business of $153,003. This vol
ume of business is exclusive of
lunches served in drug stores
and of meals served in dinning
rooms operated by hotels and
boarding houses.
Furniture and household-ap
pliance stores make up a group
of five stores doing business of
$183,700.
This report is a comprehen
sive picture of the retail indus
try in Longview, and is part of
the first nationwide census of
distribution now being completed
by the Bureau of the Census.
Alaska’s Timber Situation Reviewed By A Logger
•-x-- w
Editor The Fisherman
Petersburg, Alaska
Dear Sir:
I have recently been ask
ed by a number of leading citi
zens Why I have not contributed
to the Open Forum of The Alas
kan on the subject of timber
and land in Southeastern Alas
ka?
The reasons are several: A
mong others I am ashamed to
say has been the attitude of the
very citizens referred to above.
These men. men of standing in
ihe community, men whose
words carry weight, agree with
me. Firstly that Southeastern
Alaska would be infinitely bet
ter off with our land and tim
ber under private ownership,
even with government supervi
sion of cutting to prevent waste;
Secondly, That there is no con
servation, merely an obstruction
of the natural flow of commerce
and development with a grave
possibility of something worse in
the present policy of the Forest
Department. Yet these men
are either hypocrites, moral
cowards or lacking proper con
ception of the subject and its
importance.
They seem to be anxious that
I continue to pan the Forest
Service Bureau and agitate for
timber land for settlers. Some
what the attitude of a spectator
at a dog fight. But when I ask
them to peel off their coats and
give the good work a boost, to
come out in the open with their
support, that is a different mat
ter.
They seem to be under the im
pression that something dread
ful would happen if we took ac
tion which would make it a
political issue or call our l'ellow
citizens’ attention to our protest.
Just what in their estimination
would happen, I have not been
able to find out. Something pret
ty terrible at the least.
A candid discussion or the
pros and cons of the question in
the nations papers and maga
zines would result, I admit. It
would be embarrassing to be in
the nation’s eye, to have big
black headlines jump out at us.
“People of Alaska claim conser
vation a myth,” “People of Alas
ka claim people more important
than trees,” “What’s happening
in Alaska,” or some editor more
original than the rest might use:
“Poor fools in Alaska want to
build prcperity and population,”
or “Alaskans turn down 9,600
jobs,” “Absentee landlord and no
profits ask instead 100.000 own
ners and part profits.” We might
even have handed to us: “The
Worm has turned in Alaska.”
It would be, T will have to ad
mit, when I pause to think, ter
ribly embarrassing to have
Southeastern Alaska get the re
putation of being populated by
peoole who have been educated
to the point where they do their
own thinking.
These men are neighbors of
mine. They love then* children.
Their main business in life to
day is cherishing and providing
for them. Very few of them will
be able to lay away enough of
the world’s goods so that their
children will be free from the
necessity of making their own
living. Most of them will be no
doubt more or less dependent on
these same children in their old
age. What I cannot understand
is how these men consider they
are doing their duty by their
children when they hand down
to them a country so ravished
as is Alaska.
The American people ha', c:
been living in a country of tre
mendous we din under a form of
government admitted by stu
dents and authorities to be the
most stimulatin' g to progress and
the most equitable ever designed
by man. It - weakness lies m
corrupt, ind’h'orent or inefficient
leadership, anu a tendency rn
the part of the people to endure
a wrong rather than muster up
the energy and courage neces
sary to demand its removal Lcc.
you may think I am tackling a
pretty heavy subject, H. G Weds
is responsibV: for the above pa
ragraph. H; advocates educ -
tion as a remedy for existing
evils.
Richard Washburn Childs, ot: '
or America’s foremost thinkers
and writers, tells us that propa
ganda has become a fine art and
in being used extensively to fur
ther projects both good and bac!
Many writers, subsidizing their
pen regardless of the right or
wrong they may do. It drives us
to the conclusion that a seeker
after an education along the
lines of truth and justice mu t
do considerable thinking not on
ly along the lines which the au
thor leads us but to study other
angles of his subject.
The Forest Service has a bu y
propagandist in the person of
B. F. Heintzelman striving to