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THE ECONOMIC FUTURE OF THE
MATANUSKA VALLEY . ,
.;i / '
( The following article was
written by IvI.D. Snodgrass and g:
submitted to THE' VALLEY' SETTLEFi''
for reprint by Mr.Snodgrass.. V ,
After four and a half years ex
posure to statements, misstate
ments, promises and broken prom
ises of'various directors and
subordinates of the Alaska Rural
Rehabilitation Corporation, I
< end I feel these views are held
by the majority of the Matanuska
farmers) an becoming apprehensive
of tho motives, and aims of the
"powers that be", regarding future
colony policy.
Recent (.events dealing with the
economic setup for the Valley hiis
raised many questions in my mind:
Has the ARRC Management a well
defined jr ogram with a definite
goal in mind? If not, will they
continue their experiments,
basing their final conclusions
and policy on the lottery of
blind chance? Will the welfare
of the colonists and old settlers
be their first consideration, or
will we play second fiddle to an
over-subsidized office, bent on
maintaining their status quo
until the last Federal dime is
spent? Is this their ultimate
aim? If not, we would like to
know the answer I
Y/h.en this Colony was still in its
infancy we were told that a Co
operative Association would be
set up to take over the colony
management ftfon the Corporation
at an early date, and that each
colonist would receive a warantee
deed to his respective tract.
Wonderful promises i Promises, yet
to be fulfilledl
Let's soe how they were carried
outi It is true wo now have a
Matanuska Valley Farmers Cooperat
ing Association-- but a Cooperative
yet to bo entrusted with direct
colony managennnt and little
authority in Civic Center units
now operating under the gtK.se
of cooperative management.
Colony control is still vested
in the Alaska. Rural Rehabilita
-tioVi Corporation. with the ARRC
Boahd of Directors as its mouth
piece to handle Valley business
for both producer and consumer,
,Mow for a summary of Cooperative
history; Don L,Irwin, the first
general manager of the colony,
inaugurated the first efforts
toward 'formation' of a coopera
tive association, to be com
posed of both old settlers and
colonitsts. At his invitation
a Council, comprising four old
settlers and four colonists,
was set up by election.
The Council members, working in
harmony and wasting no time
wrangling over potty grievances,
set to work immediately, appiont
ing a Committee to work out1 a
constitution and by-laws for a
Cooperative Association,
This conmi-ttoe through weekly
meetings end extra meeting over
a throe-months period brought
forth a workable plan for a Cot
operative Association that would
fit the needs of the Valley
settlers, Put after discovering
defects in our Alaskan lav/s
which would tend to handicap
the' successful operation of a
Co-op in Alaska, a plan to organ
ize a Corporation that would
operate on a cooperative basis
was proposed and submit tec1 to
Washington, who notified them
t o go ahead with bho organize
ti on.
But shortly after tlic approval
of the Council's plans for the
cooperative set up, word was
received that Washington was
planning a general set; up for
cooperatives in all the resottlo
mc nt projects, hernwhi1o Lon
Irv/in was succeeded by Ross Shecly
as General Manager. ,Shecly then
dismissed the Council, but stat
ing he would recall thorn when
he deemed it necessary. Uo fur
ther Council meetings were ever
called — giving rise to the
(continued on page 4 )