Valdez daily prospector., 1913-10-14
TUESDAY, OCTOBER if, 1913.
WANTED-.A MILLION A YEAE.

IT Congress Will make all ap- prOpriatiOn of one million dol lars a year for ten years for the construction of roads and trails in Alaska, one hundred million dollars will be added to the gen eral wealth of the nation by this territory in a decade and a half. In other words the additional wealth that such an appropria- ton would produce in the open ing to development of known rich mineral sections That are now accessible, and of others which are practically inacr"ssi- ble, the natural increase in pro- huction would reach that enOr- nous sum. The reason is mani- fest. The great bar to the de- velOpmcnt of Alaska's $ vast min- cral storehouses is the lack of ad- equatc land transportation facil- ilies. No one who knows any thing about this territory will dispute this statement. Good roads and trails are as much a necessity in the development of the mineral and other resources of the country as railroads. Per haps moro so.
 X system of trunk railroads such as is proposed in the bill now pending in Congress must be supplemented by a system of wagon roads and trails to serve as feeders for the railroads and provide them with tonnage. IT Alaska is to be thoroughly devel- ODed along sound economic and industrial lines ,the prospect"r, the miner. farmer and lumberman must be provided with roads and trails to enable them [" lay down their supplies at cost that Will not be prohibitive. Goods roads and trails are not a luxury. They are a necessity, and there scarcely d state in the unIon to- day which is not in line in the work of improving and extending it's road systems. Many states are rxpending millions of dul- lars annually in this work, and their people do not complain be- cause of increased taxes, for they have been convinced by actual experience that the money $" eX- pended returns them d hundred- fold.
 The appropriations that are yearly made for road and trail building in Alaska are got through the War department. Ostensibly these roads and trails are for military purposes. But anyone knows that they will never be put to such use. There fore it is easy to conclude that these scanty appropriations are made through subterfuge, and though it may not be partlcu- larly pleasing to Alaskans, this seems to have been the only way that congress could be induced to make an allowance for that purpose.
 It seems to The Empire, how ever, that the time is here L" change the method and ask con- gress to make a direct apprOprla- tiOn of million year for ten years for the construction of permanent roads and trails in the territory. No longer would we be compelled to resort to subterfuge in order to get a few thousand dollars year, with which to .Op- en up the country to development and tighten the burdens borne by the men who are anxious and willing to uncover latent rich mineral and otheg resources.
 Ten million dollars invested by the government in roads and trails in addition to forty mil lions invested in railroads, make a total of fifty million dollars an investment, we submit, that, in point of material profit to the investor, cannot be. duplicated in any other state or territory. There would be no element of chance in it--but instead it would add hundreds of millions of dol : lars to the national wealth in the years tO cOme.--Juneau Empire.