The Possibilities of Alaska 



85 



is developed, it will engage the labors of 

 hundreds of thousands of people, who 

 must be fed in large measure from the 

 farms. Alaska has a coast line of 26,000 

 miles, practically all of which affords 

 splendid fishing ground. The salmon 

 is as yet the only fish which has at- 

 tracted attention. There are thousands 

 of square miles of cod banks, the enor- 

 mous halibut grounds have not been 

 touched, and the myriad shoals of her- 

 ring go by unheeded. An oil and guano 

 factory has been established for some 

 years at Killisnoo, a little village some 

 distance from Sitka, in which the her- 

 ring is utilized. There is room for fifty 

 such enterprises. The guano sells 

 readily for $30 per ton. 



WHY ALASKA IS NOT SETTLED 



With such facts as to resources, why 

 is Alaska not settled ? Simply be- 

 cause settlers cannot get title to land. 

 There is much inquiry for land, but 

 when the would-be settler learns the 

 status of affairs he changes his plans. 

 To get title, the settler must -first 

 buy soldiers' additional homestead 

 script, which can be located on 1111- 

 surveyed lands. This will cost him 

 anywhere from $5 to $15 an acre. 

 Then he must deposit in the surveyor 

 general's office an amount which will 

 cover the cost of the survey. United 

 States deputy surveyors charge $15 to 

 S20 a day and traveling expenses in 

 Alaska. He must also pay for the office 

 work, entries, etc. The result of all 

 this is that a piece of raw land in Alaska 

 will cost him as much as a good, im- 



proved farm in almost any state. Such 

 conditions are prohibitive, and Alaska 

 will not be settled as long as they pre- 

 vail. Again, a homestead of eighty 

 acres, which the law allows, is not large 

 enough. Stock-raising must, of neces- 

 sity, become a leading branch in Alaska 

 farming, and eighty-acre stock farms 

 will scarcely be much in demand. Three 

 hundred and twenty acres would be 

 more iir harmony with conditions which 

 require considerable pasture land to 

 make farming a success. Would it not 

 be a wise policy to make the land ab- 

 solutely free to bona fide settlers ? The 

 great expense necessary to reach the 

 territory with work animals, imple- 

 ments, and all that is required for a 

 start, and the hardships incident to 

 pioneer life in a rigorous climate, far 

 from civilization, entitle the pioneer to 

 special consideration. The develop- 

 ment of the territory depends upon his 

 work. He must blaze the way and 

 bear the brunt of the battle. His cour- 

 age, endurance, and self-sacrifice con- 

 stitute the very foundations on which 

 the state must be reared. The exploita- 

 tion of the territory's resources by 

 wealthy corporations will not enrich 

 or build the state. It is the pioneer, 

 the settler, the home-maker, who, with 

 ax and grubbing-hoe, subdues the wil- 

 derness and forces unwilling nature to 

 yield him a livelihood ; who nurtures a 

 family ; who rears the school-house 

 and church. It is he who is the state 

 builder, and every practicable means 

 employed to aid him in the onerous task 

 will further the development of the ter- 

 ritory. 



