The Alaska daily empire., 1916-10-19
COL. RICHARDSON
 MAKES STATEMENT
 TO ALASKA PEOPLE

or by statement. He is too astute for that. It would become public and known throughout Alaska. He pursues other methods. My mfor. nation is also that he never attends the meetings or this committee un- less for some especial purpose, and has always ignored the appropria- ticns for road work.
 On this front page he also states that:
 neither the Dele
 gate from Alaska nor any other
 congressman can procure an ap-
 propriatlon for any sum what
 ever for carrying on work on
 the Alaska Board of Road Com
 misioners by any bill introduced
 by him, unless he can procure
 Secretary Of War and Col. Rich
 ardson Co approve the amount
 asked for by a formal estimate
 under the law.
 This may be true of the Delegate from Alaska, but if it is he has made it SO himself. He has no standing and perhaps is afraid it may be found out in Alaska. lt is not true Of other Congressmen. The state ment. furthermore. is conradicted by himself, top Of page g, where he says:
 'm four instances shown in
 the above table, it Cthe Road
 Commission. has received more
 than Col. Richardson estimated
 for"
 The first appropriation ever made for the work, fiscal year 19O7 was procured with out any formal estim- ate, ani there have been several in- creases in the amount appropriated since without a formal estimate, no- tably take the dil,e at Valdez, but the increases were not secured by the Delegate. The Delegate, neyerthe- less, claims that he procured the ap- of S5OOOOO, which must mean that he coerced the Secretary of War or frightened somebody. The fact is that the Delegate tried to en- trap the President of the Road Com mission into submitting foolish es- timate, based upon false arguments, of S20O.OO0 for the completion Of the Ruby-Long creek road. Failing in that. he is merely trying now, as he has in cases of other legislation, to step in and grab some credit for him self which he is not entitled to. He doesn't oyon know how it happened and has but vague idea on the subject. If he did know, l presume he would charge me again as he has la the past. with lobbying for in creased appropriations for road work in Alaska. as though that were crime If the Delegate cant get my money for roads in Alaska, as he says, except on an estimate ap-. proved by the Secretary of War then ! why does he claim to have gotten ;5OOOOO?
 The greater part of this so-called l speech is taken up with quotations md references to law of estim- ites which have little bearing upon he ease. except to show the Dele ;ate's weakness. It is put out mere y to mislcad and confuse the people. The assertion that the Alaska Board ,f Road Commissioners has always eceived all it asked for is not true. The mtruthfulness of this statement vas proven in correspondence given ut last year The records quoted .y tho Delegate from the book of stimateS have nothing to do with he recommendations and estimates ubmittcd by our board. until those stlmates have been approved by he Secretary of War and the Pres. dent and forwarded to tho Treasury re pertinent. from the letter of the 'oard have not always been received his approval
 l take the following extracts, which Te pertinent, from the letter of the ccretary of War ad interim, trans hitting the supplemental estimate f $5OO.0OO. dated March 2. 1916:
 "lt is of course known that
 the Board of Commissioners has never been authorized by any spe- clfc enactment of law to submit estimates for road work in Alas ka. unless it is held that the original act of January 27, 1905, which brought the Board into ex- istencc, and imposed certain du- ties upon it without providing sufficient funds to carry out those duties properly indirectly confer red such authority
 This view seems to have been practically accepted by Congress, limited appropriations having been made from year to year, be- ginning with the fiscal year of 1907 for Military and Post roads in Alaska and supplemental the work under the Alaska Fund
 "A special report was submit ted on November 25, 1913, accom-