TERRITORIES: 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...

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