The Daily Alaska empire., 1946-10-17
MARL0WE, TONER
 TALK BEFORE {. (.
 LUNCHEON TODAY

Bruce Marlowe, Executive Direc.- or of the Juneau Merchants Asso- ciation, today gave members of the Juneau Chamber of Commerce a brief outline of work being done by his Association toward untangling large scale problems of local mer- chants
 Also speaking on the noon pro- gram of the Chambers regular luncheon meeting was Felix Toner, Emergency Housing Committee head in Juneau.
 "The Merchants Association seeks new and cheaper freight rates. and we intend to get them" said MT. Marlowe. This will mean lower costs to the consumer Due to pilferage and inadequate shipping facilities, the Merchants Association is promoting the idea of new route from the East and !; Midwest through Canadian Nation- al Railway or Canadian Pacific Railway to Prince Runpert, where because of the Jones Act, an American boat picks up Alaskan , passengers, the speaker said In an attempt to determine the freight and transportation costs of such a route, the Merchants Acso- citation has sent out letters to the , Chambers of Commerce in Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee and other points. Replies so far have in dicated that such costs would be cheaper than those in the prevail ing route used by local merchants.
 Replies Favorable
 Communication with all ci-leS and towns in Alaska regarding the new route proposal have been tav- orable in the replies received to date MT Marlowe declared. |, Concerning the "intolerable prob , lem" of pilferage, the speaker saii the Merchants Association through f it's Board of Directors has been
 very active in seeking to remedy this situation by having merchants 1 send in letters citing specific in s stances of such pilferage. These in turn have been sent to the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, which has declared its willingness to do every f thing possible to prevent such oc-
 curences. MT. Marlowe also men, l toned the cooperation received in , this by the local police, and other
 agencies.
 In giving the background of the
 association, the speaker pointed out , that since it's inception last August f 30, with 33 members, the organiza-
 ton has grown to a membership of : 91.
 c To Aid Critically
 The association was formulated
 not only to combat evils that beset , business but to aid in various civic a projects as we'll He said he felt 6 that as a whole, the organization |, was a definite asset to the com- . munty, and could achieve great ben i. efits for Juneau.
 :, One of our main objectives is
 cooperation with other worthwhile
 groups such as the Chamber of Commerce here. If all organizations
 could get together and cooperate
 in concerted aggressive manner,
 we could rid ouselves forever of
 the shackles of paternalistic
 apathy of the Outside If Alaska is to achieve state
 hood in the near future much more
 work needs to be done in the same Iconcrete manner in which the MA is attempting to accomplish its ] aims
 Housing Situation Speaking on the local housing 9 situation, MT. Toner said that pub lie interest and cooperation in the
 recent rental and building material
 needs surveys was decided disap-
 pointing.
 Before we can really go ahead
 in this vital matter of providing
 Juneau with adequate housing, we / need the whole strength of the . town behind us At the moment :. there has been no indication that , we have that
 : In the second project underway,
 that of the proposed low cost hous- 9 ing, MT. Toner said results could l not be ascertained for at least two :, weeks.
 l, But we hope that interest and
 cooperation from the town will be t more pronounced in this than it : has been in our previous work.