The Cordova daily times., 1921-12-08
Continued from yesterday

Three steamship companies, two American and one Canadian, serve the Alaskan trade as common carriers In the summer season they are usually taxed to their full capacities and often beyond. Schedules, except on the shorter run by the inside passage, are irregular and difficult to maintain. The Canadian line is devoted primarily to tourist travel and trade with the Yukon Territory, whereas American vessels sail to the westward one of them calling at Kodiak, and engage in general business which reaches it's peak in midsummer and is light in the winter In addition to these three lines, countless private ships, not com mon carriers. operate along the coast, carrying cargoes to and from the canning plants and fishing waters and other industries. Thus the business as whole Is split and widely dis l tributcd Freight rates are admittedly high and become prohibitivcly high to points in the interior It is claimed that they are relatively no higher. considering distances. than freight rates i'm the states which reached an abnormal level during the war and have since been largely maurannd.
 Complaiut'or discrimination against . Alaska is sometimes voiced. but rate sheets for coastwisc traffic disclose no evidence of this Carrying charges ] from Seattle to California ports are . practically on the same basis as those 1 from Seattle to Alaskan ports Never thclcss, rates are admittedly high and, with long hauls into the interior are positively oppressive.
 That the situation calls for remedy 1 and relief, no one seriously will deny. Industry in Alaska cannot thrive under existing transportation condi- tions This is as clear as day. And l the situation as a whole threatens to become all the more acute with the 1 impending suspension of river boats on the Yukon, incident to the opening of the interior by, rail and highway from the southern coast and the conse- quent diversion of traffic
 A practical solution of this water transportation problem of Alaska ap- parently has not been reached. al though it has engaged the attention of practical minds for months. The Alas, ka Advisory COmmissee a. a step toward a solution, proposed a merger of the two American steamship com panics in order to reduce the heavy overhead expenses of management and l operation, and control as to rates by the United States Shipping Board. This proposition provoked immediate opposition on the theory that removal of competition would tend to aggrayate rather than relieve the situation A Territorial Shipping Board, created in l 1919. for an exhaustive study of coudi- tions and h earrings, evolved tE'uugh its counsel a plan to meet the emcr- gouCies by tonnage tax on all vessels, privately owned and common carriers alike. the fund derived thcrefrom to be used in the creation and support of a mosquito fleet in inside passage waters. thus relieving the bigger ships from the necessity of unprontablc 1 calls at smaller ports, but providing for these much-needed facilities of local transportation and increased mail service. Such mosquito fleet unQuestionably would simplify the sit uation and contribute largely to the solution of the general transportation problem. But the plan proposed, re gardless of the practical merits it pos sessed met with no general favor and ut the ensuing session of the Lrgisla- tu~c the Territorial Shipping Board was abolished And so no progress has been made toward the solution of Alashas transportation problem cith. nr through Federal or Tor."orrW .tan. cics.
 To the casual student ol tha ..ta. tioU the solution is simple ind d. ii involves no difficulties wl0g.,. and m.g b. #.'E.l in o iIflv Every 'mnr .a port taaN g.aas .na u."H..' of idle vessels of the United States shipping Board. out of o,mm ion and going to waste. Why no. .r .s asked put some uI 'h..n ,~ tnn Aias- ka run and have an end to high rl'os and kindred difficulties? It is aimnIio- ity itself. this solution. on its faco but cost of it and how it would work out ultimately constitute a problem not