The Cordova daily times., 1920-06-12
SENATOR TELLS PLAIN FACTS
 ABOUT ALASKA
Continued from Page Six)


 lars, and it will probably take five or six years more before we get road to the Tanana river by that route. So I say our government made a great g. mistake when they did not start the road from Chitina. For the money that they have expended they could have had the road completed from <the mouth of the Chitina over to Fair banks.
 AS it is, this SkagWay route is of great value to us. We need it. Nine. tenths of that Skagway route-I mean the Iand-and-river rOute-is in Cana. dian territory, and we get the full ben eft of it. Now, you can not wonder if you know the situation there. As I said, while Skagway is on American territory, it's whole trade and com merce come from Canada, from the Yukon country. If Seattle and the shipping interests there were limited to the traffic that could be gotten in the neighborhood of Skagway in Amer. ican territory, they would not get enough to pay for running one boat a year The traffic that comes there is mainly Canadian traffic, and that route is a great advantage to us; and now what is it that Seattle wants, and what is it that the shipowners want ? s Here is a route, really an entrance into Canada, from which we get most of the benefit We get the benefit of most of the Canadian traffic from Skagway. Here they say that you can not check your baggage through, and you must not buy ticket on the railroad that will take you through. Now is there not enough penalty in the law?
 This coastwise law that has been quoted says that freight shall not be carried in a foreign ship from one American port to another under pen atty of forfeiture. That is, the whole cargo, or that part of the cargo that is shipped from one American port to another American port in a foreign ship, according to that law, will be forfeited to the United States.
 Now, we come to the matter of pas sengers. The first law that we passed was approved on the 18th of June, 1886 That law provided a penalty of $2 head for anyone travelling in a foreign ship from one port to another port in American territory. By the law of February IT, 1898, Thirteenth Statutes, that was changed so as to provide penalty of $200 head for every passenger carried in a foreign vessel from one port of the United States to another.
 The hardship of this law was called to my attention some years ago by a friend of mine who got stalled in the island of Hawaii. I think he was com pelled to wait there two weeks for an American vessel He wanted to go back to San Francisco. He waited two weeks. No American ship came. A foreign ship came, and he was SC anxious to get home that he paid the $200 penalty. The penalty is inflicted on the ship, but, of course, the shir would not carry him unless he paid that penalty They would not carry ~him for his mere ticket and then pay a penalty, and he had to pay $20C in order to get back home.
 We are not seeking to change that law; but what is this? It is a ham stringing amendment, in the interest of Seattle, to require that you car not check your baggage, you can not arrange transportation, in American territory. Why, we have ticket agents in this city for foreign steamship lines, for Canadian railroad lines, and I think, for Mexican lines; but no one would think of ostracizing them or for bidding them to sell tickets here. The object of this provision is to forbid them selling tickets or checking bag gage at Seattle on these boats; and submit that, with the coastwise law as it is, as I have quoted it, we have restrictions enough Tn view 0f the F benefits that we have from the Skag way route, in view of the business and traffic we get from Canada in all that Yukon territory, and in view of the fact that it gives us an eastern door