ALASKA’S FISHERIES
->;
The Bureau ol Fisheries, un
der the Department cf Com
merce, has just issued the offi
cial figures on the fisheries of
Alaska for the year 1930. Dur
ng that season 5,032,326 cases,
or 241,551,848 pounds, of salmon
were packed, with a value of
*29, (-04,898. The by-products.
fertilizer and oil, from the va
rious vaiiet’es of fish, aggregat
ed in value $2,063,527. The salm
c n canned in the different Di
sions were as follows: South
east Alaska, 2,977.386 cast's, with
value of $15,174,234; Central
Alaska, 1,618,545 cases, valued at
$9,62b,234; Western Alaska, 438,
495 cases, valued at $4,896,536.
The total number of persons en
caged in fishing numbered 27,
568. ( ) Vessels and boats fish
ing and transporting, scows, etc.,
7.395. The total value of fish
oroclucts prepared for market
was $37,679,049. That included
salmon, herring, halibut, cod,
trout, sablefish, smelt, flounde;.
rocKfish, lingcod, clam, shrimp.
crab, whale. The value to fish
fnhermen of the 611,285,100
pounds caught wa • '
not including the 355 whales
caught in Alaska waters, with a
weight of 9,416,475 pounds, val
ued at $470,265.
(*) It is probable that corres
pondent is wrong in tins figure
and that “total number employ
ed” rather than “fisherman” is
meant by this figure.
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ILLITERACY ON DECLINE
Illiteracy is being wiped out
;n Idaho at a rapidly inea r ising
rate, according to the U. S. Cen
sus Bureau, the percentage of
illiterate among citizens over
ten years of age having dropped
from 1.5 per cent in 1920 to 1.1
per cent in 1930, or from 4.304
to 3,743. The great preponder
ance of the illiterates is found
among the foreign element.
Yet the figures of the Census
Bureau disclose a greater num
ber of illiterates among the na
tive white population than were
reported ten years ago, and de
creasing illiteracy among the
foreign-born of all classes.
The same bulletin discloses
that 75 per cent of the children
in Idaho between the ages of 5
and 9 are attending school.
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ALASKA SURVEY WORK
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. . Plans for the field projects to
be undertaken in .Alaska, this
year by the Geological Survey
have reached an advanced stage
and several parties will start for
The interior soon.
Nine separte parties will be as
signed to this work. Direct su
pervision of all the projects will
be assigned to R. S. Capps.
The supply of halibut on the
various fishing banks of the
North Pacific has suffered
steady depletion thru commer
cial fishing and the only reason
the total catch has been kept
up is that new grounds have
been worked and fishing has be
come more intensive.
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ile who sits under a family tree
has poor shade.
Proper Conservation of Alaska’s Fisheries Major Need
Delegate Dan Sutherland’s Last Speech In Congress.
Congressional Record
A salary increase of $2,500 per
year will not in my opinion,
And to inject courage into oul
spineless Alaska Governors so
font, they might tell Congress
>iici the American public just
what the trouble in that Terri •
lory is. Why the poverty anil
distress of its residents, the
class hatred and striie that are
always under the governor’s ob
servation and always unpleas
antly forced to his attention?
Why do they not come forward
manfully in emulation of the
Governor of Porto Rico and give
to the world the reason wiw
Alaska’s population is discord
X
ant, discontented, and dissatis
fied with Federal administra
tion? T’.'e answer is that the
Roosevelts are of one breed and
our Alaska Governors are oi
another. Outworn political hacks
do not make governors, nor is a
lifetime of feeding at, the Gov
ernment crib conducive to the
development of that quality ot
executive ability tha^ governors
should have.
The gr~:.t handicap to proper
development of Alaska, the we1
fare, the happiness, the content
ment of its people, the great
handicap which governors stud
iously avoid mentioning is our
water-tenure system—a system
!hat ursurps and monopolizer
vmblic rights and deprives the
;ocal population of fair parti
•. ipation in t he natural resources
of the country.
Land Tenure Versus Water
Tenure
Tlie land tenure system of
Porto Rico is as ancient as ths
eldest civilization The system
iias been in effect throughout
history. The results of the sys
tem may have been injurious to
the public welfare and now al
ways has been considered the
best manner in which huma i
occupancy and utilization of