646 



CONSERVATION 



acre of forest lands which were withdrawn 

 under Roosevelt and Garfield? To say that 

 every man should be permitted to grab and 

 hold what he can of our natural resources 

 is equivalent to saying one has no objections 

 to so arranging matters that future Amer- 

 icans shall be composed of a few very rich 

 and millions of very poor people. Such a 

 doctrine is neither decent nor patriotic." — 

 Springfield (Mass.) News. 



)^ ^ ^ 



On the "Dynamic Geographer" 



Truth is in receipt of a copy of a recent 

 publication entitled "Theodore Roosevelt, 

 Dynamic Geographer." It is probably one of 

 the most comprehensive reviews of what the 

 President accomplished or attempted to ac- 

 complish that has been issued. It is an elab- 

 oration of a lecture delivered at Oxford 

 University by Frank B. Vrooman. It tells 

 of the check on the corporations which were 

 threatening to get the upper hand in the 

 very Government itself, and how the Presi- 

 dent attempted to steer the people between 

 the shoals of this evil and socialism. It also 

 reviews the forest and waterways problems 

 and details the immense benefit which will 

 accrue to future generations as a result of 

 the laws set in motion by the Executive. It 

 will pay the critics as well as the admirers 

 of the strenuous statesman to read this 

 pamphlet. It will be a revelation to many 

 persons who are asking what the President 

 accomplished while in the White House. 



^« )ii ^ 



Alaska as a Prize 



From a special dispatch to the New York 

 Post of September 2, the following is con- 

 densed: 



Now that Secretary Ballinger has started 

 out to open up all kinds of public land, and 

 since the application of his principles seems 

 to mean the breaking down of the Pinchot 

 conservation barricade, a controversy has 

 broken out in the Taft administration with 

 the Roosevelt men in it. 



Congress will find it necessary thoroughly 

 to investigate the Alaskan situation. One 

 of the most powerful lobbies operating in 

 Washington during Congressional sessions 

 represents opposing interests in Alaska. 

 Alaska is worth exploiting, and a battle royal 

 is being waged for control. A dozen rail- 

 roads have been projected into the territory, 

 each one of which has had to fight for its leg- 

 islative existence in Congress against the 

 underground as well as aboveboard opposi- 

 tion of "the other crowd." There has been 

 all sorts of trouble over river navigation. 

 The existence of valuable copper properties 

 has been affirmed and denied on expert testi- 

 mony. The last ruction over Alaskan re- 

 sources is just now in process of exploita- 

 tion in the Ballinger-Pinchot controversy, 

 and the basis of it is coal. The actual situa- 

 tion seems to be that the Guggenheim - 



Standard Oil interests have fairly well cor- 

 ralled the transportation facilities of the new 

 territory; garnered in the best copper claims, 

 than which there are none better in the 

 world, and are now reaching out for the coal. 



Two years ago the railroad situation was 

 explained in the Post. Within a week a 

 powerful railroad lobby appeared in Wash- 

 ington composed of men from as far east 

 as Boston and as far west as Seattle, and 

 remained all winter, at great expense. It 

 was here last winter and is coming again 

 next winter. 



Two years ago the Guggenheim interests 

 had secured a practical control of the great 

 copper belt, the best of which was the Bo- 

 nanza mines, on the Copper River. Their 

 experts in the field described these holdings 

 to men they met in the wilderness as the 

 greatest copper fields they had ever laid their 

 eyes upon. In Washington they admitted 

 the existence of copper in paying quantities. 

 The Guggenheims were then after the con- 

 trol of the transportation facilities of the 

 great territory. Through various allies, in- 

 cluding Close Brothers, of London, they al- 

 ready controlled the river transportation from 

 Dyea and Skagway, via the White Pass Rail- 

 road, to Eagle City, the American gateway 

 to the Klondike, and then on down the 

 Yukon to St. Michaels and Nome. Through 

 another ally, headed by John Rosene, of 

 Seattle, the same combination was rapidly 

 getting control of the through-sea route from 

 Nome to Puget Sound. 



Fierce' conflicts, sometimes bloody, oc- 

 curred between these rival railroad interests. 

 The Guggenheims were believed in Washing- 

 ton to be trying to prevent railroad building 

 until they had secured everything worth 

 hauling out of Alaska. Of these facts the 

 American people were practically ignorant. 



Alaska now has cable connection with 

 Seattle, a delegate in Congress, and a new 

 governor. The greatest impetus for the ter- 

 ritory, however, was the appointment of 

 Richard A. Ballinger, of Seattle, to be Sec- 

 retary of the Interior. The territory is not 

 only one of that department's wards, but the 

 city of Seattle looks upon Alaska as one of 

 its own children, having been the port of 

 exit during the great Klondike rush, and it 

 is, therefore, up to Mr. Ballinger to exploit 

 Alaska, the word "exploit" being used in 

 its best sense. 



The most pressing question in Alaska is 

 the opening of its coal deposits. On these all 

 the Alaskan railroads are dependent for a 

 goodly portion of their freight tonnage. The 

 Pacific coast wants Alaskan coal, and the 

 Navy Department would like a coaling sta- 

 tion on the Alaskan coast. 



The Cunningham claims have been on file 

 in the Land Office for several years. They 

 were filed before Congress passed the coal 

 land law two year ago linu'ting the consoli- 

 dation of coal lands under one company to 

 2,560 acres. As a matter of fact, the Alas- 

 kans thought they could just about double 

 this amount under the law, but when thev 



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