The Alaska daily empire., 1921-12-06

ules, except on the shorter run by l the inside passage, are irregular and | difficult to maintain. The Canadian 1 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. Iii addition to these three lines, countless private ships, not common carriers, operate along the coast, carrying cargoes to and from the canning plants and fishing waters and other industries. Thus the business as q whole is split and widely distributed Freight rates are admittedly high and become pro- hihitiveIy high to points in the in- terior It is claimed that they are relatively no higher, considering dis tanceg, than. freight rates in the States which reached an abnormal level during the war and have since been largely maintained.
 t-el Relief Called For.
 Complaint of freight discrimination against Alaska is sometimes voiced, but rate sheets for coastwise traffic discloce no evidence of this. Carry
 ing charges from Seattle to Cali forria ports are practically on the same basis as those from Seattle to Alaskan port. Nevertheless, rates gre admittedly high and, with long touls into the interior, are posi- lively oppressive.
 That the situation calls for rem edy and relief, TO one seriously will deny. fndustrys in Alaska cannot thrive under eXiating transportation conditions. This is as clear as day And the situation as a whole threat ems to become all the more acute with the 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 consequent diversion of traffic. Z No Solution Reached.
 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 Alaska Advisory Committee, as a step toward solution. proposed a merger of the two American steamship com panies in order to reduce the heavy overhead expenses of management and operation. and control as to rates by the United States Shipping Board. This proposition provoked iv,,tl l Hot i<, l. that removal of competition would |tend to aggravate rather than relieve the situation. A Territorial Shipping Board, created in 1919, after an ex- haustive study of conditions and hearings, evolved through it's counsel a plan to meet the emergencies by a tonnage tax on all vessels, privately owned and common carriers alike. the fund derived therefrom to be used in the creation and support of a mosquito fleet in inside passage waters, thus relieving the bigger ships from the necessity oftnnproiit- able calls at smaller ports. but pro- viding for these much-needed facili- ties of local transportation and in creased mail. service. Such a mos- quito fleet unquestionably would simplify the situation and contribute largely to the solution of the general transportation problem But the plan proposed, regardless of the practical merits it possessed, met with no general favor and at the en- suing session of the Legislature the Territorial Shipping Board was abolished. And so no progress has been made toward the solution of Alaska's transportation problem, either through Federnlkor Territorial +agencies.
 Wars of False Remedy.
 To the casual student of the situation the solution is simple in- deed It involves no difficulties whatever and may be solved in a jiffy. Every American port today presents. the spectacle of idle vessels of the United States Shipping Board, out of commission and going to waste. Why not, it is asked, put come of these on the Alaska runs and have an end to high rates and kindred difficulties? It is simplic- ity itself, this solution, on it's face but the cost of it and how it would work out ultimately constitute a problem, not for the casual student but for practical, economic and con- structive minds. If government-op- erated steamship lines served to put established companies out of busi- ness, which might naturally happen
 since the aggregate of Alaska's ton