The Seward gateway., 1916-10-11
Wick Calls His
 Opponents Man9y

used certainly unparllamentary lang uage in dealing with his opponents. This may be the reason why the old enthusiasm for Wickersham was ab- sent at the meeting. The hall was crowded in the beginning and most of the people stayed to the end but the speech did not seem like the same old speeches that Mir. Wicker sham made foes as we'll as friends ad- mire. tie alluded to Tom Donahue and Louis Shackleford as "mangy politicians" and, somehow, the crowd didn't seem to like it..
 The reporter for the Gateway went to the meeting with the intention of reporting it sympathetically but it is impossible. He attacked Tom DOna- hue and Colonel Richerdson in a man ner that rather repelled and made friends for the men attacked Tom Donahue is admitted by everybody to be a good fellow and a worthy na- tional committeeman of the Demo- crats. They can say what they like about Louis ShackIeford but "mangy politician" is hardly what the repre- sentative of Alaska should call any one unless he was very mad.
 In dealing with Colonel Richardson Mir. Wickersham attacked his person al character. He also said that Col onel Richerdson had not done the work of the Alaska Road Commission properly, but he spoiled his argument when he said that the Alaska poll tax had given the road commission 2 mil lion and a half of dollars. He first stated that three and a half million dollars had come for roads from congress and from the territorial funds and he added that the poll tax made it five millions. While on the road question Mir. Wickersham insinu- ated that only a few miles of road had been constructed. Six out of Seward, seven out of Anchorage, and so on. He evidently forgot the road between Valdez and Fairbanks, the fine roads at Nome, the road from Ruby to Long creek, the Panama roads and all the rest all over every part of the terri tory.
 On the whole the speech did not leave a favorable impression.
 He told the same old story about the time they tried to keep him out of the committee room. He has told it for many years.
 He spoke of Democratic National Committeeman Donahue as "Thomas Jefferson Donahue" and he declared that Secretary Lane had not answer ed Mir. Donahue's letter asking about the railroad. He did not say that the assistant secretary had answered for Mir. Lane. But the Delegate wept more tears of sentiment than ever Colonel Dick could when he came to speak about the engineering cOmmis- sion. There are some people who think they could build the railroad better than the commission, said he. LAW, go on" said a member of the audience and the expression seemed to hit off the feeling of the crowd.
 Then he went on to tell how Presi- dent Wilson and Secretary Lane had approved of the railroad after Mir. Wickersham and the others had shown them the way. But immediately after he tried the soft soap stunt on the two men named He tried to prove, indeed, that the Republicans had as much to do with the railroad as the administration or any other old Dem ocrats, and the way he tried to prove this was to show that if the Republi cans had voted against it the measure would have been lost. But he ad- mitted that 14S Democrats and only S2 Republicans voted for the bill. He evidently tried to prove his own re- gently adopted party should be cred ited and at the same time he tried to cloak this desire by pretending that he only wanted to show the railroad was non partisan,