The Daily Alaska empire., 1937-04-12
THE DIFFICULTY OF SELLING
 ALASKA NEEDS

ALASKA NEEDS
 Alaskas need for air mail service is well know to all of us in the north but the difficulty of impress ing it those unfamiliar with the Territory wa clearly demonstrated in the recent efforts of Delegat Dimond to get an added amount of STATS to carr on the service to the Westward cities after s68,6e had been set aside for the Juneau-Whte Horse Fairbanks service.
 In appearing before the House of Representative in support of the added appropriation the Delegat had occasion to quote the House committees repo on star routes in Alaska It was
 Star routes. Alaska: The appropriation carried is S207,245, which is the current years figure. It provides for 65 routes under con- tract for transportation of mail within Alaska by dog team, motor and horse drawn vehi- cles and airplane. The committee has dis allowed a Budget request of $72,755 for additional air-mail route from Tanacross via Cordova, Valdez, and Anchorage to Seward. a distance of 480 miles one round trip per week The committee has placed elsewhere in this bill the funds for an air-mail route from Juneau to Fairbanks via White Horse (Yukon Territory and Tanacross The route eliminated from this estimate expected to tie in with this latter route to expedite delivery of mail arriving by boat from Seattle by taking the mail off the boat at Juneau and | putting it into Seward several days earlier than it would otherwise arrive The com mittee finds merit in the line from Juneau to Fairbanks but is not impressed with the need of this considerable expenditure in order to expedite the boat mail to Seward by few days
 Commenting on this report in his address befor he House, the Delegate had this to say:
 With the most respectful deference to the committee and it's able and distinguished members may I say that the route from TanacrosS south should be considered as part and parcel of the mail route between Juneau and Fairbanks and that all of the sound reasons which led to the granting of the item of appropriation for the Juneau Fairbanks service will in the fullest measure justify the item for the service between Tana- the north and Cordova, Valdez, Seward, and Anchorage on the south This line too, will, to quote the language of the report, be of benefit in the development of the Territory and an advantageous facility of national life that the people of Alaska should have the benefit of There is ample justifi- cation for it on the basis of the facilities that the Government has provided for citizens liv ing in the States"
 No money carried in the bill can be pended to better advantage for the people of the United States leaving out of consideration the benefit of the people of Alaska, than this S68692 carried in the bill for Juneau White Horse -Tanacross- Fairbanks route and the small amount of 2755 additional that we request
 dare say it is hard to justify from the standpoint of dollars and cents and from the standpoint of the postage that is received the air-mail service in the States If we had in Alaska the same convenienceS for carrying mail that the people of the States enjoy, do not think would ask for any air mail at all. If had roads, railroads, and rural free delivery all over the country so that not single town, hamlet, farmhouse is omitted from the mail service, I would not be here asking you to enlarge the appropria- ton for ail mail in Alaska. But have not the roads and railroads and the only speedy and efficient way in the interior of Alaska that we get mail is by air; therefore I submit to you that in the interest of your own constituents in your own districts. and for the general welfare of the country it is wise to appropriate this comparatively small amount of money in order to give us the service de- sire, service that is recommended definitely and even enthusiastically by the Department, and one that meets the approval of the Bureau of the Budget
 You may ask how is this going to help the people of the United States? It will help them because Alaska is probably the most valuable and profitable resource that the United States of America possesses
 Our annual exports from Alaska princi- paly in fish gold copper, and furs, for the last few years has probably averaged some where between 60 and 65 million dollars. Nearly all of it goes to the United States. Our average imports are between 30 and 40 mil lion dollars year. Most of that comes from the United States. As I pointed out to the Members of the House two years ago if the exportable surpluses of the United States were as great in proportion to population as the exportable surpuses of Alaska the United States would have the enormous exportable surplus every year of about 66 billion dollars.
 Where does this wealth come from? We