OPEN FORUM
Editor The Alaskan,
Petersburg Alaska
Dear Sir:
I have a lot to say on a very
vital subject but can not seem to
get started.
As near as I can come to a real
start is by quoting from an old
and nearly forgotten document.
I do net doubt that most of you
have read it. But have you
studied?
It says in part: “We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creat
or with certain inalienable
lights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of
Happiness.
I could quote other extracts
from the same source, all of
which would have a bearing on
the subject, but read it yourself.
If won’t hurt you. There is one
place where it speaks of land
and another place where it
speaks of a swarm of new offic
ers. But read it, study it. The
comparison between the con
ditions which bred that docu
ment and the conditions under
which we are trying to develop
Alaska are startling. Read it
and realize the responsibility j
that you as American citizens
i
carry on your shoulders.
Living in a country under a ;
form of government established
by the authors of that docu
ment, designed to secure you
your rights, it is up to you
whether you continue to enjoy
those rights or not.
You as citizens of Alaska are
living in a raw, unsettled and
undeveloped country, the same
as the authors of the document
auoted. You are here on the
grounds and afre better qualified,
to know the needs of your hare
country than any bureau head in
Washington.
It is up to you as citizens of
Alaska to separate the wheat
from the chaff. and be sure that
you do not get the chaff in your
eyes while someone with a pull
in Washington, D. C., walks off
with the wheat, the wheat in
this case being the land and na
tural resources of Alaska
•Greed and corruption never
stalk out. openly as such, they
always have a very plausible
argument to advance and oft
times through insiduous propa
ganda, gain a following.
I try to be more or less charit
able and look at both sides of a
question but after years of ob
servation and study, I would
dislike very much to have the
sins of the Forest Department
riding my shoulders.
I used to think that it was
merely misdirected energy and
I a flare for trying to tell other
people what to do and what not
| to do that was responsible, but
the facts of the case as they
gradually unfold, reveal it as
| merely the stalking horses of
Greed and Corruption.
In the first place, I fail to see
any so-called conservation in
the policy outlined by the For
est Departinent.
In the second place, I fail to
see why it is necessary to hold
the timber land of Alaska in j
immense, tax exempt reserves. 1
In the third place, I fail to see
how Alaska is ever going to be
ether than a wilderness, a play
thing of politicians, a stench in
the nostrils of any man or wo
man who understands and real
izes the traditions and princip
les upon which our government'
was founded unless people are
allowed to come here and build
and own homes.
Restrict the acreage, if neces
sary. Supervise the cutting of
timber and provide for reforest
ation on such land. These are
things which we must accept and
are for the good of the country.
A logical plan to this effect
can be worked out. But let every
citizens entitled to such, be al
lowed to file on land and obtain
patent thereto. Timber or oth-;
erwise. Anywhere he wishes to
settle.
Let him start his clearing and
clear such lands as he wants to
use for his buildings, gardens
and what not, whatever he
needs. In most cases it will not
be much. But let it be under
stood that any timber land
which he holds and is not ac
tually using for other purposes
shall be under the jurisdiction
of the Forest Department inso
far as the cutting of timber is
concerned. Let him have the
revenue from this timoer to sus
tain him while he getss his start.
If you are afraid that a bunch
of people will come here to take
up land merely for the sake of
selling it to pulp companies, ex
tend the period of residence be
fore patent.
But even so I cannot see any
great evil in the pulp companies
owning the land if the timber
Cutting is supervised. Under the
present policy of the Forest De
partment, they will have all of
the privileges of owners without
any of the responsibilities and
the immense parcels of land al
lotted to them will be definite
ly withdrawn from settlement, at
least until the timber is cut.
The people the pulp companies
bring here to harvest the timber
crop will never be more than a
transient labor, like our present
cannery help.
On the ether hand, if thej
land is in the hands of small'
land owners, these people will
make headquarters of the Alas
ka towns, trade there, live there
ard center their activities
there.
What if a portion of the lanci
does eventually pass to the
ownership of the large compan
ies? They won’t be able to car
ry it away. They might even be
willing, after the crop is cut, to
sell some of it to settlers again.
Personally, I am heart and
soul for forestry. I have lived in
Southeastern Alaska for twenty
years. There can be no question
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that timbering and timbergrow-'
ing is the destiny of 90 per cent
of the land here. It would be, I
admit, detrimental to the best
interests of the country to allow
unrestricted cutting with no pro
! vision for reforestation.
But I can not see Why that
'should mean that the only way
| that forestry could be practiced
j would be to allow large corpora
I lions to hog our timber resourc
es without the people of Alaska
benefiting as it should.
No, don’t allow the door to be
slammed in the face of the man
or woman who wants to come
here and build a home. Help
them rather from our immense
store of riches.
Last but not least, remember
that in the eyes of God, a land
is not fulfilling its destiny un
lesss His people are living con
tentedly upon it and I would
j venture to say that a settler and
I his family toiling for his living
from the land would carry more
weight before His Tribunal than
a 20 million dollar pulp company
Very truly yours,
E. S. Hungerford
-X
Petersburg, Alaska
February 4, 1930
Editor The Alaskan,
Petersburg, Alaska
Dear Sir:
In the last issue of your papei
jnder the heading “Open For
um,” Mr. E. S. Hungerford sug
gests that it is a shame that the
ox ranchers of this territory
cannot be made to feel at home
in their own houses. May I agree
with him and add my bit to the
discussion?
Fur farming is an infant in
dustry that bids fair to become
f enormous benefit to the Terri
tory of Alaska. The fox ranch
er settles on the land, develop?
it, improves it, makes it a home
He clears ground, plants garden?
and fruit. He makes trails
landings, docks, floats. He build?
houses and outbuildings—al
permanent improvements tc
make that land productive
which otherwise would be of no
value whatever, in fact many of
the islands are not much more
than rocks in the way of naviga
tion. His place becomes an
emergency life saving and supply
station for every wandering gas
boat wayfarer in his locality. He
does not exploit any natural re -
source of the country even as the 1
oggers, miners or fishermen do;
he produces that wealth as a
farmer produces beef and pota
toes, and every dollar of it is a
foreign dollar brought to his I
home town. He patronizes the |
local merchants and machine I
shops and all that he makes |
goes to build up the Territory. 1
He spends for such purposes P
from two to fifteen thousand
(dollars per year—easily five
times as much as the average
I homesteader.
In view of the number of peo
ple engaged and the amount of
money invested it would seem
that such an industry should
have in fuller measure, the sup
port and encouragement of the
federal government and of the
Territory. The last Legislature
made an appropriation for the
employment of a veterinary ex
pert to study fox diseases and
parasites and to advise the
farmers. That plan has a very
definite fault. In all respect to
Dr. Graves, he has been obliged
to glean his knowledge of foxes
from the farmers themselves. He
is unfairly handicapped in that
no provision is made for con
ducting experiments. In each
and every agricultural state, so
far as I am aware, there is
-maintained at state expense an
agricultural experiment station
where trained men devote their
time and energy to the study of
the economic production of
cattle, sheep, pigs, etc. They •
study feeding methods, diseases
and methods of treatment. They
frtudy crops and crop enemies—!
fungi, parasites and insect pests,
Then they hold “farmer’s insti-;
tutes” and give the common'
clodhoppers the benefit of their
scientific investigations and re-1
searches. Fox raising means to i
the Territory of Alaska just!
what any other kind of stock
raising would mean. It can be:
brought to mean a great deal
more to the Territory than it
does now. I can suggest manyt
points on which we are very,
much in need of accurate in
formation. Many individuals
have carried out experiments in
a haphazard sort of way and re
mained in doubt of their find
ings. None of us can afford to
experiment. We are not equip
ped for it, nor are we prepared
by education and training al
though we have been paying a
rather expensive tuition in the
school of experience.
Not very much has been done
in a genuinely constructive way
to make a real fur farming in
dustry possible. The Legisla
ture once required us to brand
our foxes, furnished us a brand
ft $10 but no one has ever dis
covered how to use it. And the
Congress of the United States
in a misguided attempt to es
tablish fur farming in Alaska
passed a measure providing for
fur farms of thirty square miles
area! What a p ity someone
could not have suggested at the
time that it is not bigger fur
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