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ALBANIA

estimated reserves of coal in the surveyed fields of Alaska were 19,590,000,000 tons, of which 12,610,000,000 tons were lignite. Oil seepages were found at four localities on the Pacific seaboard: namely, Yakataga, Katalla, Iniskin Bay and Cold Bay, and also at several places near the N. Arctic coast. Only at Katalla, 60 m. E. of Cordova, was there any considerable drilling; here there was some oil production from the only petroleum claim to which patent had been granted. The withdrawal in 1911 of oil lands from entry stopped all development.. In 1919 an oil leasing law was passed, and the development of 'producing fields was expected to follow. The total Alaska oil production to the close of 1920 was 60,000 barrels. Meanwhile, the Territory was consuming about 5,000,000 barrels of imported petroleum products annually. The only consid- erable production of tin in North America was from the York dis- trict on Bering Sea, near Cape Prince of Wales. A total of 1,000 tons of metallic tin had been mined since operations began in 1900. Alaska had produced in all about 9,800,000 oz. of silver and 5,000 tons of lead. This had practically all been won from gold and copper ores, for no large deposits of silver and lead had been developed. The mining of platinum and related minerals began in 1916, since which time about 1,500 oz. of those minerals had been produced. Demands of the World War led to the mining of some antimony, tungsten and chromite ores, but with the decreased value of these metals after the peace these operations ceased. Quicksilver mining had been carried on in a small way for many years. There were in south-eastern Alaska extensive deposits of high-grade marble which had been quarried on a large scale.

Fisheries. The total value of fish products which had been marketed (1867-1919) was $418,000,000. In 1919 the output of the fisheries brought in $50,282,000, of which $45,000,000 was for salmon. Two small salmon canneries were built in Alaska in 1879; by 1919 the number had grown to 134. The fishing industry in 1919 em- ployed 28,500 persons, of which 3,875 were Indians. Ninety per cent were engaged in salmon canning. The canneries can be operated during only from two to four months of the year, and much the larger part of the labour is imported. About 90 % of the salmon caught in Alaskan waters are canned. In 1911 a total of 44,000,000 salmon were caught in Alaskan waters. This was increased in 1918 to 101,500,000, but fell to 58,000,000 in 1919. The enormous catch of 1918 was due to the stimulus of the war demands, and was undoubt- edly in excess of the number that can be taken without permanently impairing the industry. In the early days of the salmon-fishing there were no restrictions, but, beginning in 1902, laws were passed to regulate the fisheries. The latest law (1906) was a great improve- ment on those preceding, but is by no means adequate. As an addi- tional precautionary measure, hatcheries were established. There were five of these operated in 1919, at which were hatched and liberated 95,580,000 young salmon. In theory this should suffice to provide for the annual catch, but in practice only a small part sur- vive as adult fish. The importance to the nation of conserving the Alaska salmon fisheries is indicated by the fact that in 1919 a total of 133,680,000 Ib. of salmon were shipped from the Territory. The halibut fisheries are being depleted even more rapidly than the sal- mon. About 1 4,000,000 Ib. are caught in Alaska and adjacent waters each year. The industry employs about 900 men and 90 small vessels. The halibut is all shipped fresh ; much of it to the E. coast markets, and some to Europe. The number of cod on the Alaska cod banks is enormous, but as yet they have been little exploited. The total annual catch is between 10 and 1 1 million pounds, and the number of men employed is only a few hundred. Herring are found in great abundance as far north as Bering Strait. Whale-fishing along the coast, once a very important industry, is now limited to a few shore stations, where the catch is chiefly utilized for making fertilizer. There has been some canning of crabs and clams. The Alaska crab, which is the same species as that found in the Pacific waters farther south, is especially delicious.

Forest Products. The national forests of Alaska include all the best timber lands (total area 20,000,000 acres). These are estimated to contain 77,000,000,000 ft. (B.M.) of timber suitable for lumber and pulp. Up to 1921 these forests had been used almost solely for local use, though some spruce had been exported for the manufac- ture of aeroplanes and other articles which require great toughness of fibre. It was officially estimated that these forests were capable of furnishing 2,000,000 cords of pulp- wood annually. A pulp- wood industry was developed in south-eastern Alaska in 1920.

Agriculture. Alaska contains extensive farm lands adapted to raising the hardier varieties of wheat, oats, barley, rye, potatoes and other hardy vegetables, and forage crops. The most promising agricultural fields were in the Tanana and Susitna valleys, both tributary to the Government railroad. Tests in this region showed that sugar beets' can be matured that contain a high percentage of sugar. Extensive areas of agricultural land are also found in other parts of the Yukon basin, and smaller patches here and there in the Pacific coastal region. The best-developed farming area was in the neighbourhood of Fairbanks, where about 2,000 acres of land were under cultivation. Here a hardy variety of wheat was matured during five successive years, and part of the flour for local consump- tion was made in a small mill. There is an abundance of good gra- zing land in the interior, but the period of winter feeding is about eight months. Up to 1921 the only cattle introduced were small herds used for dairying. The Government recently began the exper- iment of introducing yaks into this region. The domesticated rein- deer herds numbered in 1920 92,933 valued at $2,238,562 against 22,107 in 1910. This was the natural increase from the original 1,200 imported by the Government between 1892 and 1902. About 70 % of the herd was owned by the Eskimo, for whose support the animals were first imported. Some reindeer meat had been ex- ported, and the amount promised to increase.

Fur Industry. Between 1867 and 1920 Alaska produced furs to the value of $90,400,000, of which $53,000,000 represents seal skins taken on the Pribilof Is. in Bering Sea. Up to 1910 the Gov- ernment leased the seal-catching privileges on the Pribilof Is. to private corporations, which killed 2,320,028 seal and paid the Government $9,474,000 in royalties. The land killing of seal was properly restricted, but pelagic sealing by vessels of various nation- alities destroyed an additional 976,000 seal. Pelagic sealing, being on the high seas, could not be controlled by the American Govern- ment; therefore a treaty was signed in 1911 between the United States, Great Britain, Russia and Japan, abolishing it and provid- ing that the United States was to pay to Great Britain and Japan each 15% of the catch made on the islands. Since 1910 killing has been prohibited on the Pribilof Is. except by Federal agents. Thanks to these provisions, the seal herd has increased from 215,000 in 1912 to 524,000 in 1919. In the latter year the Government sold '9.157 dressed seal skins, for which $1,501,600 was received. The value of all furs shipped in 1919, besides the seal, was$l, 500,000, of which over half is to be credited to the fox. Fur farming increased rapidly during the World War owing chiefly to the high value of furs. Most of the successful farms are on small islands, and practi- cally all are devoted to the raising of foxes, though attempts have been made to raise both mink and marten.

See Maj.-Gen. A. W. Greely, Handbook of Alaska (1909); An- nual Reports of Governor of Alaska (1910-20); Reports of I3th and I4th Census; Report of the International Boundary Commission between the United States and Canada: Arctic Ocean to Mt. St. Elias, with atlas (State Department, Washington, D. C., 1918); Railway Routes in Alaska: Report of Alaska Railroad Commission (1913) ; Report of the Alaska Engineering Commission (1916); Alfred H. Brooks, "The Development of Alaska by Government Railroads," Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. xxviii. (1914) ; Information about Alaska (Interior Department, 1917) ; J. L. McPherson, Alaska: Our Frontier Wonderland (Seattle Chamber of Commerce, 1921); Alfred H. Brooks, The Mt. McKinley Region (U.S. Geological Survey, 1911); Mountain Exploration in Alaska (American Alpine Club, 1914); Hudson Stuck, The Ascent of Denali (Mt. McKinley) (1914); A Winter Circuit of our Arctic Coast (1920); Ernest de K. Leffingwcll, The Canning River Region, Northern Alaska (U.S. Geological Survey, 1919). See also the reports of U.S. Geological Survey of U.S. Department of Agriculture, of Commissioner of Fisheries, Annual Report of Commissioner of Education, Reports of Governor of Alaska (Washington, D.C.), and of Commissioner of Education for Territory of Alaska (Juneau, Alaska).

(A. H. BR.)


ALBANIA (see 1.481). Up to 1908 the policy adopted by the national Albanian leaders may be summarized as follows: (i) To preserve the Ottoman Empire until such time as the Albanian national .ideal, surreptitiously propagated by the various national societies resident abroad, had entered into the consciousness of the Albanian people as a whole (a process necessarily slow where 99% of the population was illiterate and in the face of the opposition of both 'Abdul Hamid and the Greek Patriarchate) lest a premature disruption of Turkey might bring about the dismemberment of Albania herself at the hands of her Christian neighbours; (2) to press in the meantime by constitutional means for an autonomous administration of Albania.

Prominent among those in favour of these Fabian tactics were Ferid Pasha Vlora, the Sultan's trusted grand vizier, and his cousin Ismael Kemal. The keen appreciation by these states- men of their country's predicament was amply proved by sub- sequent events. These events, however, they were unable to control. In July 1908 the Young Turk revolution became imminent. The Albanian mountain chiefs, throwing in their lot with the revolutionary movement, took the lead by tele- graphing to the Sultan to demand the revival of the constitution of 1878. A few days later Maj. Enver Bey and the Committee of Union and Progress proclaimed the constitution at various places in Macedonia, and the II. and III. Army Corps threat- ened to march upon Constantinople. On July 24 the Sultan bowed to the inevitable. Six months later he was deposed after his attempt at counter-revolution had failed an attempt undertaken with the aid of his Albanian bodyguard and with the