The Alaska daily empire., 1921-03-01
ALASKA SUBJECT
 OF ADDRESS AT
 BIG CONVENTION
Col. James C. Steese Tells of Territory at Road Buld-
 CTS Convention.

AldShdH III SNhSiS and road building in Alaska pal ticularly formed the theme of Co James c. Steese, President of tn Alaska Road Commission, in an ad tress before the Road Builders Con yention on February g, in Chicago Col. Steese attended the Convention in dual capacity, as a represen tative of the War Department T. charge of all it's civil activities II Alaska, and, second, as official dele gate appointed by Gov. Thoma Riggs to represent Alaska.
 Col. Steese described briefly tn road building agencies in the Ter ritory, the function of each, tn funds supporting each and wher they were derived He told o Alaska's adoption of the co-operativ' road construction plan and th' benefits accrued from 1t.
 Col. Steese also depicted graph ically the area and topography O the Territory, its climatic condi tions. He told of the dtfficultie! encountered in the construction o roads for heavy traffic and how they are being met.
 The existing transportation sys tenn of Alaska was gone into in de tail He dealt first with the water ways, which he described briefly including Alaskan rivers on whicl vessels are navigated. In this con nection Col. Steese declared "Tht water-bOrne commerce upon these rivers and ocean waters are, anc always will be, the chief life-givine element in Alaska's commerce.
 Referring to land transportation Col. Steese declared:
 Next to the waterborne com L..:ce in importance comes the land transportation connecting up base ports and waterways. Two means exist, of course, railroad and wagon r1ads As to railroads, with the completion of the Government rail road from Seward to Fairbanks about $100, 0,000,000 will have been Invested from public and private funds in railroads. For both rail roads and wagon roads the function must be, in the present state o! Alaska's development, to cross di- yides and connect up lines of water communication. For railroal devel- epment, the expenditures already committed are such as to take care oi development of Alaska for a long :. ..'As, to wagon roads, the nature Of commerce existing and expected in Alaska is such as to make them especially necessary. The Govern ment railroad. now nearing compile ton. will be of little value until the commerce of the country passed through is brought to the railroad upon tributary highways. But in providing such roads, the immediate construction of such feeder roads constructed to fit only the topo graphical features of the Territory even if the fabulous cost could be met, would give but meager return The feeder roads must be built with q careful consideration of both the topography of the country passed through and the economic return to be expected. Finally, before the tonnage which the Government car carry materializes, it will be found that an amount equal to that spen; upon it's construction must be in vested in tributary wagon roads To enable a substantial development of this generous Federal project tC take place, to aid in the balanced development of all parts of Alaska a modest but thoroughly considered program of wagon road construc ton has been presented"
 Col. Steese described the tcrmina and harbor facilities of Alaskan ports, emphasizing the fact that tho great majority of Alaskan ports arr open to vessels all the year.
 He gave a concise statement O Alaska's varied resources and the!l present state of development. H' dwelt briefly on agricultural, min e"als, mines and mining, opportuni ties for development in pulp ant ether resources. A short resume O Alaskan commerce was also includ cd, showing it's total up to 1920.
 The Convention was attended b. delegates from all parts of tn United Staaes and sections of Can adc. Col Steese states that Alasl; at least got much valuable publicit both in and out of the Convention