The Daily Alaska empire., 1945-10-16
ROTkRIANS HEAR ANCHORAGE VIEW,
 ORIENT AlRWAyS
Commissioner Davis Also Answers Critics of
 Housing Authority

Two things of paramount impor- tance to Alaska at this time are more houses and more air transpor- tation, Ed Davis, member of the Alaska Housing Authority told the members of the Juneau Rotary Club at their regular Tuesday meeting today in the Gold Room of the Bar anof.
 Mir Davis, representative attor- ney for Anchorage in the CAB hear ings in the North Pacific case to be held the end of this month in Wash ington. divided his talk into two parts, speaking both on housing and air transportation.
 Alaska must have air routes and plenty of them fl she is 10 develop successfully, MT. Davis said. ~AE,lch publicity has been given 10 the ale sation that Juneau favorS Seattle s position on the proposed air ro0to. and that Anchorage does not. Actu- ely Anchorage is not greatly con- cerncd over where the route goes as long as it crosses key cities and vital districts of Alaska The point with all AlaskanS is-and must be Alaskan air routes. regardless of where they go in the Territory It is regrettable that local air lines have become mixed up in the fight for an Oriental route. We need an additional air route to Seattle and one to Chicago and New York gate ways. Naturally we in Anchorage hope we can be a main hub of the Aleska route. but our main interest is in the air routes being estab- lished. We are in favor of a route that would cross from Seattle through Ketchikan and Juneau to Anchorage"
 Evidence Submitted
 Examiners have brought forth evidence that Alaska cannot sup port two Oriental routes, even though as statistics show, TOO out Of every 1000 persons in Alaska fly by plane somewhere in the terri tory during each year As it now stands, there is grave possibility that the route might run from Seattle to Adak and to the Orient. If this should transpire, Alaska will gain little or nothing. We cannot allow the picture to become confused with squabbles over what cities the pro- posed route will touch. The point is-we want an Oriental air route that will enable Alaska to progress and develop"
 Criticism Of AHA
 Speaking of the criticism "often leveled at the Alaska Housing Au- thority', MT Davis said that when the last session of the Legislature gave the commission power to oper- ate, it do so with the understanding that funds woud not be made avail able for house building.
 As it stand now, MT. Davis de- clared, the AHA cannot build houses, but only operate the ones built by the FPHA. He pointed out that al- though Anchorage has 160 housing units now in operation and 40 more un6er construction, the AHA can only take out operational expendi- lures. Profits must be returned to the U. s. Government. Recently the AHA returnd $13,000 in profits from housing units to tn Federal Gov ernment.
 Actually the Alaska Housing Au- thority only works as small and de- cidedly powerless branch of the FTP IA as far as building houses is con- oerned,' Mir Davis stated. There fore the criticism we receive from doing nothing drastic about Alaska's serious housing problem is not de- served"
 He spoke of the possibility of floating bonds to raise funds for house-building in Alaska, but said that such step would decidedly be in the future if it came to pass.
 Before attending the Rotary meet ing as Speaker of the Day, MT Da- wis met with members of the AHA at their second session here this year, at the Moose Hall
 Following Mir Davis address, the Rev. C. Herbert Hillerman an announced that S1,082 had been do- mated by Rotary members toward erecting the proposed Memorial Library in Juneau. The money will he turned over to tie Citizens Com mittee, now in charge of plans for the project.
 Guests besides MT. Davis at to- days meeting were: Floyd w. Warn CT, Seattle; Gill Nordling, Eugene, Oregon; John Fitzpatrick, Bedding, California.