The Kusko times., 1924-11-29
Government Operation
 of Alaska's Railroad
Seward Gate way.

ure has been demonstrated so many times thst it ceases to arouse interest The recent turnover in the personne of t4e Alaska Railroad is one of the best illustrations of what might bt termed a "tizzle" that we have ever seen. The railroad started out under tue management of Colonel Frederick Mears an army engineer of consider able ability and much ego. He con structed the line to d poiut where trains could pass over 1t. then devoted his time to building up several towns and coal mines along the road. After constructing several hundred thousand dollars worth of buildings and many miles of track, together with elaborate coal mining equipment he started tc hult for coal mine Today the pro- ject stands abandoned, machinery rust. Ing, the track torn up, and the fine gymnaslum. tennis courts, and elao- 0rate build iugs habitat for bats and 8nowsnoe. rabbits. Possibly two or three million dollars which should should have been used in building eX. tensions were throwu away.
 Col Mears was recalled just at the aime be planned to build quarter of a million dollar wharf and baul the water to it by dredging This meant that every ton of freight going in ever the wharf would be taken from the receipt of the railroad.
 Next came Col James G. Steese, a man of greater ability and better ac- quainted with Alaska than Col. Mears, but not the liberal spender. In fact, Col. Steese insisted upon quid pro quo for the government money and wanted sAdollaf's worth of work for 8 dollar invested. He lasted about long enough 10 get his chair warm, as the crowd bungering for government money kept the wires hot with charges and plots f1r his downfall. Col Steese was given no chance to make good as railroad man, but was shunted back into the Road Commission, where docks and dredges were not needed. It was d case of man being fired for too much zeal on the job.
 Then came Lee H. Lands. a man with an international record as rail- road man, and hard boiled dscipli- marian. Mir Lendis started in by dis charg ing two thirds of the office force on the road and placing the other third to work. He likewise increased the train service to point where it sound- ed like a railroad. But Mr. Landis likewise was against the building of a dock or engaging in any enterprise chat would take money from the rail road. He adopted a policy of retrench- ment that pared expenses to the bone and brought the road to point where it was practically self-supp0rting, which meaut that government pap would be withdrawn entirely. This rank heresy quickly brought the atten. ti 3n of those living off the railroad ap- propriations to his startling innova- tions and he was slated for puck re- moval. Every charge that could go over the wire without melting the solder was fired into Washington and, as usual the department took action. Several investigators were sont out. and so lit9le did the Secretary approve of the policy of economy that Nlr. Landis was relegated to the position of office boy and his actions rescnded.
 And thus it goes and will ever go as long as the railroad is in politics. A p ivate corporation could ruu the road with half the force and for quarter of i