The Alaska citizen., 1917-01-22
SUBSCRIPTION PRICE.
Phone SOS Phone
HE WANTS TIE TRUTH.

Phone %O$ Phone
 hE WANTS THE TRUTH.
 On the last maI laom the Outside The Ctazon Vas Ia receipt ol 8 communication from Mr Eose. Frost. oouuzelIor-a,-Iaw. with head quarters in New York, and also g tourist and wT.er, That he i5 boG or the latter IS very evident. fol he euoloses clipping from h, Springfield Eepabucaa of Deeembe. l.. describing things as cheechacOcz usually sye them alter a hurried trl through Alaska, coming in by way ol Dawson and goins out via the IoweI Yukon river. Ar. Frost, il is vel! evident, did not take the trouble to maze tho short trip from Panama tc Fairbanks. Ills communication, as regards h.s article, Is as follows:
 New YorA December lg. 1916.
 Editor Cluzln,
 I4aJanhs, AIasha
 Dear SIT: Herewith enclose
 you aa aruole upon Alaska winch
 was published i'll the Christmas
 Number oI the Springfield Re
 publican. It describes some peo-
 pie who are known u you and
 you may consequently think 1t
 advisable to quoLo from the
 same Should you quote from
 this or cslt,o-ac the sa.-e-no
 matter how se,erely should
 be obliged tc you tv- sending
 me in return copy oI your
 paper which mentions the same
 sluce have no facilities for
 obtaining an Alaskan newspaper.
 Very truly yours,
 ROGER FNOsT.
 Well. Mr. Frost. you have asked foE criticism anu you ate eoYDg to get il in brief, to tue best o1 our aDLAty. Ne ale sorry that at JD4s time We ase unable tO pIut you story II IulI, for IL would make Iu- te.est.ns reading to eur subscriber 5 ya tA!s immediate Vicinity, a. Il uH- dolUteuIy aIu to those cueecAacoes Who lead It on the Outside, to whom you p4c,urel AlaaAa as a land ol bad men and 5cIa"ny women. the last ol whom. you seem to think. sere all raised here.
 In some respects there is truth to some portions of your story, but tAe.e is scarcely statement con taIned in il when does not sec It's subject rom all exaggerated stand, poInt. either from your point of view as a cleeCAaco who. passing hur- riedly through the country, sees nothing but the outward semblanct ot things as they really are, or from the Iact that you have been made the goat by more than one oldtimt Alaska "peddleT.' which latter type exists here ill greater numbers than any place else In the world in pro portion to the population. You will Say 10 doubt, that you gained your knowledge Of thiS country from the standpoint of observation and you undoubtedly did to some extent, but We repeat ill answer to that argu- ment that no writer on Alaska can do the more intimate details of his subject justice merely from an ob- se.yationaI standpoint. He has to go through with the actual experiences for a time.
 In this regard we would sugges. that you read the stories on Alaska and Alaskan life written by Frank C. Carpenter. You will learn lot from them that you did not find out in your hurried trip across tne country by the river or whichever way you went. And you will also notice that MT. Carpenter refrains from making editorial comment on what he sees. He merely states the truth of things as he sees them.
 In belittling the transportation ac- commodations to which you were sub jected on your trip it was undoubt' edly your intention to help Alaska and Alaskans by showing the need of better transportation facilities. but the accommodations are not nearly as black as you painted them. In de fense of the steamship company on one of tbe boats of which you tray. eled, we would say that it does not now nor never has possessed a mon opoly, except on some parts of the