The Wrangell sentinel., 1940-04-26

is aa item of "extreme importance. . Tue outline he gave of the serious ness Of the situation in this region made a clear inference that the pro- ] posed establishment will have his full support. The Senator said:
 We have been spending billions of dollars for the purpose Of creat- ing defensive weapons; we have been spending billions of dollars for the construction of warships. Here we have a place where we are a1- most h direct contact with another nation that Is at the present moment engaged in intense activity in con- strueting bases for defense. as 1t says. but which might easily be used for offense.n Mr. Schwellenbach stated that he thought it "a most serious mistake for the Appropria- tions Committees of Congress to ne gleet this important expenditure. ,"
 Working daily at the Senate end of the Capitol in developing support for the Anchorage base, Delegate Di- mond said that it is clearly evident that a better understanding of the importance of the Territory in balanced plan of national defense is growing in the Senate, and that he is hopeful that a substantial appro- priation will be made this year with which the Anchorage project can be undertaken. It was Mir. Dimond's opinion that the increasing serious ness of the European situation makes it imperative that the defense facility proposed for the Army Air Corps at Anchorage be commenced without delay. General George c. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff, had this in mind when he said last week that the United States must defend itself against sparks" which might unexpectedly fly in this direction from the European conflagration
 Saying that he is "in hearty ac- cord" with the proposal of Senator Schwellenbaeh, Hiram Johnson, theI veteran Senator from California, said that when the bill is brought
  behalf. He added that if the Appro-I priations Committee does not insert the Anchorage item in the bill be- fore reporting it to the Senate, We will try to insert it ourselves. ;"
 Senators Hill or Alabama, and Reynolds of North Carolina, alsoI voiced their full support for the An chorage base.
 In discussing the proposals to bel issued by the Post Office Depart ment calling for bids for carrying the mail from Seward, via Kodiak Island, to Alaska Peninsula points, Unalaska, Umnak, and north via Bristol Bay to Goodnews Bay, in a vessel of sufficient size to provideI adequate space and facilities for transportation of passengers and freight, Delegate Dimond said that able to carry lat least fifty passen- gers and at least 300 tons freight as a "very minimum Saying that it would be much better if the Yes- sel were able to carry 65 passengers and 800 tons of freight, the Dele-I gate stated he would 'insistently urge the larger capacity were it not for the possibility that no such ship can be secured for the amount of money available" No announcement i has been made by the Department as to when the proposals for bids for this service are expected to be re- leased.
 Legislation sponsored by Delegate Dimond to set the date of converting of the Alaska Territorial Legislature back from the second Monday in January to the fourth Monday in January of the uneven numbered