had thriftily bought
only those items they really need
ed, had little or nothing scaled
off. It was the loafer, the man
who had never grown a radish on
his land, who lived entirely on
the "subsistence budget" or on
regular employment from the Cor
poration, who'had most of his
debt forgiven. Col.Ohlson'himself
has said very frankly that, if
the thrifty man had been given
treatment commensurate with that
given the imprudent ones, the
Corporation would have owed them
money.
Ill
In all this demoralisation, Walter
Pipple, the man who believed in
worIcing for a living, was an out
standing exception. Back in the
States he had fought his own way,
Ke had gone broke raising corn
and hog3 in 1932, but was making
a fine comeback under his own
power with a truclc-fnrm in Robbins
dalo when the New Deal officials
first talked to him of Alaska,
Heturned down the idea; but the
Utopians kept after him, painting
a picture in flowing colors.
They described the co-operative
community where he could: finance
a farm on favorable term, where
there was an umlimited market at
high prices; they stressed the
pioneering angle, the opportunity
to insure a future for his chil
dren free from the hazards of
farming in Minneasota. Their
story'finally appealed to his in
dividualism—the quality that
later caused him so much trouble.
If there was one place where a
man could work out his own destiny
by his own efforts, it must be on
Americans, frontier. He went alon&
As soon as he arrived at hatanusko,
while the other colonists were
running around in confusion,
Pipple went straight to work.
He had taken the promises serious
ly, and accepted his own obliga
tions in the same way. Let tho
others live on credit if they
wished; to him a bill was'a debt
that must some day be paid. He
built most of his own furniture
himself, and, with his entire
family helping, began to put in
his crops. Within a year ho was
producing top-notch garden truck.
He asked the Corporation when the
co-op would be ready to handle
marketing, and was told to handle
his own sales. In a short time
he had established markets in
Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Seward.
When tho co-op finally organized
he was ono of the most enthus
iastic early members, but he soon
began to smell a rat. Unlike
successful farmer co-operatives
in the States (ancl in Europe),
where management is entirely In
the hands of the members, it was
run from the top down, and tho
colonist took whatever price was
offered for their produce.
Pipple refused an offer from tlio
co-op of;^115 for five hogs, be
cause he was able to sell four
of them In Anchorag® for $116,
and keep the other, which was
worth (£28, for his own use.
By this time he was getting some
what suspicious of the whole de
velopment. He had explored all
possible markets thoroughly enough
to learn that ton good truck
farmers could produce enough to
fill the entire demand, had
gathered test figures from the
Agricultural Experiment Station
which showed the futility of
trying to raise livestock—figures
showing that it cost $15. to feed
a lrmb that had a market value
of $9, over $100 to feed one calf
through the winter, and 35 cents
a dozen to produce eggs that sold
for 30.
This article will- be continued- ■.
again next woek from the-Jan,
issue of the AMERICA!? MERCURY.-.
0 ‘ C :•*.. ■. t
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