The Cordova daily times., 1922-11-15
the outlook there is most promising.

the outlook there is most promising.
 "Throughout the Territory, in fact the stimulus of better times is felt.
 "To fully open up the Territory, roads and roads and still more roads mission, cooperating with the Terri torial Road commission, has made magnificent start. Automobiles travel over the Valdez-Fairbank trail, S70 miles, regularly in the summer season. Thousands of miles of trails have been I constructed But the fund for road | building in the Interior-only $50G,0 this year-is wholly inadequate. There is no roadway into Mt. Mckinley park.
 "The sum of s1,5O0,0OO should be available annually to carry out com prehensive road program in Alaska. By strange anomaly the bureau of roads, of the department of agri- cuture, which can build roads only in the forest reservations along the coast, has sent some s1,2Oo,OOO to spend It's l projects are largely local and contri- bute in no great measure to the gen. eral development of the Territory. Not dollar of this fund can be expended | outside the forests-not even for the much-needed roadway into Mt. McKin- ley Park The bureau is doing it's l work well and some of its projects are of decided industrial utility. But the fact remains that transportation problems along the coast are water problems. Owing to divided authority, two road-building agencies, the Alaska Road commission and the bureau of roads, with double overhead, operate 1 in Alaska. The Territory wisely merged it's activities with those of the Alaska Road Commission. Efforts to consolidate the two Federal agencies have thus far been antagonized and 1 failed Such a consolidation and a merging of all road-building monies for general use would be of incalcul- able value in hastening the develop ment of the Territory.
 ] "Alaska's rich resources have not been overestimated. But these rich resources cannot be developed on a shoestring. The difficulties are great, the handicaps many. Big capital was essential to big development in the past in all parts of our large domain. When I speak of big capital I mean clean capital and honest capital. The thought that capital becomes unclean or dishonest when it attains size is un- tenable and preposterous. The sug- gestion that predatory interests are going to gobble up Alaska is supreme ly false. That bug-a-boo has had it's inning and cannot be resurrected for further mischief
 | Alaska needs only the chance-a fair chance-to come into it's own. It needs only the chance given to the great middle west and the wonderful Rocky mountain and Pacific coast country to grow and prosper. It needs and must have the American chance. It has been throttled and held back to the discredit, not to say dishonor, of this great republic of ours. It has been too long made football of con- servation politics. It has paid heavy price for the meddlesomness of the orists and doctrinaries. It has had academic treatment to its sorrow. Its paramount and overshadowing need to- day is common sense.
 Secretary Fall recently expressed the opinion that there is wealth enough in Alaska to pay off the na- tional debt That is no exaggeration. strangled for many years by bureau cracy it has yet produced wealth in excess of s1OO0,0OO,OOO What may Alaska not do if given chance? < ''