The Alaska daily empire., 1919-03-27
W|CK'S ATTACK ON LANE NOT
 NEW MATTER Letter Was Written Some- time Ago, and Copies of It Planted Throughout
 Alaska. PRINTED AT CORDOVA
PRINTED AT coRDovA
Times Printed Letter March 22, and Accused Wick of Causing Suspension of
 Railroad Work.

The letter of former Delegate James Wickersham to Secretary of the Interior Franklin K. Lane, ac- counts of the publication of the first installment of which appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer yester. day were carried in Associated Press dispatches, is not new letter It was dated January 8, and copies of it had been planted in various sec tjons of Alaska among Wickersham- ties for use should the occasion rise It is said that at least one copy is in Juneau One copy of it found it's way into the office of the Cordova Daily Times, and was print ed March 22, and Wickersham severe ly arraigned in the accompanying article. The Times accuses Wicker sham of damaging the chances for the completion of the Alaska rail road.
 It is believed by many in Juneau that the publication of the Wicker sham letter in Cordova probably smoked out the publication of the entire letter in Seattle, which Is ap- bearing in installments in the Post Intelligencer.
 Summary of Wickersham Letter
 The summary of the Wickersham letter, as printed in the Cordova Times of March 22, is contained in the concluding portion of the letter, follows
 'Tn conclusion, the facts seem to justify me in repeating to you:
 T1) That your administration of has been a failure through your in- the Government railroad in Alaska competency and petty political par tisanship.
 "(2) That you have wasted and misued the funds appropriated for construction of railroad, and you are now ready or may be obliged to abandon the enterprise in disjointed condition, so that it is useless as through line railroad as contemplated by Congress in the railroad act, un- less that body shall make further large appropriations and grant fur ther authorizations.
 "(3) That you have levied and fixed unjust and unreasonable rates ever the short completed portions or the road, so high as to be burden some on settlers and miners, and such as to prevent settlement and devel- opment along the line.
 .(4) That you have aided and as sisted the Alaska Syndicate trans portation corporation and those con- nected with them in unjustly boost ing their excessive freight rates on Alaska shippers. and especially over the Government railroad. thereby driving population out of the re- zion along the road.
 "(5) That you have uniformly failed and refused to assist in se- curing relief from unjust and unreas- enable rates imposed on Alaska ship pers by the Alaska Steamship Com pany and those associated with It., when it was your duty as adminis- trator of Government ownership and operation of Alaska transportation. and when it was within your power and duty to give such assistance.
 "(6) That you have approved their of the terminal of the Government railroad and compelled the shippers on the railroad to pay the same on your railroad waybills as advanced by the Government railroad and col lected on local waybills at the rail delivery.
 "(7) That you have drawn the Alaska Engineering Commission and the employees of the road into party partisan politics. to the great injury of the railroad fund. and when they have committed crimes against the Congressional election laws you have approved and condoned their offens-