The Alaska daily empire., 1916-10-19
President of the Alaska Road Commission Has Set Facts Forth the
 People Should Know.
HAS ANSWER FOR "WlCKy
Makes a General Issue of the Claims and the Criticisms of the
 Delegate.

Col. W. P. Richardson. president
 Of the Alaska Board of Road Com
 missioners. has issued the following
 statement to the people of Alaska,
 answering the claims and criticisms
 of Delegate James Wlckersham:
 Iu-as-much as Delegate Wickersham
 has been industriously circulating
 throughout Alaska for the past two or
 three months certain small pam
 phlets, notably a hearing before the l Military Committee of the House and a so-caled speech, concerning the
 appropriation of $5OO,OOO for road
 work during the current fiscal year and concerning teh past estimates and expenditures of thc Road Com
 mission, consider 1t necessary and proper to make the following state ment in order that the people of AL
 aska may know the facts in the ease.
 In a letter dated August %, 1915.
 written by me to the Fairbanks Com
 mercial Club and made public last fall in the Seward Gateway"
 stated that l did not consider it ne-
 cessary to send him Delegate Wick
 ersham) a copy of that letter and
 that his natural procedure would
 be to again take advantage of some committee hearing or extension of remarks, etc"
 This has happened. He appeared be- fore the Military Committee of the House, during it's last session on the pretense of giving support Co the estimate or the Secretary of War of S50O.OOO for military and post roads, etc, in Alaska, when the estimate has already had the approval of the President, and the Delegate was afraid it would pass He is a member of that Committee and there was no oc- casion for his having such a hearing except Co try and use it to mislead somebody He could and should have given his aid in another way if he really wanted to supper; the es- timate.
 As it was, he couldn't resist the temptation to misrepresent the facts and attack the Commissions work For example. he makes the state ment that they can put the gravel over the road in the winter time better than they can in the sum- mcr" This absurd statement caus- ed only merrimcnt among certain old l timers in the Territory who know l something about the winter condi-I ! tions and something about road ! building The Delegates intention probably was to intimate that l ought to remain in Alaska during the | winter digging fruitessly in the fro- zen gravel. or spelling at great cost the surface of the snow roads, while he could pursue his foolish attack upon me unhindered in the city of Washington.
 In the tabulated statement of eX- penditures by the Road Commission, as given by the Delegate in his hear ing before the committee he includes moneys appropriated and disbursed before the Road Commission came into existence. 1900 and 1904 Such a misrepresentation of facts needs no comment Also. he states that they the Road Commission, expen1 under certain particular statement more for salaries and other pur poses than they do for the construc- ton of the road" he salaries of the members of the Board are paid out Of funds for the pay of the Army, and no other salaries are paid whatsoever except Go persons working on the road or keeping the necessary ac- ] counts in the office. His statement is false.
 l repeat: The prediction has been fulfilled. He not only appeared be- fore a committee. but has indulged In an extension" of remarks. The Record of June 26th shows that when the Alaska road tenn was up for discussion the Dele gate had no word to say until after he item had been adopted and then le asked consent to "extend" his re- marks, which now appear throughout he Territory in the form of soc ,alled speech. He never delivered ny such speech There is a limit ,f course. to what members of Con- ;ress will stand for on the floor If the house, but there seems little upon this extension Of re- marks" business. However, it some ines has it's good side.
 On the front page of the socalled beech the Delegate sets up a straw nan to knock down, in the form c:
 letter from Mir. Hay to Mir Kahn. [ is easy to understand how the Delegate, with his well-hnown pro- it ensities, could procure such let q er: but as a matter of fact nobody S ccused him of making objection or pposition to the Committee" against