The Daily Alaska empire., 1932-07-13

compelling, why the move was against the best interests of Alaska
 It wiped out the only Federal agency in Alaska whose authority absolutely local and unlimited in the expenditure of the funds appropriated for its use It has resulted already in the abolition of the Alaska Rivers and Harbors district and made the Territory a subordinate to the Seattle district It deprves Alaska of the services of six competent officers of the Engineer Corps of the United States Army without any measure of replacement local or otherwise.
 Last but not least, it creates in Alaska the abomnation known as the toll road system" This lis one Territory whose roads have been sub jected to toll traffic Constructed with public funds public use they have all been free public highways No one had the right to charge anything for their use, and every one using them was free from any let or hndrance.
 The new law authorizes the Secretary of Interior to inaugurate system of tolls wherever necessary for the regulation of traffic It is no secret that the thought behind this is to make traffic over Richardson Highway so expensive that it will have to be routed the Alaska Railroad. But the authority applies equally to every road and trail on the vast system.
 Of this sort of system Solicitor Finney, in his memorandum opinion dated March g, 1882 said Nothing is found in the acts of Congress
  son Highway has been constructed which expressly impledly grants authority to prescribe and collect tolls for the use Of this | road In the absence of such authority | it does not appear that any tolls may be charged It seems also to be beyond the authority of the Territorial Legislature to l prescribe tolls for the of this road. While these roads have not been con- structed under the Federal Highway Act l attention is called to the fact that that act 1u that all 0n-
 structed reconstructed hereunder shall be free from tolls of all kinds This appears to indicate a general policy of Congress against the collection of tolls. l Under the Federal highway act, above referred i to- the Federal Government cannot, and will not by direction of Congress alot any part Of the cost of any road project over which tolls are to be charged even though the State contributes 50 per cent of the cost of construction. Now we have an act of Congress that authorizes Federal officer to collect tolls over a road which has been constructed entirely from Federal and, therefore public funds Surely this is not consonant with home rule, or with the established practices Of public policy heretofore held to be essential by both the legislative and the executive branches of the Government.
 l The Empire from the first inception of this move has opposed it. It still holds it is unwise move and cannot result other than in injury to Alaska It regrets sincerely that Aaskas Delegate Ito Congress did not every legitimate means to tprevent passage of the bill by which it achieved Had he been there when the bill came up for passage, he could have interposed an objection to
 its consideration that would have prevented action on it by the House in which he sits as Alaska's representative to Congress And in view of the general protests against it which sent to him from many Alaskan organizations, we believe it was his duty to have done