The evening times., 1911-08-11

s~~Sss SesSsseAOe, SsAA0S AA4 0Ay 0VOASs VUE
entire past Industrial history gives
US warrant for saying that, II the Ry-
an road is built as planned. 1t will
but matter Of time. and probably
9 very short time, before Ry-
'a.sets aqd the Guggenheim inter-
"The ss Sf affairs brought to
light during the administration Of Mr..
Ballinger showed conclusively, and
for the first time, that we had to
guard against monopoly i'd connec-
ton with the development Of Alaska,
or, to speak more properly, the ex-
plottatfon OF Alaska by great syndi-
cate for the sole benefit Of that syn
dicate. When the eliminations ait
Eyak and Valdez Arm were made, not
q revelation as regards the Guggen-
helm syndicate, o. any other syndi-
cate, had been brought to my atten-
tion, or, as far as I knew, or know,
to the attention Of any man in re-
sponsible' position around me, and
the public was wholly unaware Of the
existence Of any such state of things
as the Ballinger Investigation showed
to exist.
Whether Mr.. Garfield or any one
else had been told that the Guggen-
helms were engaged in syndicate
to act in Alaska, I know not, for I
never was informed; but, in any
event, It was Of no possible conse-
quence, because at that time nothing
had developed to show that they had
become an exploiting syndicate tend
ing to establish monopoly in mining
and transportation-aside from the
fact that 1t had never been suggest
ed, as it has since been loved, that
they were expecting to b. the bene-
ficiaries Of what has since been de-
clared to be fraudulent transaction.
The difference between elimination in
one case and In the other seem, to me
to be sufficiently obvious.
'"The elimination at Eyak and VAL
dez Arm have no more bearing upon
the elimination of the Controller Bay
tract than have the previous elimina-
tions In the Rocky mountain states.
In the Rocky mountain states I elm
mated tract after tract of forest re-
servation to permit Of agriculture, Of
manufacture, or the establishment of
town sites; and I refused to make
what on the surface were similar
eliminations when i became convinc-
ed that they were really asked for
the purpose Of monopolizing the wa
ter power.
Laws Inadequate
"In the newspaper dispatch to
which / have referred 1t is hinted
that l acted as l did because
thought the law, then and still in
did not sufficiently protect the public
interest. Perhaps this is meant to be
irnnical. It Is certain that the law
did not su ciently protect the public
interest. It is for that reason that,
az president, repeatedly urged that
the laws pertaining to Alaska be
amended; as I still urge that they be
amended. .
"In the eastern states we have suf-
fered from the fact that the ownership
Of the coal and the ownership 6f the
railways have been permitted to fall
into the same hands. What havoc
such combination can work was
shown when, during the anthracite
strike, the people of large section
of the country were threatened with
winter coal famine which would
A0NO S6u6O0 UAoo6COA0 SS0 81 O0V SSo
those of the civil war. The effort
to remedy this state Of affairs by
government action, after it had been
permitted to arise because Of gov
ernment fnaction, was necessarily
fraught with hardship and suffering
for many innocent holders Of securi-
ties. It is, to my mind, the duty Of
the United States government to pre-
vent q similar condition arising in
Alaska. do not believe in the policy
Of state-oWned railways as a general
thing: but am quite willing to see
the Panama railroad owned and run
by the government, as. 1t actually is:
and in the same way, IL difficulty oc-
ours in connection with what has
been done in Controller Bay. feel
that it would be good thing for the
United States. to build and operate
the short line Of railway with its
terminals) which would connect the
bay with the coal fields. Then, with
the coal fields given over to private
developers on q leasehold system as
simple as possible, and on such terms
as to guarantee an ample profit to
those engaged in the work Of develop
ment, the trouble In connection with
the Alaskan coal fields would vanish.
I have said already that the resources
of Alaska must be developed. ! advo-
cate with all my heart the conditions
Of development being made such as
to give ample return to those willing
to undertake the work, and, as there
Is an element Of hazard In the work,
/ would prefer to see the govern
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