The Alaska citizen., 1911-01-23

lltHN or lAt GU - q t- tl Amer ica, until a decision is first had in the land department on the ap- peal of the katalia company in tha case Cf Al Low vs. the ka. ala com pauy in the United S,a.os land de. par,ment" That case involves the very rights which il is now propos- ed by this bill to give 10 the Cop per River Railway. which is there Htigating as the Katalla company.
 @ The second objection to this bill is that il grants and confirms unto the Copper River Railway a strip of tide and shore land Poo feet in width ling the entire Wa ter front of thr town of COrdoya, and between the upland and the tide lands. There are but three Eateways to the interior oi Alas ka. and Cordoya is one of th m. l. is the central gateway and the outlet of the great Copper river coal and copper fields. If this bill should pass it would convey, grant and confirm a complete ownership ard monopoly of approach HrtNCcu tbs gateway and the ovol~ T + tie same as if CT. raj. .4 CElci all of the waterfront of New York. Chicago, San Francisco or Seattle, If this bill should pass this rail road could, and would. prevent all. other railroad. CT an. other enter prise of any kind, CT the peopl- Ct the United states or the tGritor! Of Alaska from TCI'hIu- fh, uav.- gable waters Of the Pacific ocean from the interior Of Alaska, ,X- Cept under such terms as il should dictate. It would give them cnire charge, control and the ownership of the waterfront and the tidelands in front of the only harUUr through which tEc Copper river auI nI,CT- for country comes and th- coal from the Katalia and Ber.nE river coal fields Without any restriction what. ever they could thereafter, forever, charge such rates of Wharfage as they pleased Such a monopoly of great seaport through which the great interior of AIaska must traUt. will be a handicap To the growth c1 the territory, and a right never be- fore given by congress 10 any per son or corporation. No one of the great ransContinental railroads of cur country has ever had any such right, and the states of California, Oregon and Washington own and control a harbor area for the eX- press purpose of preventing just this sort of monopoly.
 (3) The bill is not necessary. The Copper River Railroad has already built it's line and it's Wharves and they are in constant actual operaHgn; the road is in possession, and eX- Cepting the prior rights which are now in litigation in the proper courts, their possession cannot be nterferod with. II is true that possession can never ripuu into a title in fee such as is att, mpted to be conveyed by this grant, but that possession is sufficient fir all the purposes of maintaining and Oper ating their railroads, though not for excluding all other interests and giving them a monopoly. Ihn sec ond section of the act Of May H., 1898, (3O Stat. l., 499), An Act eN- tending the homestead laws and providing for right of way for rail roads ill the district of Alaska, and for other purposes" has already granted d right Of way to railroads in Alaska, and the Copper River Railway was built under that law This law is a general law, but gives terminal rights and station grounds, a right of way and mater ial, stone and timber, fir consJruc- tiOn purposes, and the second sec ton there of provides:
 And when such a railway shall connect with any nayigable stream or tideWater, such company shall have power to construct and main tain necessary piers and Wharves for connection with water transpor- tatiOn subject to the supervision of the secretary of the treasury: Pro vided, That nothing in this Act shall be cOnstruCed as impairing in l any degree the title of any state that may be h reafter erected out of said district or any part thereof to tide lands and beds of any of its navigable waters, or the right of such state to regulate the use there of, nCr the right of the United States to resume possession of such lands, it being declared that all such rights shall continue to be held by the United States in trust for the people of any state which may hereafter be erected out of said district"
 I call your attention to the fact that the law just quoted. provides that the secretary of the treasury shall have supervision over piers and wharves for connection with water transportation, but that the present bill reserves no such right The quotation also prOvidts that the title of any future state which may be erected in Alaska shall not have its rights impaired by the fact that the railroad has Wharyes docks and even it's track upon the tidelands, while the present bill grants and confirms to the rail- road the very title to the tidelands, and thus takes them out of the power of the state or of any local i legislature hereafter to control. In other words. the present bill con veys to the railroad not only the title but the right to the control of the trade and traffic which shall go across the land. The United States abandons the right which it has always heretofore held and gives a complete title and monopoly to the railway over the waterfront of this great harbor through which the coal and other products of the interior of Alaska must come and it's domestic trade must go.
 (4 The bill also provides that the railway company shall have title in fee simple over