Valdez daily prospector., 1912-02-12

them to one town more than an
 other. l observed that aside from
 two or three of the heavy prop
 erty holders of the town, the ac-
 tivity manifested at the Chamber of Commerce meeting was due all
 most wholly to men who could
 pack their personal belongings in
 their war bags. figuratively
 speaking, and go to the railroad
 wherever it might be. This would
 be so much easier for them than
 to wage the war they are to have
 the railroad come to them. We
 admire the local patriotism of
 these men but we cannot praise
 their judgment for the property
 holders of the tOWn--the men who will be the heavy losers when
 Valdez is no mOrc--who sit quiet ly by and seem to be wholly i'm
 different to what is going on around them. No doubt these
 property holders have long since given up the fight to make a place
 for Valdez on the map. They probably realize that the effort is
 futile, while the more ambitious ones still continue the struggle.
 While rejoicing in the success of Seward, I really feel sorry for
 those who have their all tied up
 in realty in Valdez which, of course, cannot be removed.
 ll Is for this reason that I think
 such men as John Frame, Paul d'lIriry, Frank Foster and a num- ber of others, will find a much more prolific soil, and wider field for their entcrprising efforts, than on the glacial drift at the head of Valdez bay, and at the same time in their capacity as "boostcrS" they will find con- munity of citizens who will lend them their moral and material aid in such active efforts for the bet irrinrnt of the community in which they live. l say to all those who are not tied down here, that they will find a warm welcome in Seward. Stop your rcSOlutin'" in the Chamber of Commerce and leave that work to those whose property interests lie here, but who have apparently given up the ghost and are willing to turn the old town over to the owl, the ra- ven and the sea gull.
 Come io a live place, where the business man, the property OWL CT and inc professional man-- those usually responsible for the veal OF woe of the c0mmuniIy-- do not Shirk their civic duties. To continue the fight for those who apparently have given up the battle and lost all heart in their cause, Is waste of energy, rS- prcially is this so concerning those who can st easily gather up their effects and ship them io the future railroad terminal without any loss whatever, over and above a ticket from the glacier lo the Iandlockcd harbOr on RrslIrrrc- ton bay. The sooner you come the better. Those who come first will get corner lots while those who continue tO be foolish will have to be satisfied with a sub urban lot on thiriy-secOnd street.
 The substantial citizens" of Valdez, by their indifference in the railroad question, would seem to. think that the enormous amount of correspondence that has ben done through your chamber of commerce with con- gressmcn and the civic bodies of the coast, is of no force and eff feet, but the people of Seward and her workers at Washington are confronted with the facts and fig urcs from this source al every turn of the road. While it is easy enough for us to answer all of them, they, nevertheless, cause all reasonable and fair-mindcd men tO pause and investigate be- fore reaching conclusions. Ofl course all this only delays the game, for Seward already has the indOrsemcnt of the administra- lion. True enough, the adminis- tration does not have the say as to where this road is to be built, or as io whether it. is to be built at all or not, and right here is where the Valdez workers are getting in their political diplom- acy. for all Alaska questions arc rapidly becoming national issues.
 'But why tho exercise of all this In h,,;I,i;,n IL. ,ool