Iditarod pioneer., 1917-06-16
RILEY REMAINS
 ON COMMISSION
Acting Governor Wires Revocation of Former Order by Which He Sought to Remove Him
 from Road Commission

In response to the vigorous protest o1 '. E. Riley against the attempt to remove him from the position of divisional road commls- s;oner before he had had a chance to enter upon the work of that body, and possibly influenced to some extent by the message of the Iditarod Commercial Club to the act ing governor. in which an appeal was made for a "souare deal" the following message was received from the acting governor by Mir. Riley on Wednesday last:
 Juneau, Alaska, June l2-l3, 1917 "J. E. Riley, Iditarod, Alaska:
 Your telegram Sth referred by wire to Governor Strong in Washington. My acton was based on telegram from hlm at eeattle. He took this action on strong showing made by legislators and others your division that it would not be practicable to carry out provisions of law unless majority of road commissioners resided in one place. owing 10 law requiring that all warrants vouchers, contracts and other papers be signed by a majority, including Ross This difficulty a real one and hard to overcome. Governor Strong had no other motive or idea than to do the best he could for your division, overcoming as much as possible the dltfl- culties presented by the law of which you should soon have a copy Has just wired me to withdraw action as indicated ln my recent telegram He also advises that you and Robertson confer with Ross as soon as possible regarding road work. This ms understanding only emphasizes difficulty Of doing business at a distance without full
 "DAVIDSON."
 Robertson Added His Protest
 Early in the week Mir. Riley had wired the circumstances of bis attempted removal to ". o. Robertscn Of Ruby, also member of the divisional road commission, as follows:
 '1ditarod, Alaska, June 10, 1917. w. o. Robertscn. Ruby. Alaska:
 My appointment road commissioner re- called by governor on plea that two mem ,ers wanted at Fairbanks to authorize work ere and act with Ross. Will resist. Means Hairbanks handle whole fund and nullities fleet your appointment. lditarod wants CO., ration of Ruby in demanding square +eal for whole division. Will you assist?
 "J. E. RILEY" The following answer was received from Mir Robertson on Tuesday last:
 Ruby Alaska, June HIP, 1917. J. E. Riley, Iditarod, Alaska:
 "Wired Ross June 3; no answer yet. Looks bad for us Wired governor not to appoint another commissioner Fairbanks Ii a wants us to have square deal. l will do what 1 can for you. Wire If anything new develops.
 w. o. ROBERTSON"
 From the tone of Mir. Robertson's mes sage it is evident that he was fully alive to the gravity of the situation, and realized that to allow the appointment of two mem bers of the divisional road commission at Fairbanks meant the monopollzation of the work and expenditures of the commission for that district The silence of MT. Ross is not explained; but it may be surmlsed that he has gained the erroneous impres- sion that he was at liberty to proceed with territorial road plans without the sanction of either Mr. Robertson or Mr. Riley.
 Probable Action by Commission
 It is evident from the Fairbanks news papers that up to May 26 MT. Ross, like Mir Riley, had not seen copy of the new law. When these documents arrive 1t Is likely that the commission will get together and formulate plans for road work In the meantime MT. Riley has suggested to both Mir. Robertson and Mir Ross that meeting of the commission at this point would be advisable