The daily Alaska citizen., 1919-09-04
TT SURELY CAN

 says the Skagway Alaskan, it would pay the Nations war debt That's not an cNtrayagant statemcnt it's d wholesome truth
 It urges the construction oi an adequate system of wagon roads. saying, 1.-The quicker and better way to develop Alaska i~ by wagon roads The expense would be nominal and the benefit would be general
 Construction of public highways would bring motor cars and trucks These vehicles would solve the transportation problems.
 "Wagon roads have always come first i'll the development of d new country. That is ancient history. but the growth of motor driv- en vehicles makes it modern history of the most approved kind.
 "AIiIIion~ of dollars should be appropri- atcd by the United States government for the construction of main line roads in Alaska"
 A year ago The Citizen adopted as its sIo gan. "A1aska Can Pay the Nations War Debt" It has seen it endorsed by people thru out the North The Alaska Chapter of the American Mining Congress voiced its ap- provaI of the claim in d report rendered sev eral months ago and presented figures on the already known mineral resources of the inte- rior districts, showing how part of the vast debt might be iqudated
 X survey of the goId-bearn9 ground m the Fairbanks district alone, suitable for dredging purposes and not taking into con- sideration other mining property reported on by special committee appointed by the Alaska Chapter, shows d total of 2I&90OOO) cubic yards having approximate gold contents yalu- ed at S1OO2OO0O) The committee making this report was composed of mining engineers and practical mining operators and il can be depended on to be conservative
 Second only to the mining industry of the interior at present is the aericuturaI industry. Its actual value, it is true, will not at this time nearly approximate that of the mineral output, but its possibilities are practically linn itless, and the history of its growth in recent years proves beyond all doubt that it will in the not distant future become one of our greatest sources ol revenue.
 A visit to the farms now being worked anywhere in the Ganana valley will convince even the most skeptiCa that substantial har- vests can be produced. This is especially true of grain crops. Last winter the sale of bread made from Fairbanks-2roWn wheat was tried on a small scale and will be extensively used during the present winter. Slowly but surely interior Alaska is increasing the production of food supplies to a point where it's people can live almost entirely on home grown pro- ducts.
 Alaskans simply ask the government f aid in the development of Alaska This deveI- opment can be materially advanced by the con- structon of more and better roads, When the railroad shall be completed in the next two years, there should be in operation a chain of wagon roads and highways connecting up with it from all parts of the territory These would serve as feeders to bring traffic to the railway
 Major Waugh, head of the Alaska Road commission, estimates that it will take S719- GOO to meet the situation in Alaska next year, and he intends to ask congress for an appro- priation of that amount for Alaska road work All Alaska should unite in an effort to get the appropriation passed.
 Arguments for it are plentiful and are based upon common sense and right and jus tlce. Estimates show that 0S per cent of the resources of Alaska are the property of the federal government. Every dollar that goes into the construction of roads in the territory make these resources more easily accessible, consequently more valuable. The benefits, from a standpoint of actual value in dollars and cents, to be derived from building in AL aska will naturally be greater to the govern ment as the heaviest stockholders in the terri tory, than 1t will be to AlaSkanS themselves, who are minority shareholders.