Interior Department Offers Own Alaska Bill to Replace Dickstein’s

Interior Department officials are seeking to have legislative authorization for refugee colonization of Alaska shifted from the jurisdiction of the House Immigration Committee to the Committee on Territories, enabling them to substitute for the Dickstein bill a measure prepared by the department.

The eight-man Immigration Committee subcommittee to amend the Dickstein refused to grant the Department’s request that the transfer of jurisdiction be granted, but did vote to refer the matter back to the full committee for action.

No action will be taken until Chairman Samuel Dickstein of the Immigration Committee and Chairman Lex Green of the Territories Committee have an opportunity to confer on the matter. Green declared he could say noting until Dickstein returned to Washington late this week.

Felix Cohen, Interior Department attorney, revealed that Secretary Ickes had already sent a prepared bill to the chairmen of both the House and Senate Territories committees and asked that the Immigration Committee abandon its consideration of the measure at an executive session today.

That a fight will be waged to retain Immigration Committee control of the measure was made certain by the statements of Representatives Schulte (Dem.,Ind.) and Kramer (Dem.,Calif.), members of the subcommittee, that they would oppose any transfer of authority, both in the committee and on the floor of the House should a colonization measure be reported out by the Territories Committee. “This bill is primarily an immigration measure and the development angle is definitely subordinate” Schulte declared.

The Interior Department measure is similar to the original King-Havenner bill offered in the last Congress. It would authorize creation of Alaska development corporations with the approval of the Secretary of Interior which would allow private capital to organize colonization projects in Alaska.

Refugee colonizers would be restricted to quota immigrants and the special classes of non-quota immigrants permitted by law which include skilled workers, scientists, teachers and students. The Interior Department measure also provides that 75 per cent of the colonization openings be made available to American citizens. It was pointed out, however, that in view of the difficulty in obtaining American colonists for the territory under previous Government-sponsored efforts it was very unlikely that more than a small part of the 75 per cent would be utilized.