WORK PORTRAYS
EVILS OF LOCAL
BUREAU CONTROL
SECRETARY OF INTERIOR FINDS
# PRESENT MODE OF THE
GOVERNMENT COSTLY
TEXT OF STATEMENT
Says Too Much Division—Activities
Should Be Covered By One
Department.
A brief and partial summary of
Federal bureau activities in Alaska
is set forth by Secretary Hubert
Work in a pamphlet just made pub
lic entitled "A 1925 Review of the
Department of Interior,” states the
Juneau Empire of November 2, is
sue. The Secretary reaches the con
clusion that ‘‘The Government’s ac
* tivities in Alaska should be covered
into one department and under one
Secretary of the President’s Cabi
net.”
4 The same document also includes
a survey of the history of the
Alaska Railroad. Heavy mainten
ance expenses, it was said, are the
main factor in the annual deficit of
the road. These are the result of
temporary structures on which con
siderable annual work is required to
keep the road in operation. To cor
, rect this, the Secretary said “a six
year program covering expenditures
of approximately $11,S7S,000 has
been proposed. This program in
cludes, reconstruction of the roadbed
in many places, substituting steel
bridges for wooden trestles, con
struction of a tunnel, and other
replacements necessary to put the
physical condition of the Alaska
Railroad on a basis so that its
yearly maintenance of way costs
■will be reduced to a minimum.”
Text of Statement.
Under the heading “Alaska Jur
isdiction,” the Secretary said:
“Alaska was purchased from the
Russian Empire in 1867 for the
* comparatively insignificant sum of
The amount was paid
$7,200,000.
in gold.
“This vast region, one-fifth as
large as the entire surface of con
tinental United States, has been ad
ministered as a Territory ever since
it came into this country’s possession.
“Expenditures for Federal ad
ministration in Alaska amounted to
$10,467,064 last year and was di
vided between nine of the 10 execu
tive departments, with 25 bureaus
participating. Based on the entire
population of Alaska, it costs $190
per capita to govern Alaska. There
are approximately 3,300 Government
employees. Thus more then one
tenth of Alaska’s white population
at present is in the Government em
ploy in some capacity or other. The
functions performed number 135
and consist of every conceivable
phase of Government supervision and
jurisdiction.
Interior Department.
“The Department of the Interior
has supervision over its Territorial
Government, including the Gover
nor, its public lands, its mining
claims, townsites, manufacturing
sites, hot springs and cemeteries
on public lands, Indian allotments,
wharf sites, homesteads, coal leases,
oil leases, the Alaska Railroad, na
tional parks and monuments, schools
for natives including education in
the protection of their health, the
propagation of reindeer, the topo
graphic and geographic survey of its
lands, the suppression of traffic in
intoxicating liquors, and the protec
tion of its game.
“The Department of Agriculture
exercises supervision over its na
tional forests, fur-bearing animal
life, weather bureau, public roads,
migratory birds, and agricultural
development through the operation
of five experimental stations. The
Department of Commerce functions
through the Bureau of Fisheries In
the protection of its fish industry;
and the Coast and Geodetic Survey
enforces its maritime laws and the
Bureau of Lighthouses maintains
lighthouse service and other aids to
navigation.
‘The War Department operates
the cable and telegraphic lines in
Alaska, maintains army posts and
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military reserves, and, through its
engineering corps, provides for the
improvements of its rivers and har
bors, and other navigable streams,
as well as the construction of
trails and roads through the Alaska
Road Commission. The Navy De
partment has control of the radio
stations of Alaska, of which there
is one at every important town;
operates a naval patrol along its
coasts; mines coal from it naval
coal reserves; and has an immense
naval oil reserve over which it ex
ercises jurisdiction.
“The Treasury Department has
I likewise a heterogenous variety of
functions to perform in Alaska, in
cluding the collection of customs,
the guarding of the coasts from
smuggling through the Revenue Cut
ter Service and its Coast Guard
Patrol, the collection of Federal
taxes, the construction and custody
of public buildings, the supervision
of national banks, the registry of
ships, the maintenance of quaran
tine stations and hospitals, and the
protection of public health.
“The Department of Justice main
tains courts in four judicial dis
tricts, with marshals to arrest vio
lators of the Federal and criminal
laws and to bring them into courts
for trials, its legal machinery in
cluding the custody of jails and
courthouses in the Territory. The
Department of Labor has charge of
immigration in Alaska. The Post
Office Department operates the mail
service, postal routes, the post of
fices. The Federal Water Power
Commission functions upon all wat
er-power rights in Alaska.
"It is apparent that such a com
; plexity of Government activities
contributes to ineffective adminis
tration and extravagance in expen
ditures. A multiplication of Gov
ernment bureaus responsible to sep
arate departments also contributes
to overlapping of functions. A com
plete co-ordination of allied func
tions would avoid lost motion and
confusion and save an immense sum
of the taxpayers’ money.
“The Government’s activities in
Alaska should be covered into one
Department and under one Secretary
of the President’s Cabinet.
LOGGING IN CHUGACH NATIONAL FOREST
The district surrounding Resurrec
tion Bay is said to have enough hem
lock and spruce timber to run a pulp
mill for 100 years.
The Forest Service has increased
the yield of merchantable timber to
a considerable extent in this district
by prevention of forest fires.
It n'rrniiriiiiin'Tnru'rmiiiniFi'nTTiiriii'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiriiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniimTT
Forest fires are wasteful and cause
the loss of millions of dollars worth
of fine timber annually.
A glance at some of the pictures
furnished the Gateway by the Forest
Service will show our readers the
wonderful resources in timber in the
Chugach forest reserve.
rTTTTTTTl mil HTTTTTTTTn 1 nTrrr
The Pathfinder of Alaska
A
The Only Magazine Published in Alaska for Alaskans
•. ; -J
JOHN E. MEALS
Editor and Publisher of The Pathfinder
A Resident and Pioneer of Alaska for Over Twenty Years
....
A 11011-political, non-sectarian magazine published to bring the truth about the
tremendous and varied resources of the Territory before the world. Mining,
Fishing, Agriculture, Timber, Minerals, and Manufacturing described briefly and
truthfully by men who know their Alaska. The Pathfinder has worked vigorously
tor six years to combat the false theories prevailing about Alaska, and is a well
edited, illustrated magazine with news of every camp as well as columns of facts by
special writers. If you are interested in this great Northern Empire a subscription
to The Pathfinder will keep you posted on conditions, as will no other source of
information. Reliable, accurate, interesting information on the “Last Frontier.”
A breath of Alaska brought
monthly to your fireside
The Pathfinder recently completed its sixth year of continuous monthly pub
lication. It is the official organ of the Pioneers of Alaska, and is devoted entirely
to Alaskan material.
6 ‘ There is too much hokum peddled about Alaska by writers who do not know
the Territory,” declares Joh^" E. Meals, editor and publisher of the magazine.
‘ ‘ We know that the real Alaska is a veritable mine of fiction material, but we be
lieve its charms should be described by Alaskans who have the true Alaska atmos
phere, instead of the revamped tales of the Canadian woods which purport to be
of Alaska.”
The Pathfinder has recently inaugurated an Alaskan Story
contest and is offering valuable prizes for stories by Alaskan
authors. Write to The Pathfinder, Anchorage, Alaska.
Subscriptions, $3.00 the year in advance
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ALASKA
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