1941: Alaska

Population.

For the first time in its history the territory of Alaska showed a rapid growth in population. Complete figures of the sixteenth decennial census of Alaska, taken in the fall of 1939, but not available until the end of the 1940 fiscal year, showed a population of 72,524, an increase of 22.3 per cent over the preceding census. By race the 1939 census figures reveal a white population of 39,170, of whom 30,384 are native-born and 8,786 foreign born. Of the 32,458 native stock, 32,248 were native born and 210 foreign born. The native stock was divided as follows: Alcut, 5,559; Eskimo, 15,576 and Indian, 11,283. There were 896 inhabitants of other races of whom 263 were Japanese. This increase in population has continued during more recent months, and it is the belief of Governor Ernest Gruening that the population of the territory had passed 80,000 by the end of 1941, an increase of 35 per cent over 1930.

Defense.

It was the increased activity pertaining to defense which was the chief cause for the unusual increase of population. Defense activity, in fact, more than anything else dominated the life of Alaska during 1941. Except for two companies of infantry at Chilkoot Barracks, a military and naval establishment in Alaska had been virtually non-existent before 1939. By the middle of 1941 $70,000,000 had been authorized for military purposes. New navy bases were under construction at Sitka, Kodiak and Dutch Harbor. Plans were underway to add substantial army contingents to those bases and to create additional bases at Seward, Nome and elsewhere. A large airfield program was instituted with major airports on Annette Island, at Yakutat, Boundary, Big Delta, West Ruby, Bethel and Cordova. Plans were started for an Alaskan trunk highway to connect with important roads in the territory. The work of the weather bureau was being enlarged, as was that of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, the United States Guard and other territorial services and all were more and more pointed definitely to defense efforts.

Economic Progress.

'The Territory of Alaska,' said the Governor of the Territory in his annual report for the year ending June 30, 1941, 'reached an all time high of prosperity during the past year.' This he attributed to the defense program which had added a third 'economic prop for the Territory, which hitherto had rested none too securely on two main industries, gold mining and salmon fisheries.' The value of metal production for 1940 (last figures available) was $28,470,000 as against $25,296,000 in 1939. Of this gold represented $26,178,000 in 1940 and $23,279,000 in 1939. The 1940 statistics showed an increase in the value of gold, silver, platinum, tin and coal over 1939 but a decrease in value of copper and lead.

Despite the general prosperity the products of the Alaskan fisheries in 1940 decreased considerably, the total quantity being the smallest for any year since 1927. The total value of the fishery products for 1940 was $36,440,660, a decrease of $3,663,833 from the preceding year. Of this value salmon represented 91 per cent, both in 1939 and 1940. Decline in the fisheries was due to light runs of salmon and herring in certain localities, necessitating curtailment of operation in order to rebuild the populations to their normal abundance, and to the suspension of operations by the Alaskan whaling stations because of the low price of whale oil. The decline in the value of the fishery products was reflected in the decline of the export trade. The value of shipments of all products from Alaska to the United States declined from $63,245,951 for the year ended June 30, 1940 to $61,153,874 for the year ended June 30, 1941, a decrease of $2,092,077.

On the other hand, successful expansion and excellent crops were reported in the Matanuska Valley colonization project and enough evidence was collected to prove the practicability of cereal production and dairying in this region.

Nothing illustrated the economic development of the past year better than that of air transportation. Work completed during the fiscal year 1941 now provides the Territory with an airways system from Nome to Ketchikan and improvements under way will expand the system to the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. Inauguration of scheduled air-line trips between Alaska and the United States greatly increased commercial air travel in Alaska. The growth of aviation in Alaska may be indicated by the facts that flying hours in 1941 increased 24 per cent over 1940, number of trips 33 per cent, number of miles flown 23 per cent, number of passengers carried, 33 per cent and number of passenger miles 37 per cent.

Matters of Government.

From July 1, 1940, to June 30, 1941, Territorial vouchers were drawn for the following purposes: Education, $532,692.48; Aid to Municipalities, $507,104.17; Welfare and Relief, $1,090,737.25; Development of Territory, $207,179.61; Industrial Development, $153,015.24; Administration, $130,179.03, a total of $2,620,907.78. It will be noted that the major item in the budget was welfare and relief, a good proportion of which went to the native population for health, sanitation, relief and other projects of a similar type.

The annual meeting of the territorial legislature was given added interest in 1941 by the effort of Governor Gruening to bring about a new tax program and other reforms. Pointing out that the existing tax structure was inadequate, unequitable and discriminatory in favor of the absentee owners of the mining and fishing industries as well as of the imported labor coming to Alaska in the summer, the Governor recommended the levying of two new basic taxes, a corporate and personal income tax and a general property tax. At the same time he recommended the repeal of over 30 existing taxes. Although the proposals would still have left Alaska the most lightly taxed political entity of the United States, the program was defeated in its entirety. Among the few constructive pieces of legislation was a much needed traffic law and one creating a Territorial Department of Labor.