The Washington herald., 1914-03-29
Appointed Federal Judge IN Alaska, He Immediately
Started Cleaning Up Dngaceful Situation at
Nome, Resulting IN Government Officials
Being Placed Under Arrest.

San Francisco and Seattle can reach that
port.
Thus the railroad will lengthen the
shipping season for freight over cur en-
tire system OF interior WATERWAYS We
have 5000 miles Of inland rivers. ali nayi.
gable, which the new railroad will con-
meet with our Southern -seaboard IL
must oe remembered that at present the
Alaskan syndicate controls our vhois
transportation system-ships at SEA and
on the rivers. the little railroad from
Cordova to its copper mines and the stare
route from Chitina to Fairbanks n
brings our goods and machinery In and.
after getting them in, sells them To us
At monopolistic prices. The railroad. soon
to be built. will break that utterly de-
structive monopoly. Independent shin.
will unload their cargoes - the Pacific
terminus Of the railroad. And independ-
ent boats will appear on our rivers.
Furthermore. independent merchants win
open stores in our towns and small
settlements
The American people ought to know
what the Alaskan Syndicate charges FOR
transporting the things we require in
our work Of turning a wilderness into
one Of the fairest portions of our COM
mon country. Syndicate vessels carry
grain and feed at S11 a ton from Sc
attic to Cordova, the port on the south
coast The freight on hay Is so a
ton, on hardware s12 ton, on mining
machinery SIS a ton and on coal ss a
ton In length the haul is rs miles
where Railroads Do Pay.
The grain. feed. hardware. ma
chinery and coal are loaded on the
cars Of the syndicate railroad at Cor
dova and hauled l3l miles to Chitina.
The price Of that service Is: Grain and
feed SIS a ton. hay so. hardware and
mining machinery S4. coal 81. For the
l3l miles from Cordova to Chitina the
rate on hardware is $34 a ton. The rate
on hardware from New York to Seattle,
3.1s4 miles, also by rail, is SIS ton! No,
the syndicate is not afraid Of coastal
glaciers, nor Of snow and ice. Yet I
suspect 1t has created and spread. In
speeches and magazine articles, a great
deal Of fear in this country about the
climate Of Alaska
Grain and feed having reached Chi
tina by water and rail. the freightage
totals up to s36 a ton. The freightage
OH the hay amounts to So on hardware
to IS. on mining machinery to $40 and
on coal to SIS Now comes a haul of
80 miles to Fairbanks in syndicate
sleighs over a wagon road, mark you,
built by the national government itself
for postal purposes. Jumping all the
items together, the average charge at
fdlrpdnks, on Irelgnt from Seattle, Is
SIS a ton. Hay at that price is pretty
dear; so are all kinds of machinery and
merchandise.
Il offer no excuse for urging Congress
to enter upon railroad building in Alaska.
Shall the national government, I asked
In the House of Representatives, or the
Guggenheims. control the destiny of
Alaska and its people-which?
The Guggenheims bought Loo acres
Of land at IS an acre from the United
States. There Is 81. .ooo. 900 worth of cop
per ore, IS per cent pure. lying in a can
yon on that land ready to be loaded in
syndicate cars at Chitina and shipped
to syndicate smelters in the State of
Washington The Guggenheims. I think,
although they are a large and able fam
lily, have had enough Of our money and
our resources. The government railroad
will break their stranglehold on Alaska"
Copyright. fs4. By James B. Mouowl