banks and McGrath was awarded in Fairbanks. Since that date rapid progress has been made in this method of transportation. The Territorial government expends annually 30 per cent of the road appropriation for the construction of landing fields, and there are at the present time 67 fields situated in strategic places in the interior of the Territory. The economic value of this method of transportation and the resulting benefits in the development of the Territory can not be overestimated. The feasibility and practicability of flying at all seasons of the year has been demonstrated beyond question. Practically all of the pioneer work in aviation in Alaska has been done by private interests. The Territory occupies a strategic position on the proposed air routes from Europe and Asia and the Federal Government should provide an airport for the use of the Army and Navy. The Bureau of Fisheries, United States Forest Service, Geological Survey, Alaska Game Commission, and other Federal organizations have much work that could be performed by an airplane, and one should be provided.

The Federal Government, through the Bureau of Education, with headquarters in Seattle, supervises the education, medical relief, industrial training, reindeer husbandry, and relief of destitution among the natives in Alaska. During the year 97 schools, with an enrollment of 3,832 pupils, employed 177 teachers. Medical relief was rendered in several hospitals, by nurses at many stations, and along the Yukon River by a floating hospital. In addition to the hospitals conducted by the bureau, contracts were made with nine privately owned hospitals and sanitariums in Alaska and Seattle. Three industrial schools were maintained and in each the program for training was improved.

The industrial schools supply a very necessary function in the . training of native children. The courses are most practical and so arranged as to meet the requirements of the students and prepare them to be self-supporting. Excellent results have been achieved. There is a most urgent need for an industrial school in the southeastern district. The other industrial schools are overcrowded and it is not feasible to send children from southeastern Alaska to other sections, even though the schools could accommodate them. The children should be given industrial training adapted to the vocations they must follow and in an environment with which they are familiar. Definite estimates of the cost for construction of such a school have been prepared and it is urged that every effort be made to obtain an appropriation for this purpose immediately.

The reindeer industry, as far as the Bureau of Education is involved, has been placed in charge of a superintendent, and this should result in a more efficient administration of this phase of the work. Under existing laws the owners of reindeer are entitled to lease grazing areas and the native owners should be allotted definite areas as rapidly as possible.

A part of the funds that are appropriated each year are allotted for the relief of destitution among the natives, but the available funds are not at all commensurate with the absolute needs and the amount should be increased.

The floating hospital on the Yukon River serves a most useful purpose, but the present boat and equipment are not adequate for

the service. A new boat should be provided. The tubercular hospital at Tanana is too small and should be enlarged. The present institution has demonstrated that a majority of the cases can be cured, and a similar hospital should be placed in southeastern Alaska.. The total appropriation for the work of the Bureau of Education in Alaska last year was $747,000, but this was not sufficient. With this amount it was necessary to provide schools, hospitals, and medical relief to a native population estimated to be about 27,000 and scattered over an area about one-fifth that of the United States. There are many places without school facilities where there are a sufficient number of children of school age to entitle them to a school and vast regions are without hospitals or doctors. Excellent results have been achieved and the improved conditions in the villages where the schools and missions have been established for many years are evidences of what may be accomplished by well-directed effort.

During the past year instructions were issued by the United States Commissioner of Education which will result in a greatly increased standard in the requirements for teachers, doctors, and nurses. Teachers must be able to meet requirements similar to those demanded in the Territorial schools and the doctors and dentists must obtain a license to practice from Territorial authorities. This is most desirable regulation and will result in improving the service in many localities.

For several years attention has been directed to the need for a detention home for native children in Alaska. Many of these children are deprived of their parents and must be cared for until they are able to support themselves. It is inevitable that some of them will become a burden on society unless they are placed in an institution where they can be properly trained. It is unwise to send them out of the Territory to be disciplined, because they do not understand the reason for the procedure and sometimes urge others to do something wrong so they, too, may be taken on a long trip. The cost of maintaining a detention home in Alaska would not be much greater than the cost of sending them out of the Territory, and the results would be far more beneficial.

Mount McKinley National Park is being improved as rapidly as possible with the funds that are available. This region is destined to be one of the most attractive features in Alaska, and it is worthy of more rapid development. It is tributary to the Alaska Railroad, and all traffic for the park must pass over this route. At the present rate of progress the roads will not be completed for several years, and in the meantime travel will be restricted to the more adventurous tourists. The road should be completed as soon as possible, and this can be done if funds are allotted.

There are two systems of communication in the Territory, one in charge of the Signal Corps of the United States Army and one under control of the Navy. The system operated by the Signal Corps serves nearly every section of the Territory, but there are many small villages that are without communication. Some plan should be devised to provide these communities with a connection to the net now maintained. This question has been taken up with the chief signal officer and some of the commercial companies in the hopes that an efficient, easily operated radiotelegraph can be devised

which will be available at a reasonable cost. The stations, five in number, operated by the Navy Department are available for commercial business, and to some extent duplicate the Signal Corps service. From a commercial standpoint these systems could be combined and no doubt operated by the Signal Corps at much less cost. The Federal buildings in Ketchikan and Fairbanks are old and in very poor condition. They are too small for the existing needs and should be replaced by new structures.

For many years recommendations have been made with a view of consolidating the law enforcement agencies in Alaska. Exhaustive reports have been submitted but no action has been taken. It seems unnecessary to repeat all of the statements that have been made, but there can be no question that there should be a consolidation at least of those agencies enforcing the prohibition and other criminal laws. Under existing conditions the United States marshal must telegraph to Washington for authority to spend funds if he desires to undertake the investigation of a case which involves travel or other expenditures. In many instances this delay results in failure of the investigation. This condition could be remedied if the Department of Justice would authorize the marshal in each division to incur an expense of not to exceed $250 without authority from the Attorney General.

The revenue cutters assigned to Alaska for the seal patrol and in safeguarding steamer channels during certain seasons of the year render most excellent service. One of these cutters is stationed in southeastern Alaska all the year but it is not capable of making sufficient speed to enable it to render assistance to vessels in distress along the Alaska Peninsula or in Prince William Sound. Last year two serious accidents occurred which would have resulted in the loss of lives if other boats had not been in the vicinity. Each season an increasing number of small boats ply the waters of southwest Alaska during the winter months and there is need for a revenue cutter in that locality. Two cutters should be assigned to Alaska during the entire year.

The courts having decided that under existing law the secretary of Alaska could not perform the many Territorial duties that had been assigned to him by the legislature, it was necessary to provide another officer to perform these functions, and the last legislature created the office of auditor. All of the Territorial duties heretofore assigned to the secretary are now a part of the auditor's office.

Under Territorial law ample provision is made for affording relief to those who are so unfortunate as to require assistance. Mothers with dependent children are given allowances of $15 per month for the first and $10 per month for each additional child under 16 years of age. Aged persons who are eligible under the law may be granted maximum allowances of $35 per month for men and $45 per month for women. A home for aged pioneers is maintained at Sitka and at present has an enrollment of about 100. Destitute persons are cared for by a fund disbursed by the governor and certain indigent children are placed in the charge of a board of children's guardians. An appropriation of $414,100 is available for expenditure during 1929-30 for the above purposes.

The last legislature adopted a resolution favoring the construction of an international highway that will connect Alaska and the United States. Much of the proposed highway is in British Columbia and Yukon Territory. Joint action by the two Governments is necessary before the preliminary steps can be taken. The highway would be of great benefit to Alaska and Canada. Since the project is international in its scope, probably it will be necessary for the United States and Canada to appoint a joint commission and give them authority to conduct the preliminary negotiations.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The halibut banks in some areas have been overfished for several years, and although an effort has been made to rehabilitate these fisheries, there is need for more adequate protection. The existing laws and the treaty with Canada are not comprehensive enough to permit the Bureau of Fisheries to achieve the desired results. A survey of the waters of Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean in the vicinity of the Aleutian Islands to determine the extent of the halibut fisheries, accompanied by recommendations for legislation designed to remedy the situation, have been submitted to both Governments. Early consideration of these reports is most essential to the industry in the Territory.

2. The investigation of the herring fisheries by the Bureau of Fisheries should be completed as soon as possible. Accurate data concerning the habits, feeding grounds, conditions that govern the routes followed by the fish, extent of the fisheries, methods of fishing, proper use and conservation are necessary before existing controversies can be satisfactorily closed.

3. An industrial school in southeastern Alaska and hospitals for the care of tuberculor natives in the first and third judicial divisions are most necessary. Increased appropriations are essential to enable the Bureau of Education to supply much-needed school and hospital facilities in many sections of the Territory.

4. There are several agencies engaged in the enforcement of the criminal laws. The agencies should be combined and placed in the Department of Justice.

5. The investigations made during the past two years disclose that wolves and coyotes are increasing rapidly in some sections, and the evidence is convincing that they are destroying small game and furbearers. The Territory is spending $15,000 each year in an effort to control the advance of these animals, but the funds are not sufficient to finance an adequate program, and the Federal Government should appropriate money to assist in the work.

6. The revenue cutter that is stationed in southeastern Alaska during the year renders most efficient and necessary service, but it can not extend aid to the region tributary to Prince William Sound and the Alaska Peninsula. Another cutter should be assigned to those waters during the entire year.

7. There are two systems of communication now in the Territory. The Signal Corps of the United States Army operates the cable between Seattle and Alaska and maintains a network of wireless telegraph stations which extends to nearly every part of the Territory.

This is an excellent system and it is most efficiently managed. The United States Navy maintains several wireless stations and radiocompass stations along the coast. These stations also transact commercial business. These latter stations may be necessary to naval operations and the cost of operation justified for this reason, but from an economic standpoint there seems to be no reason why they should not be placed in charge of the Signal Corps and this could be done at much less expense than under the present arrangement.

8. Aviation has assumed an important place in the transportation field in the Territory and Alaska occupies a strategic position on the proposed air routes between Asia and America. The United States Army should establish airports and station a squadron of planes in the interior of the Territory and the United States Navy should provide a base for naval planes on the coast.

9. The aerial survey work that for two seasons has been in charge of an expedition detailed by the United States Navy has photographed practically all of southeastern Alaska. The results have proved to be of great value and could not have been obtained by any other method as cheaply in the same length of time. This work should be extended to include the coastal regions as far west as Unimak Island, and the expedition should be sent to Alaska each season until all of these areas have been photographed.

10. There are many sections of the coast line and adjacent waters along the Alaska Peninsula that have not been surveyed by the Coast and Geodetic Survey. Each year many more boats ply these waters and accurate charts and aids to navigation are most necessary. Early completion of this work is recommended.

11. The Federal buildings in Ketchikan and Fairbanks are old and entirely inadequate for present requirements. They should be replaced by fireproof structures with sufficient floor space to provide offices for all Federal activities.

12. For some years the Federal court has held terms at stated periods in Anchorage. This practice will be, no doubt, continued in the future and the building now used for court sessions is inadequate. A new building with court room and office for the United States commissioner should be provided.

COMMERCE OF ALASKA

A summary of the commerce of Alaska for the fiscal year 1929 shows a considerable increase over the preceding fiscal year. The principal increase is $20,113,780 in the value of fish products, mainly canned salmon. This is an abnormal increase and is accounted for by the poor run of fish in the preceding fiscal year. However, the values of fish and fish products are in excess of the average during this period.

An increase of $648,558 in the value of gold shipped is caused mainly by increased production in the Juneau and Fairbanks districts.

There was a decrease of $215,263 in the value of copper shipped from the Territory and a decrease of over 13,000,000 pounds. The decrease in value would be larger were it not for the fact that the