The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-07-28

lty to the coal NelUS. HIS leCter was submitted by the secretary of com merce and labor to the secretary of the interior. who invited the comment F of the director of the geological sur vey. That, officer replied that the haTbor was d poor one and that it would not be as good for a naval res ervation as one already selected, but that he thought that private capital ought to be encouraged to construct railway from the channel over the mud flats to the shore and thence to the coal fields.
 Captain Pillsbury of the army en- gineers in report in the record made in 1907 mentions three possible objec- tions to Controller bay-first, that the surrounding islands may prove to be sc low as not fully to protect the channel: second. that the flats extend two or three miles from the shore. and, third. !, that ice formed in the rivers entering the bay and. affected by tidal currents. may destroy structures put upon the flats and especially q long trestle built over them.
 Ryan Asks For Land.
 In December i9O0. Richard $. Ryan. representing the. Controller Railway and Navigation eompany. applied tc MT. Pinchot. the then forester.l for aE elimination from the Chugach forest reservation of tract of land to enable his company to secure railroad ter minals. bunkers. railroad shops, etc.. on the northwest shore of Controller bay. This application was referred !. by the associate forester to the, district forester at Portland. Ore. and by him to the forester in Alaska. The result of these references and the application was that early in 1910 MT. Graves who had in the meantime become for ester, reported that there was no ob jectiOn from the standpoint of forestry interests to the elimination of the tract indicated or. indeed. of 1S0OO acres on the northwest shore of Controller bay.
 The attention of the navy depart ment was invited by the forestry bu- ] reau to the proposal to open the shore of Controller bay to entry and occupa- ton. and inquiry was made whether the navy department desired to use Controller bay as a reservation and whether it objected to its being opened up. The answer was in the negative.
 The matter was considered by the forestry bureau, by the secretary of agriculture. by the secretary of the in- terior and by the general land office. and the result was a recommendation to me in May. 1910. that an elimina- ton be made of 320 acres with front age of 160 rods on the northwest shore of Controller bay.
 considered the whole case in Au- gust, 1910. and directed that the 32e acres, recommended by both depart ments, be eliminated as recommended. The question finally came before the cabinet late in October. After full discussion of the matter and after a consideration of the law I expressed dissatisfaction with the order because it purported on its face to make the elimination for the benefit of rail- road company of a tract of land which the company could not secure under the statute. for it was tract 32O acres in one body when only 160 acres could be thus acquired. In the second place. preferred to make a much larger elimination of tract facing the entire channel and with sufficient room for terminal railway town
 I was willing to do this because I found the restrictions in the law sufi- cient to prevent the possibility of any monopoly of either the upland or the harbor or channel by the Controller Railway and Navigation company or any other persons or company.
 It had been originally suggested by the forestry bureau that 1S,OO0 acres might safely be eliminated so far as forestry purposes were concerned, but fear had been expressed by one of the district foresters that such a large elimination would offer an opportunity to the company to use land scrip and acquire title to extensive town sites. and the result of the joint considera- tion of both departments had been the reduction to 320 acres.
 Assumes All Responsibility.
 wish to be as specific as possible upon this point and to say that alone am responsible for the enlargement of the proposed elimination from 320 acres to 12.SO0 acres and that l pro posed the change and stated my req sons therefor. and.> while both secre taries cordially concurred in 1t, the suggestion was mine.
 The statement of MT. Ryan, who had been properly vouched to the forester by two gentlemen whom I know, Mr. Chester Lyman and Mir. Fred Jen- nings. and who had produced a letter from a reputable financial firm. Probst Wetzler & O.. was that the railway company which be represented had ex- pended more than $75.0O0 in making preparations for the construction of a railway from Controller bay to the coal fields. twenty-five miles away. but that they were obstructed in so doing by the order reserving the Chugach forest reservation. which covered all of the Controller bay shore. He, as well as Probst, Wetzler & Co, gave every assurance that the Copper River Railway company. owned ny Messrs Morgan and Guggenheim. had no con- nect1on with them and that they were engaged in an independent enterprise in good faith to build an independent railroad. No evidence to the contrary has been brought to my attention