Bismarck daily tribune. [volume], September 14, 1910, Image 6

About Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916

Image provided by: State Historical Society of North Dakota

                
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tXPONENTSOF
STATES'RIGHTS
ARE DEFEATED
Conservation Congress Adopts
Resolutions Declaring for
Federal Control.
MANY NOTABLES ADDRESS
BIG ST. PAUL GATHERING
Excerpts From Speeches of
Some of the Prominent
Men in Attendance.
The second National Conservation
congress at St. Paul was one of the
most notable gatherings ever held In
the United States. It was attended
by the president of the United States,
a former president, a score of state
executives and many other distin
guished persons in various walks of
life. While there was difference of
opinion expressed by the speakers on
the methods of applying the conser
vation idea the main issue at the St.
Paul convention was the question of
federal or state control of our natural
resources. This question caused a
turmoil during the final hours, al
though it had been apparent for sev
eral days previous that the exponents
of federal control were in the major
ity.
The resolutions, as finally adopted,
advocate federal control of natural re
sources and follow closely the ideas
of Roosevelt and Pinchot, although
partial adhesion is given to the co
operative control of navigable waters
between the states and the nation.
The reclamation service is endorsed
and the repeal of the stone and timber
act is advocated. The Appalachian
forest reserve is favored, reforestation
Is pressed upon state and nation and
the early opening of Alaska coal fields
under a system of leasing is favored.
Many notable persons addressed the
congress and brief excerpts from some
of the addresses follow.
TAFT SEEKS HARMONY IN
CONSERVATION WORK.
President Taft, in his address at the
Conservation congress, referring to the
danger to the state and people at
large from the waste of national
wealth and the need of some one to
provide a remedy, gave due credit to
Theodore Roosevelt, who, he said,
took up the task during the last two
years of his administration.
The president said he inherited the
conservation policy, that he rejoices
In the heritage, and that he will do all
he can for the cause, not as president
of a party, but as president of the
whole people.
President Taft discussed five differ
ent subjects—agricultural lands, min
eral lands, forest lands, coal lands, oil
and gae lands, phosphate lands. Fin
ishing with these, the subject of water
power sites was referred to and the
president outlined tile arguments for
and against their control by the states
er the federal government. He re
served his own opinion, however, and
•aid he would submit the whole mat
ter to congress.
4- -H.
The president deplores the
i» tendency to use conservation 4*
as a subject for rousing the 4
emotions and advises that 4
when men come forward to 4»
suggest evils that the promo- 4
tion of conservation is to rem- 4*
edy that they be invited to 4»
point out the specific evils and 4*
4* the specific remedies. 4-
4-4*4*4-4»4'4'4'4'4' 4»4'+4'4
He said that when the people know
exactly what is needed they can then
make their representatives in con
gress and the state legislatures do
their intelligent bidding.
Referring to the Cunningham claims
he avoided giving any opinion, but
called attention to the fact that no pri
vate claims for Alaskan coal lands
nave yet been allowed or perfected,
and that whatever the result as to
•ending claims, the existing coal land
laws of Alaska are most unsatisfac
tory and that they should be radically
amended.
On this subject the president says
the United States government has
much to answer for in not giving
proper attention to the government of
Alaska' and the development of its re
sources for the benefit of all the peo
ple of the country.
The president placed considerable
emphasis upon the .need for the avoid
ance of acrimony, Imputations of bad
faith, and political controversy, in a
fathering of this kind. Conservation,
be said, is not a question of politics,
«v of factions, or of persons, but a
•natter that affects the vital welfare
if everybody.
HOOSIVELT WARNS AGAINST
THE SPECIAL INTERESTS.
Vonter President Roosevelt spoke
-National smdoaey." Ha declared
ttmmM In favor of a rational sad prao
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mm
i}^iASsi:,.iAl££Jli-i' i-.-:
PRESIDENT TAFT.
Who Pleaded for Nonpartisan
Consideration of Conservation.
\CO0YMiaHT.
tical conservation programme which
should give those who are living today
the benefit of our natural resources
as well as those of later generations
He warned the people against the in
sidious activities of agents of the spe
cial interests, who, as victory draws
nearer, are redoubling their efforts to
defeat the conservation movement. He
added that it would be no small mis
fortune if a meeting such as this
should ever fall into the hands of the
open enemy or false friends of the
great movement which it represents.
Mr. Roosevelt strongly urged federal
oontrol of water power sites and
pointed out that most of the "preda
tory corporations" are Interstate and
therefore out of reach of effective
state control. One of the prime ob
jects of these corporations that are
grasping and greedy, he said, ti to
avoid any effective control, either by
state or nation, and they advocate at
this time state control simply because
they believe it to be the least effec
tive.
He declared that unless the govern
ments of all the American republics,
including our own, enact in time such
laws as will both protect their nat
ural wealth and promote their legitl
mate and reasonable development, fu
ture generations will owe their mis
fortunes to us of today.
*4'4-4'4-4'4'4'4'4' 4- 4'*4'
4-
He further declared that we
4* have passed the time when 4
4* heedless waste and destruction 4
and arrogant monopoly are 4
4* any longer permissible. Hence- 4*
4* forth we must seek national ef
4* ciency by a new and better 4»
4» way, by the way of the orderly 4
4- development and use of our 4*
4* natural resources. 4
4.
4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4. 4,4. 4. 4.4.4.4.4.4.
Mr. Roosevelt urged the establish
ment of a federal board of health and
in this connection said that the need
less loss to our people from premature
death and avoidable diseases each
year has been calculated at nearly
twice what it costs to run the fed
eral government
Mr. Roosevelt said that the rail
ways should be prohibited from own
ing or carrying any interest in the
boat Hnes on our rivers unless under
the strictest regulation and control of
the Interstate commerce commission.
In conclusion, the former president
said that the supreme political task
of our day, the indispensable condition
of national efficiency and national wel
fare, Is to drive the special Interests
out of our public life.
EBERHART'S VIEWS
ON CONSERVATION.
Speaking on the "Economic Value
of Conservation," Governor Eberhart
of Minnesota said:
"Conservation of natural resources
does not consist merely In the preser
vation of these resources for the ben
efit of future generations, but rather
such present use thereof as will result
in the greatest general good and yet
maintain that productive power which
Insures continued future enjoyment.
"It follows necessarily that any the
ory of conservation which does not
provide for the present as well as the
future does not cover the entire field
and cannot possibly bring the best re
sults. Prom every economic stand
point it is desirable that the present
generation should be preferred, since
future discoveries and inventions may
render present resources of less value
and importance to the coming genera
tions.
4.4.4.4.4.4. 4.4. 4.4.4. 4. 4.4. 4.4.4.
4. 4.
4* "In Its broadest sense the 4*
4* conservation movement Is not 4
limited merely to the consid- 4*
4 eration of natural resources. 4
4* Every great convention called 4*
4* to consider the problems In- 4
4* volved has widened the scope 4*
of the movement, so that to- 4
4- day it includes the elimination 4*
4* of wasteful methods in almost 4
4* every field of human activity. 4-
4'4»4«4'4«4-4' 4' 4« 4«4'4'4'
"My own state of Minnesota, like
all other states, during the past fifty
years has been rather mining the fer
tility out of her soil than cultivating
It There is perhaps not a single rep
•eaantatlTQ In this distinguished as-
semblage who cannot recall the day
when the virgin soil in his locality
did not produce from 50 to 100 per
cent larger crops than It does today,
when dense forests covered large
tracts now a barren waste and when
the bosom of the earth contained un
told millions of mineral wealth now
represented on the surface by huge
spoil hanks and sunken surfaces. We
remember only too well when our fer
tile fields yielded thirty-five to forty
bushels of wheat to the acre and that
the same fields produced only about
twelve bushels five years ago.
"During the past short period of five
years the average cereal yield of this
state has been increased more than
five bushels per acre, the corn belt
nas been extended northward more
than 300 miles to the Canadian
boundary by the production of hardy
and early maturing varieties of corn,
yielding the state last year over 60,
000,000 bushels, and placing Minneso
ta among the dozen leading corn
states of the Union. It is estimated
that plant breeding and seed selection
alone last year added about $1."J,000,
000 to our agricultural products. The
cereal production has also affected
clover, timothy and other tame
grasses, thus largely contributing to
the growth of the dairy industry,
which has been increasr-d ten-fold in
twenty years, until it now yields the
state $50,000,000 annually. Similar
progress has been made in livestock,
fruit and truck gardening industries
MANY OPPORTUNITIES
FOR ADVANCEMENT.
"But let us consider the opportuni
ties for advancement that are still
open. The average yield of Minneso
ta wheat last season was seventeen
bushels per acre. At the agricultural
experiment stations the same wheat
yielded twenty-eight bushels per acre,
a difference in favor of intelligent
farming approximating from (5 to $8
an acre.
4.4,4,4,4.4.4.4.4.4. 4. 4.4.4.4.4.4.
"Assuming for the sake of 4
argument that the average 4
4- difference in the state would 4»
4- not be more than $4 per acre 4*
4* it would still increase the ag- 4*
4- rlcultural net earnings of the 4*
41 state on the basis of the pres- 4*
4- ent acreage $100,000,000 an- 4
uually. 4*
4
4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.^4.4.4.4.4..J.
"Intelligent farming does not merely
guarantee good dividends on a farm
investment, but it builds good roads
to save cost of transportation, consol
idates rural schools where Intelligent
farming, industry and home economics
can be taught by precept and ex
ample, beautifies the home and its
surroundings and fills it with all the
attractions that elevate manhood and
womanhood, teaches the younger gen
eration the dignity as well as reward
of farm labor and Inspires the laborer
with the hopeful expectations of a
bright future.
"Drainage, farm settlement, good
roads, forestry, transportation, indus
trial education, minerals, cheap heat
and power resources are all important
factors in the conservation movement.
"Practical and scientific reforesta
tion should convert the lands unsult
ed for farming into forests so, that
every acre would produce revenue and
furnish some necessity of life. The
dry season of 1910 has particularly
emphasized another important duty In
this connection, and that is the protec
tion of our forests and settlers from
fires. It is a well known fact that
enough timber has been destroyed by
fire within the last four months to pay
for the adequate protection of all our
forests for a period of ten years or
more, not to mention the great loss of
human life, which in itself Imposes
upon the states and nation the duty
of protection. This congress should
be instrumental in stirring public sen
timent to such an extent that the va
rious legislatures and congress would
take immediate steps to stop this
needless and expensive waste."
8ECRETARY WILSON ON
SOIL CONSERVATION.
Secretary of Agriculture Wilson
spoke on "Farm Conservation." He
said:
"The most important feature of farm
conservation is the soil. The farmer
prospers while the soil responds to bis
work and yields good crops he ceases
to do well when the soil refuses to re
spond to his labor.
"The people of the older nations take
care of soil fertility as a matter of
prime necessity and long ago ascer
tained the proper succession of crops,
their relation to the soil and the feed
ing of men and animals. They knew
the soil must be fed and the proper
physical conditions to maintain and
learned from experience how to do it.
"During the short history of our coun
try we have had new soils to draw
upon when exhaustion resulted from
the robbing process, and much of the
nation's prosperity is the equivalent of
what the soil has lost. Our people
have been well fed, and until recently
they have been cheaply fed. This has
been due in part no doubt to the oc
cupancy of land easily obtainable as
soon as the older refused to yield
abundantly and is one of the prime
causes of farm desertions that are
now attracting so much attention.
"The federal government is expend
ing large sums to irrigate more land,
Which is wise, but the amount of wa
ter impounded is small compared with
the volume that flows to waste. In a
recent visit to the Mountain states I
saw that the most advanced localities
are every year making more reservoirs
to hold winter and spring flows of wa
ters that go free of man's restraint to
the ocean. The nation, the state and
privae* enterprises have ample fields
BISMARCK »AILY TMBUNi
COLONEL ROOSEVELT.
Told Conservation Congress to
Look Oat for Trust Influence.
Photo by American Press Association.
in which to work toward greater crop
production in this direction.
4. 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4° 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4*
4.
•h "\e lands are not to be had 4
4* for the asking in the thirty 4*
4* inch rainfall districts of the 4
4- country. If we are to prosper 4
4« as a people we must give close 4*
4* attention to our soils and con- 4*
4- serve their fertility by all the 4
4* means in our power." 4
4* 4*
4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4*4a4i4 4*4a4*4*4a4*
WHY INTERESTS OBJECT TO
BEVERIDGE ADVOCATES
.'.„_ .....„7_^v._„^...,»?,...-|^
NEW ORDER OF THINGS.
James R. Garfield, former secretary
of the interior, discussed "The Fed
eral Government's Relation to Con
servation." After defining the general
powers of the president and other ex
ecutive officers Mr. Garfield said:
"If the conservation problem had
simply to do with the distribution of
what remains of the public domain the
solution of the problem would be freed
from many difficulties, but distribution
is only a small part of the problem
the most important duty is to provide
against such distribution as will result
in giving the big special interests mo
nopolistic control over the resources
of timber, water, fuel and phosphates
"Under our former system of dispo
sition of p«ublic lands by both nation
and state we have permitted individ
uals and corporations to acquire great
portions of our natural resources. We
have given away special privileges of
great value and made grants of tre
mendous industrial power. The use of
those special privileges and the exer
cise of those powers have given rise
to serious political and industrial ques
tions, which are now parts of the con
servation problem
"Much has been said in recent years
about executive usurpation in admin
istering the land laws, but I have yet.
to learn of a specific case. The courts
are open to test such a case, but none
has been brought.
4.4.4. 4. 4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4,4.4.4.4.4.
4
4* "The critics of honest, vlg- 4*
orous enforcement of the land 4
4- laws and the opponents of the 4*
4* measures proposed to improve 4
4* land laws are not really inter- 4»
ested in the abstract theory 4
of executive power. They ob- 4
4* jected to the new order of 4
4* things because it prevented 4*
4* them from stealing public 4*
lands. 4
4. 4.
4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.
"Exactly as the cry of executive
usurpation was raised, so new the
ghost of states' rights is dragged out
to frighten the public. There Is no
real conflict between nation and states
in dealing with the public lands and
the use of natural resources. Each
jurisdiction has great Interests to
safeguard, great duties to perform for
the common good and, whenever the
jurisdictions overlap, neither should
withdraw, but by co-operation provide
for such regulation as will prevent pri
vate and special interests from escap
ing effective public regulation and su
pervision."
NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY.
United States Senator Albert J.
Beveridge of Indiana strongly advo
cated national over state sovereignty
of natural resources.
Dwelling on history from the days
ef colonial America to the conserva
tion movement the senator developed
point after point showing state fail
ure as against national success in all
problems concerning the welfare of
the people.
4.4.4.4. 4.4.4.4.4. 4.4. 4.4.4.4. 4.4.
4. 4.
4« "All this waste and robbery 4
4* of the people's wealth must be 4
4* stopped. No ancient and pro- 4
4- vinclal interpretation of states' 4*
4* rights must prevent the en- 4*
forcement of the people's 4
4- rights. No special plea for 4
4* local hasty development must 4
4- hinder healthy development 4*
4* No temporary state politics, 4
4* compelled by the wealthy few. 4
4* must Impair permanent nation- 4*
4 al statesmanship for the gen- 4
4* eral good of all. 4*
4. 4.
4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4,4.4.4.4.
"Had we kept the national resources
of all the people and made private
Interests pay the people a Just return
for exploiting those resources, the na
tion's income, thus derived, would
now pay most of the nation's ex
penses those resources would have
been wisely used and not exhausted
and our whole growth would have
been national and sound instead of un
balanced and defective. We would
have enjoyed all the benefits of our
natural resources and yet our children
would have inherited colossal national
t.ealth and small national burdens in
stead of private interests enjoying all
of the benefits of our natural resources
and their children inheriting colossal
private wealth and small private bur-,
dens."
Senator Beveridge paid a splendid
tribute to Gifford Pinchot as president
of the national conservation commis
sion, the man who, for years has fear
lessly fought, and ceaslessly toiled, to
save and protect for the people the
property of the people and in that
nationwide battle has been the field
officer of the man who first made this
movement a permanent and practical
policy of American statesmanship,
Theodore Roosevelt.
Continuing, the senator gave advice
to the younger generation to think and
act for the general welfare, saying:
"Only as the entire nation is prosper
ous can any state be really prosper
ous."
HILL AN EXPONENT
OF STATE SOVEREIGNTY.
James Hill, chairman of the
board of directors of the Great North
ern road, speaking on "Practical Con
servation," claimed the credit for first
pointing out to Americans the danger
of soil spoliation and declared that
conservation itself must be conserved.
"In an address four years ago I
fully stated the soil problem," he said,
"and the method of how to meet it.
The people of this country were soon
interested. The need of the hour and
the end to which this congress should
devote itself is to conserve conserva
tion. It has come into that peril
which no great truth escapes—the
danger that lurks in the house of its
friends.
"It has been used to forward the
serious error of policy, the extension
of the power and activities of the na
tional government at the expense of
those of the states. The time is ripe
and this occasion is most fitting for
distinguishing between real and fanci
ful conservation and for establishing
a sound relation of means to an end.
4- 4- 4- 4- 4- 4- 4- 4- 4- 4- 4- 4- 4« 4- 4- 4«
"The reclamation service
should be excluded from 'con
servation.' Its work is not
preservation but utilization.
There are dangers inseparable
from national control and con
duct of affairs. The machine
is too big and too distant its
operation is slow, cumbersome
and costly.
PINCHOT EXPOUNDS
4»
4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4* 4° 4*
/'Toward the conservation of miner
al resources little can be done by fed
eral action. The output is determined
not by the mine owner, but by the
consumer. The withdrawal of vast
areas of supposed coal lands tends to
increase price by restricting the area
of possible supply. It is foolish to
talk of leasing coal lands in email
quantities to prevent monopoly. Min
ing must be carried on upon a large
enough scale to be commercially pos
sible.
"The whole West protests against
the demand that federal lands form
ing water power sites should be with
drawn and leased for the profit and at
the pleasure of the federal govern
ment. The attempted federal control
of water powers is illegal because the
use of the waters within a state is the
property of the state and cannot be
taken away with it."
CONSERVATION POLICY.
Gifford Pinchot, former United
States chief forester and pioneer in
the conservation movement, spoke on
"The Conservation Programme." His
declaration of principles follows:
Conservation meets with opposition
when it interferes with some man's
private profit.
Opponents of the cause, while pre
tending to approve its principles, fight
it by condemning its-methods and its
men.
Safety and sanity in conservation
means putting the public welfare
ahead of corporate profits.
The natural resources belong to all
the people and should be developed
and protected for their benefit and not
for the benefit of the few.
4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4. 4.4. 4. 4. 4. 4.
4. 4.
4 Necessaries of life still 4*
4* owned by the people, like coal 4*
4 and water power, should re- 4*
4- main in public ownership, and 4*
4 be leased only for limited peri
4* ods, with fair compensation.
4. 4.
4.4"4"4*4*4a4*4*4*4*4a4*4*4a4B4*4*
Every stream should be made to
serve the public for purposes of nav
igation, domestic supply, irrigation,
drainage and power.
The public should own all forests
necessary for the public welfare and
protect the rest.
Every acre of land should'be put to
whatever use would make it most use
ful to the people. The making of pros
perous homes should be the object,
and land monopoly must, not be tol
erated.
Mineral resources should be leased,
not sold.*
National and state conservation com
missions should be maintained.
A strong federal power is needed to
resist Interstate attacks on the public
welfare, but the co-operation of the
'^jW-^Si^H
SENATOR BEVERIDGE.
Made Plea for Federal Con
trol of Natural Resources.
states toward that end should be en
couraged.
Special interests are attempting to
take refuge behind the doctrine of
states' rights, and there is much hard
fighting ahead.
FAVOR FEDERAL CONTROL
OF NATURAL RESOURCES.
The resolutions adopted advocate
federal control of natural resources
and follow closely the Ideas of Roose
velt and Pinchot. They are in part:
"Recognizing the natural resources
of the country as the prime bases of
property and opportunity, we hold the
rights of the people in these resources
to be natural and inherent, and justly
inalienable and indefeasible and we
insist that the resources should and
shall be developed, used and conserved
in ways consistent both with current
welfare and with the perpetuity of our
people.
"Recognizing the waters of the coun
try as a great national resource we
approve and endorse the opinion of
Theodore Roosevelt that all the wa
ters belong to all the people and hold
that they should be administered in
the interest of all the people.
"Recognizing the vast economic ben
efit to the people of water power de
rived largely from interstate and
source streams no less than from nav
igable rivers, we favor federal control
of water power development we deny
the right of state or federal govern
ments to continue alienating or con
veying water by granting franchises
for the use thereof in perpetuity and
we demand that the use of water
rights be permitted only for limited
periods, with just compensation in the
interests of the people.
"Approving the withdrawal of pub
lic lands pending classification, and
the separation of surface rights from
mineral, we recommend legislation for
the classification and leasing for graz
ing purposes on unreserved public
lands suitable chiefly for this purpose,
subject to the rights of homesteaders
and settlers, or the acquisition thereof
under the land laws of the United
States and we hold that arid and non
irrigable public grazing lands should
be administered by the government in
the interest of small stockmen and
homeseekers until they have passed
into the possession of actual settlers.
4-4« 4' 4'4' 4' 4'
4* 4*
4* "We hold that the deposits
of important minerals, underly
4* lng public lands, particularly 4*
4* mineral fuels, Iron ores and
4* phosphate deposits, should be
4* leased for limited periods not 4*
4 exceeding fifty years but Bub- 4*
4* ject to renewal, the royalty to 4*
4* be adjusted at more frequent 4*
4* Intervals, such leases to be In 4*
4* amounts and subject to such 4»
4* regulations as to prevent mon- 4
4- opoly and unnecessary waste. 4*
4. 4.
4*4*4*4*4°4*4*4*4*4*4°4 4*4*4*4*4*
"We hold that phosphate deposits
underlying the public lands should be
safeguarded for the American people
by appropriate legislation and we
recommend the early opening of the
Alaskan and other coal fields belong
ing to the people of the United States
for commercial purposes on a system
of leasing, national ownership to be
retained.
"We approve of the continuance of
the control of the national forests by
the federal government and approve
the policy of restoring to settlement
such public lands as are more valu
able for agriculture.
"We earnestly recommend that the
states and federal government acquire
for reforestration lands not more val
uable for other purposes and that all
existing forests publicly and privately
owned be carefully protected by stats
and federal governments. We recog
nize the invaluable-services of the for
est service to the people and earnestly
recommend that it be more generous
ly supported by the federal govern
ment and that state, federal and pri
vate fire patrols be more generously
provided for the preservation of for
ests and human life and we appre
ciate and approve of the continuance
of the services of the United States
army In fire control In emergencies.
"We favor the repeal of the timber
and stone law.
"We endorse the proposition for the
preservation by the federal govern
ment of the Southern Appalachian and
White mountain forest"
fe' Js*«i: &kS*i£-
Wednesday, September 14,1910.
ALASKAPAIDFORI
BY GOLD OUTPUT
Total For Last Twenty-nine
Years Is $162,686,455.
CLAMOR RETARDS COAL MWES
United States Survey Points Cut Wide
ly Distributed and Largo!/ Unex
plored Area of Fuel Lands Now Tied
Up by Failure to Issue Patents—More
Railways Needed For Development.
Since 1S80 and up to the end of 1909
the total gold production of Alaska
has been $162,G8G,455, says the United
States geological survey in an advance
chapter of its annual report on Alas
ka's mineral resources. Of this $118,
210.737 came from placers and $44,
466,098 from lodes. That alone repnys
the purchase money of the entire ter
ritory nearly twenty-two times over.
In 1909 the gold production was $20,
463,000, an increase of $1,170,182.
about 0 per cent over the production
of 1908, the largest yield since 1906,
the year of greatest production. The
Yukon placers yielded their largest an
nual output iu 1909, the Tanana Val
ley camp leading with $10,150,000. Of
this amount the Fairbanks district pro
duced $9,650,000. An important fea
ture of the year's mining was the con
tinued success of dredging In the For
ty Mile district. All the placer camps
were prosperous except those of the
Seward peninsula, where dry weather
curtailed the output
The discovery of gold placers In In
noko valley caused a movement of
population in 1909 which promises to
be Important. Thousands of prospec
tors and miners flocked there from all
parts of Alaska and also from outside
the territory. Although the district
may not support the large population.
It has acquired, it seems to offer a
promising field for exploitation. The
1909 output Is estimated at from $300,
000 to $400,000.
Clamor Stops Coal Production.
There was no progress in coal mining
in 1909. Not only was there no indus
trial advance, but in some regions
there was decided retrogression. The
long delay in the issuance of patents
to coal lands and the popular clamor
against all Alaskan coal claimants has
discouraged claimants and investors.
It should be hoped, says the Survey,
that it may soon be possible to devise
some reasonable or satisfactory means
of exploiting Alaska's wealth in coal.
Coal is widely distributed in Alaska
the only fields which can yield coal for
export are those in the Pacific slope
province. The coal In these fields In
cludes the lignitlc or bituminous coals
of southeastern Alaska, Cook Inlet, the
Susitna basin and the Alaska penin
sula, as well as the high grade fuels
of the Bering river and the Mantanus
ka fields, constituting about 40 per
cent of the so far known coal area
of Alaska. It Includes also at least
00 per cent of the known bituminous
and higher grade coals of the terri
tory. And even yet-over one-half of
this province is geologically almost un
known, and future surveys may dis
cover other coal bearing areas. The
same is true of the central province,
of which almost four-fifths is still un
known geologically. In the other fifth
some coal areas are already known at
widely separated points.
The coal fields of northern Alaska,
embracing very extensive deposits ly
ing north of the arctic circle, are too
remote to have any present importance
and must be regarded simply as part
of the ultimate fuel resources of the
world.
Land Prices Above Average.
Priced at even only half a cent a ton
In the ground, the best Alaska coal
lands are worth from $50 to $500 an
acre, values far above the average
price of bituminous coal lands in the
United States.
The market for the coal of Alaska
will be found within the territory Itself
and in the Pacific states. The present
market for coal In Alaska cannot sup
port the large mining operations re
quired for commercial success. The
Pacific states are now supplied by the
coal fields of California and Oregon
and in minor part by the fields of the
Rocky mountain region and those of
British Columbia and Australia. Some
Pennsylvania and West Virginia coal
Is also shipped to the Pacific coast.
Alaska's coal must compete with these,
and especially with fuel oil from Cali
fornia.
The completion of the Panama canal
may enable eastern operators to de
liver high grade coal on the Pacific
coast at prices about the same as
those that can be offered by operators
In Alaska. Other competing fields will
be those of Vancouver Island and New
South Wales.
More railways are essential to the
development and success of coal min
ing in Alaska. At present the vast ter
ritory has only about 370 miles of rail
way, distributed among nine dlffetrat
systems.
The present industrial advancement
of Alaska is small compared with that
which will take place when railways to
tidewater are constructed. As it is the
coal which will furnish the export
tonnage necessary to support railways
built for opening the coal fields, it ia of
first importance to the valuable terri
tory.
A-