The Cordova daily times., 1917-01-17
Continued from Page One)

qulred for railroad tuel supply cal
 not be economically mined.
 A railroad must have coal for trat fife as well as for fuel.
 A railroad is also prohibited by lav from carrying any coal mined or pro duced by it or in which it has any in interest. A railroad therefore, cal neither own nor lease nor have an, interest in coal mine.
 Conversely, a coal company can no own a railroad. A franchise or righ of way for a railroad can only be ob tained by a railroad company.
 The only chance, then, for private construction is that one company take a lease of coal land and another build the railroad But if the two com pan ies should enter into an agreement that one should open a mine and the other build railroad to haul the coal nation or conspiracy. Section 8 of the coal leasing law expressly forbids this.
 If the Copper River & Northwestern railroad should venture again to build to the field, they could again be charged with conspiracy to monopo- lize the coal. The coal lease to which they proposed to build would also be subject to cancellation.
 No doubt the government could amend the law so as to induce private companies to build railroad to the Boring coal They can not do so un- der existing laws.
 GOVERNMENT COMPETITION.
 Even if the law did not practically prohibit private railroad building fin Alaska. as it does, there would still be danger of government competition. A private line to the Boring field would surely have to compete with the government line to the Matanuska, ex- cept as to coal for local use, It might have to compete with a government line to the Boring field itself. The president has undoubted authority to build there.
 The coal leasing law also expressly reserves 5,280 acres of coal land in the Boring field, authorizes the presi- dent to open mines to compete with any other mine or railroad when in his opinion the price is coal is too high. Thus the threat of destructive cOmpe- tition is always before one who might venture to build a road or open a coal mine.
 Unless the government itself will build a railroad to the Boring field, it's position is more hopeless than 1t was before the railroad and coal leasing laws were passed. Instead of being opened, it is more effectively closed.
 NAVAL COAL TESTS.
 1t may be said that one reason why railroad to the Boring field is not being built is that test showed the coal unsuitable for naval use, while Matanuska coal is suitable. But this was another example of injustice to the Boring field. A physician was sent to select the samples tested from the Boring field. while an experienced coal mining engineer selected that from the Matanuska.
 There are many different veins of coal in the Boring field, and many kinds of coal The doctor happened to pick poor sample for the peculiar needs of the navy The chemical ana lysis shows the coal of the two fields to be of the same general character. The same coal mining engineer who selected the good samples from Mata- nuska does not hesitate to say that there is equally as good naval coal in the Boring field. and probably as much or more of it.
 LOCAL USE PRINCIPAL VALUE OF
 BERING COAL.
 But even if never pound of Bering coal is used for the navy, it does not justify strangulation of the district.
 The principal value of the coal is for local uses. For upon the coal de bends the other development of the tributary districts. The great copper belt extending over a hundred miles in length along the Chitina and Cop per river valleys must stay practical lv undeveloped until the coal is avail able.
 There is one great copper mine opened there for which the Copper River railroad was built How many others there might have been If the coal were available can not be told. But there are over 800 other copper claims located in the district The owners of these claims have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars ir their development, and have been waiting for years for the opening oI the coal. The ores are of the highest grade and the coal. lime, silica and al elements for smelting are so near anC so easy to assemble at a fine harboI on tidewater that it Is the most favor able locality in the entire world fo development Of a great copper indus try. The one essential lacking is [ .aiIrOod tn the coal