Kodiak Mirror

Alaska Not "Seward's Ice Box" of Past.
But American "Treasure Box" of Future

Senator Frank Church (D-Idaho) declared in Anchorage Monday that "the admission of Alaska into the Union" means that Congress has at long last recognized that Alaska is no "Seward's Ice Box" of the past, but an American "Treasure Box" of the future.

"Now is a time of decision for the people of Alaska," Church said. The decision is simply whether the new State is to be governed in Juneau by a Democratic or Republican regime, and whether it is to be represented in Washington by a Democratic or Republican team. A divided delegation in the U. S. Senate can only cancel out the two precious votes that Alaska has waited for nearly a century to obtain.

The Idaho senator, who was one of the leading exponents of Alaskan statehood, said he hoped the people of Alaska would vote "the straight Democratic ticket, from top to bottom."

Stating the Democratic Party has been responsible for whatever real progress has been made in Alaska, Church credited Woodrow Wilson as having built "the Alaska Railroad; Franklin Roosevelt who originated the idea of putting into effect the Matanuska Colony; raising the price of gold from $20.67 to $35 an ounce. It was under the Democrats that the Rural Electrification Administration was established in 1936, and through it eight electric co-operatives are now operating in Alaska.

Church had words of praise for Bob Bartlett, Democratic candidate for one of the two Senate seats, and described him as a "proven and effective legislator." He commended William Egan and Ralph J. Rivers, but it was Ernest Gruening who drew the Idaho senator's most extensive tribute.

Church reviewed Gruening's record as Territorial Governor, citing the Veterans' Act, the creation of the Territorial Departments of Health, Agriculture and Fisheries, and the strengthening of public education, among the accomplishments of his administration.

"These achievements," Church stressed, "did much to set Alaskan affairs in order, paving the way toward statehood." "Ernest Gruening is one of the great citizens of our times."