the construction of a railroad, which is the essential modern means of transportation. (2) There can be no assurance that without surrendering our resources in Alaska private railroads will be built. (3) The opening of this new country demands that the highways of travel and commerce should be made wholly subservient not to private interest, but to the upbuilding of this territory, that they may be the real servants of the national purpose.

If it is thought wise to recoup the government for its original outlay, it can be done, at least in part, by following a plan not unknown to our people-by giving a land subsidy to the owners of the road. Retain in the government onehalf of the land on each side of the railroad until it has appreciated in value by the growth of the lands given to the public. Thus the government would subsidize itself and reap some of the benefits accruing to its land from the construction of the road. Judging by the increase in land values in the newly opened sections of Canada, who could say but that long before the bonds were due the government would thus have an asset sufficient to meet the original debt?

There seems to me no necessity for barring the way to minor privately owned roads because of the presence of longer systems of publicly owned roads. The two exist together in other countries. I would not even apply the principle of the commodities clause of the act to regulate commerce to such roads. They should be built, however, under governmental supervision, capitalized and operated under the strictest regulation, and be at any time subject to purchase by the government at their cost, minus depreciation.

THE VALUE OF ALASKAN COAL

It is not necessary to set forth here the extent or character of the coal fields of Alaska. Neither could I add to your knowledge or that of Congress as to the need for this coal both by the navy and by the industries and the people of the Pacific coast generally. There are almost unlimited quantities of a high grade of lignite in the interior which may not stand extended storage or transportation.

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This could be converted into electricity at the mouth of the mines and widely distributed for lighting, heat, and power. Toward the southern coast of the peninsula there are two well-known fields of a high-grade bituminous coal and some anthracite. These are the fields which have given rise to the troubles with which all are familiar.

These coal fields should be opened not to speculators, but to operators. Those should have these lands who will use them. None should be opened as a basis for a gamble in future values. If these premises express a sound public policy, there appears to me but one conclusion that can be reached as to the manner in which they may safely be turned over to the public-under a leasing and royalty system similar to that under which the State of Minnesota leases its ore lands and the States of Montana and Colorado their coal lands.

The tracts opened should be disposed of to those who within a certain time would develop mines and make their product commercially available. This means that where a railroad is necessary to the operation of a mine the applicant should take a lease so conditioned for a limited period. Sufficient land should be leased as a body to justify long-continued and economical operation. As the average of all operations in the United States. is 2,600 acres, including many small holdings, this might be taken as a maximum unit.

There has been much dispute between those who favor making a lease for an indeterminate period, dependent alone upon continued operation, and those who believe it wisest to fix a term for the lease, 20, 30, or more years. This dispute seems to me of much more academic than practical interest. There should be no disposition to change the lessee. If a fixed term of lease is decided upon, the original lease should have an assured preferential right to a renewal until the

mine is worked out. So that in the end the fixed term is a reservation of the

right on the part of the government to

make new terms at the end of a number of years, a reservation which could be fixed in an indeterminate lease.

SOME COAL LANDS SHOULD BE HELD FOR

THE NAVY

A fixed minimum annual royalty would conduce to operation and prevent the holding of lands out of use. These are matters, however, of regulation upon which much thought should be expended, and the experience of other lands will be found helpful. If the principle of the homestead law is adopted, and one lease only permitted to any one person or group of persons, and all leases made non-transferable, excepting with the consent of a designated authority, it would seem that monopoly could be prevented. I would, however, add one other precaution-that in each field a large body of the coal land be reserved, so that the public and the navy might be rendered independent of private supplies if that should become necessary.

The attraction of a leasing system is that it enables an operator to put all of his capital into the promotion of his enterprise, no investment being needed. for the purchase of the land. This makes it possible for the man of comparatively small means to become a coal mine operator. The lessee is pleased to pay the government a royalty in lieu of tying up a large amount of capital in the land itself.

There is this further consideration, which those interested in Alaska's future might well consider. The royalties arising from these mines (as well as from oil) would for a long time be a source of revenue to the government. To stimulate the opening of ranes, all royalty might well be waived for a brief period; later, however, these royalties would be a not inconsiderable addition to the resources available for Alaskan development, for I would think it the wisest policy to give to this new land the full return from her properties to be used in her improvement, at least for many years.

WESTERN COAL

There are many isolated places in Alaska where small mines may be opened to supply a local and small need. A license to mine a small acreage without any charge whatever on the part of the government would meet this need.

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It might be well at this point to consider the coal land situation in the Western States. For the policy I have suggested as advisable to apply in Alaska I think the sensible policy to adopt throughout the rest of the country. We have tried two experiments in the United States as to coal lands. We allowed our coal lands to slip from us under the old land-is-land policy until we came into the presence of a coal monopoly or a series of such monopolies in various parts of the country. If this is questioned we may at least say, with exactness, that we realized that we had been putting priceless assets priceless assets into the hands of a comparatively few far-sighted men for an inconsiderable consideration.

Then we tried the other plan of appraising such properties on a scientific estimate of contents upon which the land is sold. This is the present plan, and it is really nothing more than a demand for a full but discounted royalty in advance. It has against it, in my opinion, at least two objections. Our coal land is not being used under this plan save under exceptional conditions of local and immediate demand, and the purchaser, when there is one, is speculating on the best guess that an honest geologist can make as to the amount of coal in the ground.*

It is certainly not for the public interest that our coal deposits shall be opened rapidly and ruthlessly. We may reforest lands that have been devastated, or feed again into fruitfulness a soil that is starved, but we cannot replace the car

*The outstanding withdrawals of public lands valuable for mineral fuels and fertilizers or in connection with the water resources of the public domain now aggregate 66 million acres. The coal-land withdrawals awaiting classification constitute the larger part of this acreage, being 56,316,410 acres on December 4, 1913, not including the blanket withdrawal of coal lands in Alaska. It is noteworthy that a larger area than this has been restored within the past five years, and nearly 20 million acres have been classified as coal lands and are open to entry at appraised prices. The lands classified and restored by executive order to appropriate entry since March 4 last total 10 million acres, every restoration being based upon careful consideration within the Department of the Interior. About 400.000 acres of mineral lands in the same nine months have been withdrawn.

"The one constructive thing done by this government on behalf of Alaska in nearly half a century was the importation of reindeer for the benefit of the Eskimo on the border of the Arctic Ocean. For the white man we have done nothing; so little, in fact, that to mention what we have done is matter for chagrin and humiliation" (see text, page 186).