' ALASKA ADVISORY COMMITTEE’S
REPORT IS PRESENTED IN DETAIL
(Continued from Page Two)
ing on California annually for nearly
500,000 barrels of petroleum and petro
leum products. This does not include
oil consumed by steamers running tc
Alaska ports. The information Af
forded by seepages indicates that
there are five oil fields in Alaska which
could probably be made productive.
So far as known the Alaska petroleum
a high-grade refining oil for which
there is at present a great need.
Therefore the development of the
Alaska petroleum fields is not only of
%reat importance to the Territory but
also to the entire nation.
Incidental to gold and copper mining
considerable silver and some lead have
been produced from Alaska ores.
Galena ores, some of which carry a
high percentage of silver, are widely
distributed in Alaska and are now re
ceiving considerable attention. Both
placer and lode tin have been found in
the York district of Seward peninsula.
Placer tin has also been found in some
of the Yukon camps. So far as known
there are no large reserves of placer
tin in Alaska.. The outlook for lode
tin mining in the York district is
rather hopeful.
Platinum and related metals are be
ing mined in Alaska. During the war
Alaska produced antimony, chromite
and tungsten. The know reserves of
these metals are considerable. Quick
silver mining has been carried on in a
small way for many years in the Kus
Eokwim region and will no doubt con
tinue. Molybdenite and bismuth ores
are rather widely distributed in Alas
ka, and nickel ores have been found
in the Territory.
There is considerable graphite in Sew
in Southeastern Alaska, and marble
quarrying is increasing. Gypsum has
long been mined in the Sitka district.
Sulphur deposits occur in the Aleutian
islands and are now being developed.
There is considerable graphitein Sew
ard peninsula and some of this min
FISHERIES
The total value of the Alaska fish
ery products up to the close of 1919
is $418,042,000. Measured from the
standpoint of value of annual product
and men employed the fishing indus
try is the most important of the ter
ritory. It was especially prosperous
during the war, the value of its total
output increasing from $15,739,068 in
1*^13 to $59,144,859 in 1918. The num
ber of employees rose from 24,263 in
1913 to 31,213 in 1918. Much the
larger part of this output is canned
salmon, the value of the cannery out
put in 1913 being $13,531,604 and $51,
041,949 in 1918. Of the total employes
in the fishing industry 16,513 were
employed in the salmon canneries in
1913 and 26,502 in 1918. The canner
ies are operated for only a few months
in the year and much the larger part
of the labor is imported. The total
investment in the Alaska salmon
canning industry increased from $31,
341,670 in 1913 (79 canneries) to $63,
901,397 in 1918 (135 canneries).
Though the size and value of the
Alaska salmon catch overshadows all
the rest of the fishing industry, yet
notable increases were made during
the years 1913 to 1918 in the halibut,
cc^, and other Alaska fisheries.
The Alaska salmon catch has pro
bably reached its maximum and any
effort to a more intensive develop
ment of these fisheries would lead to
their rapid depletion. Given proper
safeguards against overfishing, the
salmon fishing industry of Alaska can
bp mn.do in vipIU *1 lovers n n rl r»r»nf ir»_
uous annual return.
Without drastic protection the
Alaska halibut fisheries and of the
adjacent seas will soon be depleted.
As many of the halibut banks lie
without the three-league limit, their
protection is only possible by inter
national agreement. The herring and
the cod fisheries of Alaska are enor
mous, and the present annual yield
is but a fraction of the fish that could
be produced. There are many other
varieties of fish in Alaska waters
which will eventually be developed as
part of the commercial fisheries.
FARMING AND STOCK RAISING
Alaska contains extensive areas of
farm lands suitable for raising the
hardier grains, including wheat, pota
toes, forage crops, and many varieties
of vegetables. Tests have shown that
sugar beets can be matured in the
Tanana and Susitna valleys, and that
these contain a high percentage of
sugar. The most promising agricul
tural fields are in the Tanana and in
the Susitna valley, both tributary to
the government railroad. Extensive
areas of agricultural land are also
found in other parts of the Yukon
basin, and in lesser amounts in some
of the Pacific coastal region.
The best developed farming region
is that tributary to Fairbanks. In
this region there are 102 homesteads,
with about 2.000 acres of land under
cultivation, and with an agricultural
population of about 250. These farms
produced in 1919 60 tons of wheat, 49
tono of oats, 10 tons of barley, 500
,ons of hay, 325 tons of potatoes, 60
tons of vegetables, and 150 hogs. The
success during the last five years in
the raising of wheat has so en
couraged the farmers and local busi
ness men that they are now building
a small flour mill at Fairbanks. There
is a little dairying at Fairbanks, and
in other parts of the territory, but the
raising of cattle has not yet been
greatly developed in connection with
the other farming.
There are good grazing lands in the
interior, but the period of winter feed
ing is about 8 months. In the coast
al region of southwestern Alaska the
season of pasture is much longer.
Cattle were introduced on Kodiak and
other islands by the Russians and
have been raised ever since. It is
probable that there are cattle ranges
in southwestern Alaska where beef
and mutton could be raised for ex
nnrf
TIMBER RESOURCES
The best timber in Alaska, chiefly
composed of Sitka spruce and hem
lock, is in the Tongass national for
est in southeastern Alaska and in the
Chugach national forest in the Prince
William sound region. These two
I forests embrace 20,000,000 acres, ap
proximately five per cent of the total
arear of Alaska. Between these two
forests lie about two million acres of
timber of similar character. In the
interior there is approximately be
tween fifty and seventy-five million
acres of spruce, birch, and cotton
wood. This is chiefly valuable for
local use.
The national forests are estimated
by the forest service to include 77,
000,000,000 feet (BM) of timber suit
able for lumber and pulp. . The an
nua] production of timber is relatively
small, but the proportion of timber
cut from the national forests, as com
pared with the lumber imported, is
steadily increasing. In 1906 the lum
ber shipped into Alaska composed 86
per cent, as compared with 14 per
cent cut from national forests. In
1919 the proportion was exactly re
versed, 86 per cent being produced
locally and 14 per cent imported,
chiefly Douglas fir for heavy con
struction purposes- Alaska Sitka
spruce is now being exported as far
as the Atlantic coast for specialized
use, and the birch will also in all
probability find an export market.
REINDEER
Between 1892 and 1902 the govern
ment imported 1280 reindeer into
Alaska for the use of the Alaska na
tives. The natural increase from the
original stock has resulted in a *herd
numbering 200,000 besides which about
100.000 have been killed for food and
skins. Of these about 69 per cent be
longs to the natives, 5 per cent to the
missions, 23 per cent to Laplanders
and other whites, and 3 per cent are
still in government ownership.
There is a company at Nome which
engages in reindeer raising for the
market. Their herd now includes
20.000 animals, and they have three
cold storage plants in operation and
twro more under construction. Ship
ments of reindeer meat are limited
to cold storage capacity of steamers
running to Nome, and were 99,000
pounds in 1918, and 37,000 pounds in
1919.
There are extensive reindeer pas
tures in inland Alaska, and on the
shores of Bering sea and the Arctic
ocean. It is estimated that these pas
tures should support a total of 9,000,
000 to 10,000,000 animals. The rein
deer range tributary to Broad Pass,
and hence to the Alaska Railroad,
should be capable of supporting some
600.000 animals. This, if utilized, will
give tonnage to the railroad and
would furnish a new source of meat
and leather from a region which has
no value for other purposes.
FURS
Since 1867 Alaska has produced
furs to the value of about $90,400,000,
of which about $53,000,000 represents
the value of the sealskins. The val
ue of the Alaska furs has increased
from $761,729 in 1913 to $2,288,170 in
1918. Of these amounts $66,095 in
1913 and $924,570 in 1918 represent
the value of the fur seals killed by
thp government on the Pribilof
islands.
The raising of foxes and other fur
bearing animals is on the increase
in Alaska, and promises to become
a more important industry. The evi
dence in hand indicates that Alaska
will continue to yield a valuable an
nual fur product. The fur seals prom
ise to be a large source of annual rev
enue to the government
Findings and Recom
mendations
WATER TRANSPORTATION
Alaska is served by three ocean
transportation systems; the Alaska
Steamship Company and Pacific
Steamship Company being American
lines, and the Canadian Pacifc being
a Canadian company. The Alaska
Steamship Company serves all main
sections of the territory, the Pacific
Steamship Company all sections ex
cept the Bering sea or Nome route,
and the Canadian Pacific Company
only Southeastern Alaska or inside
passage ports.
The freight and passenger rates of
the American companies show a gen
eral increase since 1914. Whether
these rate increases have been justi
fied was not inquired into by the com
mittee, as such inquiry, necessitating
an expert examination of the com
pany’s operating expenses and proper
ty valuations, could not be undertak
en in the brief time allowed for the
committee’s investigations. The com
mittee therefore attempted only to
^ tllV^ JL VX X XLUX J V/UU1U
develop under existing rates.
It was the opinion of practically
every person appearing before the
committee that money could not be at
tracted to Alaska, industries depep
dent upon transportation by regular
lines started, or general development
go forward freely under existing
rates, and this was the conclusion
reached by the committee. Having
reached this conclusion, the commit
tee sought to determine the elements
in the transportation situation, con
trolling efficiency and cost of service,
to ascertain whether an equal or bet
ter service might be secured at a low
er cost, and if so, whether freight
rates might not be reduced accord
ingly.
The following were the outstanding
transportation elements thus devel
oped:
1. No material benefits now ac
crue from maintaining two American
lines. There is no competition.
2. The Alaska freight and passen
ger traffic load has two high peaks,
spring and fall, requiring an excess
equipment to insure sufficient elasti
city to meet them.
3. The total freight carried year
ly by the American lines is approx
imately half the total cargo space, re
vealing the extent of the economic
loss occasioned by the traffic peaks.
4. The service is at times very ir
regular, due to the nature of the traf
fic handled and lack of co-ordination
of sailings between the two compan
ies.
5. Regular, and the best possible
service to all districts of Alaska, can
not be given by existing companies
under their present methods and
burdens of operation.
6. The postoffice department is not
functioning, and cannot function to
meet the needs of Alaska under the
existing organization of transportation
facilities.
7. The combined control of land
and water transportation facilities
precludes the most efficient super
vision and regulation of either, and
the further alliance with mining and
smelting interests produces a psy
chological situation injurious to Alas
kan development and consequently to
traffic expansion.
8. Canadian competition to south
eastern Alaska is a serious factor in
the development of an adequate Amer
ican service. Southeastern Alaska
traffic should help support the entire
Alaska transportation system. The
portion of that traffic going to the
Canadian lines cripples to that ex
tent a comprehensive transportation
scheme for the entire Territory.
The committee is unanimous in the
conclusion that the two independent
steamship lines, as at present organiz
ed, cannot solve the transportation
problem of Alaska. It therefore
recommends:
1. That an effort be made to con
solidate, under proper safeguards,
existing American lines into, or sub
stitute therefor, one purely ocean
transportation company, as the quick
est and surest method to reduce
existing ocean freight rates and to
meet other transportation necessities.
2. That the shipping board be re
quested to at once begin an inquiry
into all elements entering into the
reasonableness of present ocean
freight rates, to the end that the com
mittee's first recommendation failing,
some measure of relief may, if pos
sible, be secured by an equitable re
duction in rates.
3. That in case it should develop
lhat the shipping bill recently passed
does not adequately protect American
coastwise lines from Canadian com
petitors, such protection be secured
by further legislation.
4. That the postoffice department
be requested to assist in every man
ner permitted by existing law or by
additional legislation, in providing
an adequate transportation service
for Alaska, which shall permit of the
reasonable development of that ter
ritory.
5- That, if one line be substituted
for the two existing American lines,
the vessel routes and sailings be en
tirely rearranged by and with the
co-operation of the shipping board and
postoffice department, to the end that
all sections of Alaska may receive
reasonable transportation and mail
service.
6. That in case a substitution of
one line for two existing American
lines be established, the shipping
board allocate vessels for limited
periods to the residual line to enable
it to meet the peak traffic loads and
to preclude the maintenance through
out the year cf an excess tonnage.
7. That in case the substitution of
all rates and rate increases shall at
all times be maintained by the United
States shipping board, that all bene
fits from such consolidation shall at
all times be secured to the people
of Alaska through reduced freight .
rates and the maintenance of reason
able service.
8. That, pending the establishment
an improved service, the cannery
and other private fishing vessels oper
ating to ports off the main routes of
travel be authorized and encouraged
to carry passengers and freight for
the public to such ports not regular
ly served by common carrier; also
that upon the establishment of a com
mon carrier service to any port the
authority of the cannery vessels to
carry passengers or freight other
than their own to such ports shall be
terminated.
9. That any action looking to a
readjustment of the interior water
ways service (Yukon river, etc.) be
postponed until the completion of the
government railroad to Nenana, when
a revision of such services will be
imperative. Transportation charges
on the Yukon and Tanana rivers are
high and the service on the lower
Yukon inadequate, but no temporary
measures of relief present themselves.
(Concluding portion of this report will
be published in Monday’s issue).
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and Straw Hats that will
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fit your personality.
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worth every man’s while.
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