Self-Governance

For all of the complaints about its lack of power, the legislature dealt with many issues during its first 60-day session. "We had a copy of one of the proceedings of the Oregon legislature and on that we organized and started in," said Charlie Jones, a miner who represented Nome. 

When the First Territorial Legislature met, its first act was to unanimously approve a bill to allow women to vote. Legislators said that women had proven themselves in Alaska and did much to support its development. Others believed that allowing women to vote was important because it would increase the number of voters, which would impress government officials who questioned the stability and the future of Alaska. Sen. Henry Roden of Iditarod said it was an easy issue to deal with because it did not "cost any member anything, nor their friends."

This Alaska action was praised by supporters of women's suffrage in the United States. The Seattle Sun commented that "Alaska is nothing if not progressive." At that time, only nine states (Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Washington, California, Oregon, Arizona, and Kansas) had granted women the vote, but the trend was turning. The 19th Amendment, extending suffrage to all women, became part of the United States Constitution on August 18, 1920.

During the first 60-day session, the new territorial legislature approved 84 bills that helped fill out the new governmental organization. Lawmakers instituted a $4 head tax on all men between 21 and 50 who were not volunteer firemen. In today's dollars, that would be about $75 per person. The money from this tax was to be used to build roads. They amended the mining laws, adopted laws to regulate banks, made school attendance compulsory, and allowed local governments to organize and enforce rules for health and sanitation. They also approved plans for what became the first Alaska Pioneers Home, designed to help poor prospectors.

One of the most difficult issues was whether the workday should be limited to eight hours in certain occupations. Legislators approved an eight-hour day for the machinery-intensive hard rock mining industry but refused to extend it to the labor-intensive placer mining industry or for women workers.

The Legislature made numerous requests to Congress for federal action, including two that would have long-lasting consequences. One was to ban the use of fish traps, and the other was to build railroads to make Alaska more accessible. While fish traps remained a contentious issue until statehood in 1959, the federal government soon agreed to build a railroad, a decision that helped determine the direction of Alaska's future.

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