The Alaska prospector., 1904-03-03

Tn an edftOyiaf or the issue O1 Feb. 16, the Seattle P.-I. uses a half column of space at the solici- tation of fake enterprise, and for other reasons best known to the editor.
 The article is headed Alaska Roads" and shows throughout ma iciousness, ignorance of the si.ua- tion and geography of the country, and weakness oN the part of the instigaters who again claim to have the necessary capital to go ahead with thei. enterprise.
 It is inco.nprehensible why the P.-I. should show such vindictive spirit against the people of Valdez, who, for the past six years, while attempting unaided to open up this vast country, have spent in the Seattle markets many thousands of hard earned dollars.
 After giving a ridiculous reason why the Nelson bill, which provides for wagon road from Valdez to and through the interior of Alaska, should fail in its passage, the edi- torial states-"But while this fact may be an argument against an ap- propriation for the construction of the particular wagon road suggest ed, it is not an argument against making at least as large an appro- priation as the one proposed for the construction of roads along other routes to be selected" This looks like a very poor makeshiit argument. That road is neces- sary is admitted, then why net from Valdez?
 During last summer four U. S. senators, of undoubted ability, trav- eled through Alaska and acquired . better knowledge of the country at large than is possessed by many who have lived here for years. Up on reaching Washington they made an official report of their trip which was published in the P.-I. of Jan. l4. Had the writer of the editor ial above referred to gone over this yepest he wOud have found as fol- lows:
 "As basis for a system, we'll constructed wagon road should con- meet the waters of the Pacific at Valdez with those of the Yukon river at Eagle, the length of which to be about 400 miles. This would follow the general lines of the mili- tary trail constructed under the direction of the war department by Capt. Abercrombie in 1899 and 1900, along which trail there has been since constructed and put into operation a military telegraph line. Valdez is the most northerly har- bor in the Pacific ocean. It is, in all essential particulars the finest AarbOr on the coast, being open and free from ice throughout the year, and is the natural gateway to the interior. It is the key to the Cop per river country, the upper Tan ana and the Forty-Mile district and to their future development. The time has now come when the construction of a wagon road over this route is imperatively demand ed"
 The editorial further states. '1The proposed Valdez road was designed to open up one small section of interior Alaska"
 As matter of fact the proposed Valdes wagon road is designed to open at least 40DOO square miles sf elegant valley land, and it would be well for the writer to bear in lsind the fact that this enormous tssct of virgin soil will afford space SoY 80OO0 homesteadeSs.
 If the people back ot the Alaska Central railroad have IS they claim sufficient capital to baild theiy soad. why don't they go ahead and do 50 without knocking If their engineers had gone in over the eCSAtgy they would have found thst their proposed line and the kn< q the wagon road do not come