The Cordova daily times., 1923-02-10
STRAIGHT TALK IS HANDED OUT
 BY MINE MAN
Too Little Work, Says Developer, Is rouble
 With Alaska

Tom Aiken, the veterna mine de- Veloper, who is now in Fairbanks, speaking of Alaskan matters says:
 Speaking generally, 1 am person ally of the opinion that the Interior is s1ck-very sick. There is too much talk and too little work; too much politics, and too many men holding and seeking political jobs. Unless this Territory is to revert to the moose and the Indians, the men of Alaska must work and the Govern ment must build roads to connect with the railroad--not necessarily, railroad spurs, but wagon roads and trails into promising and undeveloped districts.
 "Concerning the old timers? Yes, many fail to answer the Roll Call and many are weary and sick by the waysde. Therefore let me suggest that you stop bragging about Our Town Our District The Hospitality of Alaska, etc, etc, just long enough to remember that the Old Timers blazed the trails that led to the this and other Alaska towns and largely to the development of ;5e- attle. The new generation will never know the price the Old Boys paid for all this, nor will the Old Boys ever know the treasure that this same steel will some day take to the Counting House.
 What is the record of the Old Boys Are they we'll fed for? Is it not a fact that there is no provision for men who are ill; that the court must decide that they are vagrants before any relief can be extended? This matter should not be left to | the public-to charity-but should 1 receive immediate attention and cor rection at the hands of these men whom we all know and who are sup posed to represent us at Juneau- Callahan, Dunn, JOhstOn, Keys, Ross, and SnOdgraSs, who must bear i'll mind that sugarcoated promises will mot soOthe the feelings nor the weary bones of the Old Boys, and that substantial appropriation should be made each year and directly applied for the relief of the Old Boys who may have spent or perhaps never received their portion. In case these mentioned and other gentlemen flnd difficulty in raising money for tie relief of the Old Boys, l would sug- gest that all bootleggers, politicians, political hangers-on and cat strang- lers he put to work and as the public offices of this and other Alaska towns appear to be Overcrowded with or ficials whose principal occupation ap- hears to be that of keep the chars warm or, perhaps, as there are so many claims tied up and so little reat assessment work being done, we could tax the claim holders $50 per claim in lieu of assessment work or permit claim holder to perform to the extent of $50 on the Government roads, under Government supervlslon. On the other hand make it compul- sory that a claim holder perform le- gitimate work consisting of a num- Der of feet of shaft or tunnelling. In my opinion the claim holder would readily pay the tax, especially as the assessment work is of no value to the claim nor the Territory This tax might be applied for the relief of the Old Boys, or used to build roads in the district in which it is collected
 "The Railroad may well be consid- cred new lease of life for Alaska and it behooves us to put our shoul- ders to the wheel and develop some- thing to feed it and permit me to take this opportunity of expressing my appreciation of the courtesy ex- tended by members of the staff from the Chief to the Porter, for they have certainly imbibed what many of us lappear to have forgotten "The Spirit of the Alaska" Fairbanks News Miner.
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