THE KUSKO TIMES
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Entered as secona-ciass matter Au
0ust 29th, 1923, at the poatoffice at
Tokotna, Alaska, under the Act of
March 3, 1879.
Takotna, Alaska, August 16, 1929.
THE FUTURE OF ALASKA, AS
VIEWED BY CHARLES FLORY,
IN ADDRESS AT COLLEGE
Charles H. Flory, of the Depart
ment of Agriculture, made the com
mencement day address at the Alaska
-Agricultural College, a few weeks
»go, at which time six were gradu-;
jated. Alaska, its past and a por
trayal of its future, were matters
ably dwelt upon by Mr. Flory and a
perusal of his address will prove
most interesting:
The Japanese have a saying to the
♦effect that any man with good eye
sight can walk through the country
and see the fields of today, but that
they bow in admiration before the
wisdom ,$nd foresight of a man who
can walk through the countryside and
jsee the fields of the future.
I do not pretend to have the wis
dom of a prophet nor the courage of
a crusader in predicting the ultimate
destiny of this vast northland known
as Alaska, sometimes alluded to as
"“The Land God Forgot,” or as “Uncle
Sam’s Red-Headed Stepchild,*" but I
do believe it is possible to see around
ms many interesting things of the
present that have an important bear
ing on the future but which may be
‘Overlooked or not always appreciated.
Some of these things I shall at
tempt to portray in this address,
Heaving to you the role of prophet and
the task of seeing the fields of the
jfuture.
Before attempting to solve a diffi
cult and complicated problem of any
Ikind we must approach it from two
^fundamental conceptions. We first
endeavor to resolve it into its com
ponent parts and determine their in
dividual relations to each other. Sec
ondly, we determine the relation of
the whole to its external surround
ings, including its historical back
ground and, so far as possible, its
future. In other words, we analyze
our problems fro mall angles without
prejudice or preconceived notions.
This Is the scientific method.
It is from this approach that I de
■ ,J rj ■ —
Have You Been Enumerated?
If not, or you ar ein doubt, fill out this coupon and mil it to
Charles 8. Naghel, Supervise rof Census, Juneau, Alaska.
1
’
On October 1, 1929, I was living at address given below, "but to
the best of my knowledge I have hot been enumerated, either
there or anywhere else.
ty;
Name ..
City
-- Alaska
sire to point out several inter-rel
tionships between the Alaska Agi
cultural College and School of Min*
the United States Department of Aj
riculture, and the Territorial Cover
ment of Alaska, which, whiih have
fhndamental bearing upon Alaska
. eronomir nevelopnient and her futu
place in the sun.
I First, let us consider Hora<
I Greeley’s favorite aphorism, “Wes
i ward the course of empire take si
way,” and briefly note in what mai
ner this significant utterance In
epitomized progress in the develo;
: ment of the United States,
i The men and women who found*
I this Nation were primarily a pastors
| not a manufacturing, people. Thonu
( Jegerson, in fact, strongly advocat*
a policy for the new nation whic
was essentially agricultural and ni
industrial in its scope, and as ot
forefathers laboriously hewed the
: way across the Alleghanies into tl
Ohio valley and on west to the Mi:
, sissippi and beyond, establishing the
farm homes in the wilderness, th*
necessarily remained an agricultura
minded people. As fast as the ft
trapper, hunter and Indian fight*
blazed new trails further into tl
West the homesteader and horn*
seeker followed hard* upon his heel
But please note what was followin
_ close behind the farmer. WaterfaL
were being harnessed, the steam er
gine was being developed, manufai
turing plants were springing up e\
erywhere, railroads were being bui
| so fast that the settler hardly ha
' the roof on his log cabin before h
hparH thp whifttJp nf a lnrnmntivp.
And then came the discovery c
gold in California. We all know wha
happened— a temporary rush to ob
tain riches by the quick and eas;
method, and after, a relapse into j
period of stagnation such as is onl;
too well known to many of us in cer
tain parts of the North. But th<
homesteader and his family were stil
doggedly moving their covered wagoi
across the plains and mountains, find
ing suitable homelands now here, nov
there, but never ending their cer/?
less quest until tile blue waters of th<
Pacific terminated one .of the greatest
home-seeking undertakings in the his
tory of the world.
But what has all this to do witt
Alaska? Simply this—that funda
mentally Alaska is economically dif
ferent from Continental Unitec
States, because of its geographic lo
cation. If Alaska were directly anc
physically connected by land witl
California, Oregon or Washington
the homeseeker would not have halt
e don the shores of the Pacific Ocean
but would have turned his coverec
wagon or his present-day automobile
north into the Tanana, the Yukon ant
the Kuskokwim valleys. Unfortu
nately, he was compelled to cease hi:
westward journey because of the vasi
expanse of intervening ocean water:
and the many miles of a foreign anc
mountainous land unprovided witl
roads or trails.
Thus the westward course of em,
pire has followed essentially the fol
lowing steps—first, the trail blazes o:
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the trapper, hunter and treasure
seeker, then the more permanent
homesteader and farmer, and finally
the railroa dand factory. In other
words, and this is important in the
United States proper, agriculture as
a basic industry naturally preceded
commerce and manufacturing, or
what is known as industrialism.
We are now in a position to state
the first industrial element in our
analysis of the economic structure of
Alaska somewhat as follows: The
course of empire in the North must
be first along industrial lines, thus re
versing the order followed in the
States. Agriculture as an industry
will necessarily follow as a natural
sequence. By recognizing this basic
fact the Federal Government and the
Territory are enabled in an intelli
gent manner to determine sound poli
cies looking to legitimate and perma-;
nent development.
Of course, it may he objected that
we could transport settlers and farm
ers by ships to Alaska. It is well
known that we have many hundred I
thousand acres of excellent farm land
and an equal area suitable for im-i
proved pastture. Also, it has been:
fully demonstrated at the federal ag-i
ricultural experiment stations and by
private individuals that most of the
far mcrops, including livestock suit
able to northern latitudes, can he
t
gjruwn ajiu iimuuicu succcttsiuiiy in
many parts of Alaska. It may he
.! claimed that all we need is a suffi
11 cent number of men and women will-!
d I ing to come to Alaska as farmers and
e | take up homesteads on our Vast pub
i lie domain. The climate is certainly
f i no drawback to the establishment of
11 farm homes, for there are millions of
people living happily in the same lat
. | itude and in a similar climate in the
t countries of Norway, Sweden and
, Finland.
But here an eld law—-which we are j
> apt to believe we can violate without!
| getting caught—steps in and upsets!
i our calculations—the inexorable law
I I I
. i of supply and demand. Weknow that!
■' we can furnish the supply, but it’s {
., the demand that turns the trick
> against us just at present.
The very conditions that prevented j
. the last of the westward bound set-j
tiers in their trek across the conti- i
( nent from continuing northward to!
Alaska tends to prevent the shipping j
of farm products from Alaska to the!
I States. The distance is too great and.
the cost too high. In other words, the:
I Alaska farmer cannot compete with
the farmer of Washington or Ne
braska and pay the cost of shipping
\ unmanufactured products from Alas
ka. This is the seaond fundamental
[ fact we must learn. But let’s not get
, couraged or pessimistic. Perhaps
I something can be done.about it after
all.
McGrath
Pool Hall
Fresh Fruits
Candies|
Tobaccos
pipes
Cigarettes?
Soft Drinks
Cigarette Holders
FRANK LANGE
It was said.a moment ago that in
dnstrialism. must. come .first in Alas
ka. Nak fchat have we to develop be
sides .farm .acreage that may bring
industrialism in this northern land,
and how can we .tackle the job?
At this point l am going to digress
a moment. .. First, !1 will tell a story
abt ut an old placer miner on the
beach .at Nome. From, his boyhood
years he had followed every stampede
on the continent and had participated
fairly in vthe fruits of some of the
greatest, bonanza camps of the Gol
den West. vOne day an old friend
found him on the Nome beach at one
of the richest points working a rock
er. “How’s she.panning out?” the
friend inquired. “She isn’t worth a
darn,” the oldtimer replied in a tone
of disgust,; “camp's overrated; the'
ground’s half dirt.”
(Continued on Page 3.).
j Frank J. Guskey
| Notary Public
! i
j McGrath, Alaska ;
i i
Takotna Pool Hall
Elfish Fmits
Tobaccos
Apples
• v
Candies Soft Drinks 1
Cigars Cigarets
Granges
Charlie O’Halloran
Prop.
Max Simel : S“'
STATION: FACRVIEW, INNOKO RI^ER.
Miners’, Prospectors’ and
Trappers’ Supplies
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