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The National Geographic Magazine 



years in this region. The Kechum- 

 stuk Indians have given a new name 

 to cattle. They call them ' ' McKinley 

 moose," and Americans were known 

 to them as "McKinley men." The 

 chief of the village had secured an 

 American flag, which he hoisted on a 

 tall pole whenever he learned that white 

 men were in his territory. There is 

 some hope for the civilization of a tribe 

 which cherishes such sentiments. Mr. 

 Jones' description of the country is 

 highly interesting. It forms part of 

 my report now before Congress. 



WHAT IT MEANS 



The development of agriculture in 

 Alaska means the settlement and devel- 

 opment of the territory. It means the 

 making of homes, a permanent popula- 

 tion, the rapid development of the min- 

 eral resources, the creation of wealth, 

 the building of a state. If, on the other 

 hand, no foodstuffs can be produced in 

 Alaska, a large population is impossible, 

 and it could never become a state. We 

 cannot imagine the possibility of sus- 

 taining even one hundred thousand 

 people there if all that they required to 

 support life must be brought from the 

 states, a thousand miles distant, and 

 carried hundreds of miles more from 

 the ports of entry to the mining camps 

 and villages in the interior. Under 

 such conditions development of the nat- 

 ural resources must languish. Agri- 

 culture is the backbone of prosperity. 

 An adequate food supply is the first 

 essential to the growth of population, 

 to prosperity, to greatness, and if this 

 factor were lacking in Alaska, it would 

 be doomed to remain a scantilj' popu- 

 lated territory. States with little or no 

 agriculture make no growth. Look at 

 Nevada, for instance. But it is fortu- 

 nate for Alaska, and therefore for the. 

 whole country, for the growth of any 

 section benefits the whole, that she has 

 agricultural possibilities to an extent 



which will make the fullest devel- 

 opment of her resources practicable. 

 Alaska can furnish homesteads of 320 

 acres each to 200,000 families. She 

 has abundant resources to support a 

 population of at least three million 

 people. Such a population would mean 

 a volume of trade which would yield an 

 immense and permanent income to the 

 coast states. There are people who 

 fear that the development of agriculture 

 would prejudice the mining interests. 

 Nothing could be further from the 

 truth. On the contrary, it would be of 

 the greatest possible help to the mining 

 industry. It would reduce the cost of 

 living, make labor more plentiful, and 

 therefore cheaper, and give rise to bet- 

 ter transportation facilities. It would 

 then become possible to work the low- 

 grade mines with profit, and to mate- 

 rially increase the profits of the good 

 mines. 



THE EXAMPLE OF FINLAND 



The foregoing statements are borne 

 out by the example of Finland. This 

 little country lies wholly north of the 

 60th parallel. Alaska reaches six de- 

 grees south of this latitude. Finland 

 is less than one-fourth the size of Alaska, 

 and its agricultural area is less than 50, 

 000 square miles; yet in 189S Finland 

 had a population of over 2,600,000 

 souls. Agriculture is the chief indus- 

 try. Only about 300,000 people are 

 city dwellers. They export large quan- 

 tities of dairy products, live stock, flax, 

 hemp, and considerable grain, and the 

 population has increased some 825,000 

 in the last twenty-eight 3'ears, and this 

 in spite of a very considerable emigra- 

 tion. The conditions in Alaska from 

 an agricultural standpoint are more fav- 

 orable than those of Finland. We have 

 a larger agricultural area, somewhat 

 warmer summers, and the mines will 

 yield the best possible home market. 

 When the fishing industr}^ of Alaska 



