Iditarod pioneer., 1916-09-16
RILEY PERMITTED TO PROTEST

Editor lditarod rtoueer
 VIII you permit me through your eel umns tO protest against what appears to III. an act of great unlalrur>> to this part of Inferior Aa>ka2
 refer to what Was advocated by the delegate from this territory in regard to the uproprl4ilon for the lls"aI year ending in Jane, igl1, for Alaska roads.
 There have been circulated here printed rOpleS Vf d speech made by Mr. Wicker sham on June 26 last ln thr house of rep rn-cntatNcs the main object of which seems to have bcri> to demonstrate to the people eff the territory the fact that nat to the road commission, but to tn" delegate, brIom@rd the credit for getting for our reads a larger appropriation than usual.
 In his speech Mr. WirkcrSham said that the sums spent by the road commission are o5tcnSlbIN appropriated for military and postal purposes, but that in addition to these uses the reads ar" equally useful to he people al large aS public highways. With this general usefulness Ill lulnd the delegate introduced q bill for the cHprnd- ture of &"OO.UUU in ''the completion of the military post road and bridges from Ruby to Long creek" upon which the govern mCnt has spent already the sum of S43.pOO. This amount was afterWard cut down to $l00,0o0 by the war department ln It's estI- mates fer the current year.
 Mr. NlCkerSham says that he Was led tp intrcdmce this b'II beraUsc the people tn that great mIulnr district appealed to theIr delegate, Voiring their appeal Ill an
 
 written to the delegate by senator Suther- land. Now 1, personally, do not question the elrgatr'S motives in getting this money for this particular section, although some may wonder how much the rcSldenry of perhaps his brightest satellite may have m dUcpd his activity in the matter. Nor do l HcgrUdge Ruby ,u" cent But on the other hand. | dc know that Huby's mines do not prudur" as much as dc thu>" or this dI9- tr.rt and the government las not spent x i3 ,OUO on our reads, although fh" deIcgii" has heard and read d good deal more than one complaint from the operators and resi- dents If 1IIIS cuEHuUnItN. senator >uther- tauG'> h,nIr dlStrtrt t> "tr"dt, and nope will be greater but 1t has cost my aS>o- CiatcS and myself Inrr" than %S,uup rom our own pockets to kctp the roads paSSable for rUr 'Gau.S. while our ground was pro dUclug almost twice as much as tnt chIrr 'grcat" Ruby district ha, turned out to date.
 when Nr. Wtrkersham spoke or wrote of par Mrut ruu>ruted to spend that IHIrn money on it. they must have forgotten that this camp fer several years now has been the third largest producer Tn Alaska; that through 1t runs the shortest winter traII from the coast to Nome; that by way of ,ditarud eutS the shortest trail between the Yukon and the upper kuskokWlm; that 1T. III the present outlook thlS Will be distributing point for outlying country which IS cons tantly becoming more rNt2n- Slyr; that It k a summer point of de- parture for Ophir, Takona. Candle and other creeks; that today miners are W"rk- ing on Moore creek, forty miles from here who have to pay high rates to get theit grub over a trail made by God Almighty and Tom ShalloWs mules, to which neither the delegate nor the road commission nave given enc minutes thought or rpntrbutrl one cent They must hay" fbrrutttH a' this, for the only road machine ever III the camp was brought here by private nd!- yiduaI-Frank ManIcy -and the best We can do is tG get a paltrN two or three thou sand each year, an amount when VIII not keep the existing roads i'll repair unless the community goes down intn its jeans and helps the g,Vernurnt out. AS fHr the winter trail we'll anyone who has been over it can tell about that. Words fail me, and yllI don't use asbestos paper.
 But when one considers the annual pro duction of this camp, its surrounding coun- ll.V it's geographical location With reference To Nome and seward, the Yukon and the kuskokWim. it must be admitted that lE all fairness this district is entitled to receive from the government at least as much at tenti0n as is given Ruby. We have not had it. but if we had been given start 10 the roads actually needed, the government would have laid the foundation Tor a scheme of highways connecting the lower Yukon in winter and the Yukon and kuS- kgtWin watersheds which aS military post roads or as public highways of general use would have been of as much importance Io the people at large as this $ I3,0OO Ruby Long road.
 To anyone who knows how the roads of this community hay" been overlooked and neglected by the authorities Mr. WlckGr- sham's bill and his action in regard to this Ruby road look like piece of rotten par tiaIitv on the part Of man who was elected a delegate from and for all of the territory J. E. RILEY.
 Iditarod, Sept 8, 1916.