Valdez daily prospector., 1917-06-25
in other parts of the territory.

Times.
 We believe that the Times has
 again wilfully perverted the state
 ment of the chairman of the Road
 Commission. The Colonel, as we read
 the telegraphic dispatch, did not state
 that it was his intention to make a boulevard out of the Valdez trail nor
 that he proposed to expend the great Ter part of the recent appropriation in doing so. What Col. Richardson did say was that "when the Valdez
 Fairbanks trail was completed it
 would be one of the greatest scenic
 routes for autoists in the world" The
 fact that the road will be passable for autos is but an incident in the road work of the commission, and in- stead of being peeved at such perfec- tion the Anchorage paper should
 praise such efficient construction. To
 build road nowadays that could not
 be traversed by autos, would be throwing the money away, as this mode of transportation has supersed- ed all other known conveyances, even in Alaska. The fact that Anchorage, which has a total road mileage of less than one one-hundredth of the famous artery to the interior, is to receive $25,00O for road work by the commission, makes no difference to the wordy editor of the Times. Sew ard and other coast towns could rail at the commission for the Anchorage appropriation, and call it useless ex- travagance were they minded to in- terfere with commission work and so unfair as to wish to crowd other towns out of their appropriations. An chorage is the youngest town in the territory, and but an incident con- nected with the work of building the rev railway to the interior. When the work is completed the town will undoubtedly suffer the fate of like towns in railway construction. Now that Seward has been made the ter minal and the coal from the Matan- uska fields will reach salt water by this route it might be we'll for the commission to await developments in the Anchorage district before expend- ing any money there at all. If the town is relegated to innocuous des- uetude, as all signs indicate, it will be money thrown away. If the town goes ahead and reaches any promi- hence in territorial affairs, there will be plenty of time sor road construc- tion then. But insofar as the Valdez trail goes, Anchorage is afraid that it will be chosen the summer route, as it should be. A man can leave Val dez at the same time the boat pulls out, and be in Fairbanks before the steamer arrives at Anchorage. It costs more to reach the interior from Anchorage than it does from Valdez and it costs much less to outfit here This fact has gotten under the skin of our cantankerous contemporary, and he has conceived the idea that by hampering the commission and stop ping work on the trail he can over- come the many natural advantages possessed by this route over the An ahnroOo Tho fact that can use any road constructed by the Road Commission should be spoken of in praise of their work. We dare say the same state of affairs will be found in Anchorage if the commission completed their work, if any way out of the tundra and marshes surround ing the town could be found.
 But the point we wish to raise is this: It i'll behooves the Times or any other paper to attempt to discredit the work of the Alaska Road Con- mission. We have had too much of these joy-wreckers in the past. Every kick registered by the Times,-and it has censored everything and every one freely--detracts from the effiicien- cy of an organization. It is hard for body of engineers to construct good roads at any time. but when their efforts are unappreciated and held up to criticism by one citizen is discour- ages and nullifies their work.
 If the Road Commission or any oth- CT commission can help Anchorage, we in common with other towns on the sound will be greatly pleased, be- cause she needs help. But agitation against other towns will produce agi- tation in return, and once the ball is started rolling it is hard to tell where