Evening star., 1914-03-21
DEVELOPMENT OF ALASKA,
By Frederic J. Haskin.

with 8olo pen whose handle was an
Alaskan mastodon tooth moro than $1,000
years old. there was signed the Alaska
railroad bill which will open that sealed
vault Of great wealth to the world.
Alaska. as a storehouse, should be un-
locked, said the President In his special
message to Congress, and sharp outline
in the development Of the American con-
tinent will be the story Of the tusk of
an ancient Alaskan mammal TRANSFORMED
into the twentieth century key that drew
wide the doors of a treasure house far
exceeding the fabulous possessions of
Croesus.
United States to build not more than
1000 miles Of railroad in Alaska, at
cost not to exceed $35. coo, 600 1t Is es-
sentially the measure drawn up and in
troduced into the House of Representa-
tives by James Wickersham, delegate
from Alaska, a duplicate of which was
simultaneously presented to the Senate
by Senator George E. Chamberlain of
Oregon. The only important change was
the elimination of the clause which pro-
vided for the issuance of a bond issue.
The money will be appropriated year by
year by Congress and in this way the
cost of interest and other charges incident
to bonding will be saved. This is the
method followed in part in financing the
Panama canal project, only portion OF
the authorized bonds ever being offered
for SALE The friends of the measure
would have felt safer had the full 1885,
900, 600 been provided for in a single au-
thorized bond issue, but they anticipate
no difficulty In inducing Congress to pro-
vide funds as they are needed.
Full authority and responsibility are
vested in the President, as in the Pana-
~rvfI ha lima nr
to be built, approve surveys, type OF con-
struction, quality of material. select his
own assistants FIX salaries and expendi-
lures, and. in short, have the last word
in everything pertaining to the proposed
| railroad 1t is expected that the Secre-
tary of the Interior will be the cabinet
officer personally charged with the ad-
nlinistration, just as the Secretary of
War has been the presidential agent in
the construction of the Panama canal.
Going further. it is quite possible that
one technical expert actually on the job
will have powers equal to those exercised
on the big ditch by Col. Goethals. Who
this man will be. and whether he will be
chief engineer or chairman of a commls-
sion, or both, is matter of the future.
The use in the Alaska project Of engi-
| neers Of the army and navy. or Of any
other branch
Canal Zone Machinery of the feder-
to Be Used in Project. n,ent. "a, ga is au-
thorized by the act, and Congress directs
| that all available and suitable machinery
| and materials now in use on the Canal
Zone shall be transferred to Alaska, as
| they are no longer needed at Panama. The
| isthmian canal commission is authorized
| 20 take credit for everything SO delivered
at percentage fixed by the President.
| but this amount is not to be charged
against the fund provided for in the act
In this way will be served the double par-
pose Of utilizing a goodly portion of the
expensive equipment soon to be useless
at Panama, and of giving almost imme-
date assistance to the far northern ex-
pertinent.
The sum of 100000 is made available
at once by the new law, and preliminary
| work will be begun as soon as pos
sible. In fact, tentative plans have al
ready been made. The lines will be SC
| located as to connect one or more Of the
open Pacific harbors on the southerr
coast of Alaska with the navisable walers
| in the interior. and with such coal fields
and agricultural sections as will best de-
velop this magnificent territory. In otheI
l
shake hands with icy Fairbanks, and the
rich Tanana valley within the arctic cir.
Gle will no longer be remote inland EN-.
pire hidden away from the rest OF the
world.
Secretary Lane expects that between
four and five years will be required to
have approximately 1000 miles of rail.
road open Tor business. Construction viii
go on at both ends at the same time
eventually meeting at some central ter
minus. There will be no engineering diff.
culties to unduly delay experienced rail-
readers. but it must be remembered thai
the greater part of the project must bt
carried on under climatic conditions tina
permit of but six months work a year
At the present time there are little over
$50 miles of privately owned railroads tr
Alaska. Some of these may be bought
outright if the government cares to de-
SO, or they can be paralleled, or wholly
ignored. Some Of these little Independent
railroads will not be needed at all. be-
cause they are maintained by private
corporations to develop their own mines
The railroads there now are Alaska
Northern Railway Company. Cooper River
and Northwestern railway, the Tanans
Mines railway, the White Pass and 9ukor