The Daily Alaska empire., 1949-01-20
REASONS FOR LONG CASUALTY LIST

CASUALTY LIST
 "It readily can be seen that the casualty list of companies was bound 70 be large. An analysis of their de- mise tmore than sixty companies) Il the way from 1858 to 1948, shows the real reason why there is only one, old. legitimate Alaska company eft in the trade. It existed because t is one of the few companies that erved all of Alaska, the large and small towns, the cannerieS, the vil- lages and outposts in all parts of the Territory. It was not and is not a gold digger" in the true sense of the word. It is a developer of the Territory and has remained in the country through thick and thin Were we to read the obits of the ar.ous failures, we would no doubt ind the following causes respon- ible: (a) Lack of sufficient trade or more than one company in an req, resulting in Intense compe- ition, rate wars and finally finan- ial embarrassment for one or more companies (b) Boom busting;;' plenty of ships, but no place to go; lc) Closure of mines, mills and anner.es, leaving plenty of ships. ut no fir i g h t; (d Prolonged tIikes; (e) Aftermath of strikes. turing which the interim tranSpor- ation companies could not compete ith the regularly established lines when they returned to operation.
 CURBING OF DUPLICATION
 ESSENTIAL
 Persons engaged in shipping real ize that effective transportation to I'd rom Alaska is indispensable 10 it's economic progress. The Ter ritory cannot reach the advanced s age of development we have at ta ned without efficient facilities for the moving of goods and people. believe that history has shown that controlled transportation is h e nly safe and sound type to prevent chaos.
 The trade requires a curb on nm 7csss arv duplication of facilities. The record shows tn al random lans portation leads to inadequate 'eagnings and generally impaired service; that the operation of ul- no essary lines involves waste of Icgourcfs and the burden of this as2e falls cn the public of Alas kas furthermore, that too much efmnet.tion tetween too many car rtel's result d in harm to the de- Ns,opment Of Alaska and finally in tha ras7in3 out of the picture c.
 s q, moys of tse carriers.
 Nate wars and any other tgpe false tompcti,i3n in wh'eh one con- panY inflicts injury on it's rival or rivals results in a definite set back | or the Territorv and the public ultimately as to pay Experience as sl-own that poor and inadequate transportation is costly no matter LOW low the rates may be, wh le good and adequate, dependable and regularly furnished transportation is Worth what it costs.
 BUILDING A SOUND
 FOUNDATION
 The foundation of that good transportation is good plant and cod equipment. That requires in estment and investment depends pon earnings or the prospect of nings. The best way, and indeed he only sure way, to have better transportation in Alaska is to give -he transportat on mpany a chance to meet today'S costs-such arnings as will justify and encour- age continued investment in bet ,er steamship plant and facilities which are the enc sound foundation of better service at the most eco- lomical cost in the days to come.
 For the successful development I Alaska, the people of the Terri cry have responsibility. They hould not tolerate a hit or miss operation and in order to avoid nat they must support and utilize he services of the regularly estab- ished company or companies so hat the vessels can operate with he greatest possible load factor.
 "The unions are not without re- possibility. They must cooperate sully in adhering to the letter and pirit of their agreements in avoid ing walkouts, slowdowns and other orms of job action which disrupt tipping and add to the overall cost of operation
 There are still many areas where here is insufficient traffic for even ne company, others where one company can just make ends meet, nd there are an extremely few reas where two companies can op- crate successfully for the airplane the trucks, the Canadian ships and the smaller carriers have made serious inroads into the pay dirt.
 As of today we believe that his tA.