The weekly Alaska citizen., 1919-01-20
GOOD ROADS

OOOl) KOADS
 One of the most important factors in the development of new country IS its highways. When a certain section has poor roads, that same section is always behind other sections in development because of the handicap that 1t has to carry
 The same facts are true in Alaska, es- pecially where nearly all the transportation has to take place over roads and trails rather than over railroads and trolley lines as Out side. Here the greatest part of the country has to depend upon roads and trails for com munication with other parts of the territory all during the winter, and those sections where the roads are bad or where there are none are naturally the slowest to develop.
 The American Mining Congress has the consideration of roads down on its program in connection with the development of the mining industry. But it is needless to point out how important it is, not only to the miner, but also to the farmer, and to every other line of endeavor that may be engaged in. anywhere in the territory.
 And there is this peculiar circumstance about the roads and traffic in this country. It is possible to go to many places in winter that can be reached by summer only by river, if at all. Likewise it is possible to use auto- mobiles practically all winter, thing that is impossible in many localities that supposedly have less severe winters than we have here. Tn the eastern part of the United States the use of automobiles is necessarily restricted to the paved streets of the cities during the winter, because of the fact that the heavy fall of snow, together with high winds which drift it, or deep muds rendering the roads itnpass- able for motor driven vehicles.
 In the interior of the territory there is not the heavy fall of snow and after the freeze-up in the fall it does not thaw to any appreciable extent until the breakup in the spring, and the roads freeze smooth, with just enough snow to make good sleighing and not enough to put autos out of commission. As witness to this fact there is the auto stage line that is running between Fairbanks and Ne mana, making the run in about five hours travelling time. Also it is possible to run the autos over portions of the trail practically all of the winter months. When one considers these facts, the advantages that would come with we'll laid out roads loom bigger than ever. If it is possible to maintain auto traffic during the winter months with poor roads and few trails, what would be possible in the line of auto traffic with good roads and lots of them? If there were good roads, and by good roads we mean permanent roads, to all the outlying sections of the Fairbanks district for instance. how much simpler would be the problem of reaching them, both in summer and winter In summer the roads themselves would be used by auto trucks, by auto stages, and in the winter these same roads would be unsurpassed foundations for the winter traf- fife over the snow roads, for auto trucks and stages as well as for horse rigs. How easy it would be then to get men and supplies into the ren1oter sections of the territory, and how much more quickly these same sections would develop into busy, prosperous communities
 The government railroad will take care of traffic to the Outside and will make the shipment of supplies into the interior from the coast a simple matter comparatively. But after the freight reaches the shipping points in the interior, what about the outlying sections that will have to be in communication with the terminals of the railroads in order to get that freight as we'll as to ship the vast quanti- ties of mineral ores that they produce? It will probably be some time before there are branches and spurs to all these different sec tions, and the only solution that there can be is good roads and, doubtless, rapid transit with motor driven vehicles
 During the recent congestion of traffic and the shortage of rolling stock in the states, the auto trucks and passenger cars came into their own as means of rapid and convenient from one point to another, and