49th State?

Ever since Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed him Territorial Governor of Alaska in 1939, chunky, mercurial Ernest Gruening has campaigned vehemently for the abolition of his office. Last week, testifying at a congressional hearing on Alaskan statehood, he reiterated his reasons. Alaska, he said, can never really develop until it becomes a full-fledged member of the Union, takes part in presidential elections, chooses its own governor, and sends Senators and a Congressman to Washington to fight its battles.

"The history of Alaska," he said, "is a history of neglect as far as federal relations are concerned." Only by becoming a state, he argued, could Alaskans gain better transportation, better utilization of timber lands, funds for agricultural experiment, more schools and other practical foundations for a mature economy.

At one point he was asked to comment on a previous witness' statement: "What Alaska needs is white women and roads." Governor Gruening laughed, said he thought that women would come north if roads and other facilities for civilized living were available. Said a committee member, Nevada's Charles H. Russell (Republican): "In other words, you would put it 'roads and white women.' " Gruening smilingly assented.

Despite the Governor's eloquence, and other pleas for statehood which were voiced during the seven days of the hearing, the committee postponed its decision indefinitely. As all concerned were well aware, Alaskan statehood was tied up with the statehood aspirations of both

Hawaii and Puerto Rico. And Hawaii, because of its large Japanese population, would have difficulties. One demagogic Congressman cried: "Do we want a Senator Yamamoto coming to Washington?"

There were other arguments over Alaskan statehood to be considered. Some cannery and mining interests in Alaska were quietly opposing it; many a member of Gruening's opposition cried that the territory would be unable to support itself.

But in one sense all this fitted well with tradition. Few processes of U.S. government move with such glacial ponderousness as those involved in the creation of a new state. Alaskans, who had voted 3-to-2 to add a 49th star to the flag, were one step--though perhaps it was a short step--closer to their goal.

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