PALMER ALASKA. CARL RASMUSSEN, EDITOR.
Published every Friday, at'Palmer, Alaska, by the Matanuska ^alley
Farmers Cooperating Association, for the purpose of giving news of the
Associat ion's work, problems g r ccomp 11shments Local and gene ;<al news
Subscription ’ov moil -1 1.E5, yearly_Box -1 1.00. Single cony lOgfj,_
IS THE OLD HOMESTEAD LAW BEING SUPPLANTED?
Recent announcements in regard to restriction3,and withdrawals of the
pub Lie lands,located in Alaska, especially regarding the withdrawal of
lands., from entry .along the Alaska Highway and the new rules regarding th
manner jin* •wMch one must conform, to secure land in the Matanusko Colony
Reserve s^r-e very interesting and it makes one wonder if the .homestead
law that.-has prevailed ever since the close of the Civil War and under
. which the demand for land and homes by the Vetrans of the Civil War was
appeased and under which the most; of the prosperous Middle Western States
were -settled and developed is to be voided andsubterfuge substituted?
What is going to become of the returned Soldier and the men and women
rho will have to seek other means of securing a livelihood when the war
i lants close down and the armies are mustccred' outIf desireablo vacant
lands are being held from use by Governmental bureaus under the pretext
that their classification has not been made and that settlement is not
desired in certain'aereas until certain other parts have been d ;Vcloped?
Then is it fair to require that any individual secure the approval of
any individual bureaucrat before he Can become elgiblr to file on and
start development on the more desirable portibns of the public domain.
We wonder if the U.S. Congress relizdsthe implications involved in the
passing of certain laws modifying and- chnngeing the intent and spirit
of the homestead law, and how lone It will be until the homestead law
will.be by-pcssed and bureaucratic control substituted in its. place?
This tendency can only be restrained when the people of Alaska rise
and demand hands off,of one of the greatest laws created for the \ise of
the people in the disposition of the public lands that are the .property
of all of the people of this Great Republic. To disregard and neglect
this important question will undoubtably mean that in a short time the
priviledge of the average American to secure a home through the regular
homestead will be surrounded with so many restrictions, that it will, be
almost impossiablc to relize that rmbition. ■ '
HALLOWEEN CELEBRATED IN THE NEW MODERN MANNER.
The teachers, pupils and the parents of Palmer certainly deserve a
lot of credit for the manner in which Halloween was observed this year,
The lack of rodyism and the usual destructive jokes,was very'noticrblc
and the Dance and Carnival held last Saturday evening was enjoyed by
both young and old. There were so many interesting events to be observed •
and things to be done,that the more objectionable features of the usual
Halloween celebration found no one inclined or able to take the time to
do the things th*t are usualy included in the skedule.
Can it be that this offers r solution to the question, as to how to
we can interest our 7poungpcople in school and model citircnsh?r* It
seems that these young people can be induced to take an inter-., at in the
projects that the old ;r p< ople help them plan and in which the elders
also pnrticin;tc. Planned amusements and i th lctics may be the means ’of
diverting the younger peoples mind from those habits of thought and act
ion that cause the comunity so much trouble.