Valdez daily prospector., 1915-04-28
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2S, 1915.
WORRY WON'T HELP.

this year on this end Of the line of the Alaska government railway, says the Fairbanks News-Miner and that is final. The road as routed by the pres dent, so far as we can see, ends on the Panama river where the drain age of the Nenana river" enters the Tanana From the way the water is piling up in the cellar of our resi- dence, it appears to us that the drainage of the Nenana river" pass es through our back yard and ends in Cinema slough just above the bridge, but we may be wrong in our geography-the drainage of the Ne mana river" may end and fall into the Panama river somewhere in the vicinity of Nenana, in which case the terminus of the Alaska government railway may be at or near Nenana. instead of our back yard on Eighth avenue, Fairbanks. In which event Nenana sholud grow into city the size of Chitina, at least.
 Of coruse, if anybody cares to wish a free railroad upon us, we are will ing to let them 60 it. and we wouldn't look any of it's locomotives in the mouth to determine their age. All of us have been all our lives strug- gling and fighting to keep as far ahead of railways as we could. in the belief that the railroad makes it too easy for tightwads in our lines of business to get in and run us out of business, but maybe we have had our worries for nothing. If the rail road made it easy for Chinese cheap labor to come in and drive us out. it would also make it easy for us to get out when we have to-although where we could go that would be bet ter we might rot know. The only reason we wanted their old railroad anyway was that it might lower freights so that we could go on draw ing the old Klordike wages and yet allow the producer to live on what was left after paying those wages, but maybe it would have brought cheaper labor with it. Generally a fellow doesn't know whether he really is we'll off or when, so maybe 1t is all for the best-if it is true.
 There is one way we can beat the game for a time and beat it right, and that is to back and encourage and assist Falcon Joslin to build the Panama Valley railroad into the Tolo- vana. He might be able to build it as cheaply as we could build wagon road, and it would last longer. Noth' ing could beat us out of the Tolo- yana trade then-it would be ours forever.
 Of course, we are not giving up hope of having that government rail- road flow into Fairbanks and come right up and eat out of our hands. but we might as well be prepared for anything that comes. The rail- road is a political gift, and anything can happen in politics. and does. For instance, there isn't chance of any railroad being built in Alaska this year unless it is a branch from the Alaska Northern to the Matanuska coal fields, which are apparently no nearer Fairbanks than is the end Of the Alaska Northern. Next year Is presidential election year. and how much railway could be built during a national campaign, anyway? Not too much. If. in November. 1916. the Republicans should get together and are able to convince the voters that the hard times of 1914. 1915 and 1916 are the fault of the Democrats bow could you keep the Republicans from winning? If they do win. the Democrats will build no railroads in Alaska in 1917--maybe the Republi cans won't, either. for they are not fond of government ownership theor ies. So, take it by and large, we might never have gotten our govern ment railway if it had been routed through to us by the President or Saturday last. Also, we can't lose anything we never had.
 So far as we can see, there's nc use of worrying. Worry won't help Only the future will tell what Santa Claus has in store for us. but there isn't any use in spending money on the strength of the promised gift un til you have the gift in your hand