Seward seaport record., 1953-07-10
PORT OF SEWARD ON ITS 0WN'


 ture as a port must stand more or less on its own, and Anchor age likewise" Fred Axford, An chorage Port Committee direc- tor told members of the Seward Chamber of Commerce here Tuesday.
 WE, (Anchorage) are not op- posed to the facility in Seward" Axford went on. "In my opinion we have no quarrel with Sew ard"
 Axford was one of a group of five from Anchorage who were guests of the Seward Chamber in a return visit. Win Erwin and Charles Malin, chairman and member of the Board of Direc- tors of the local Chamber of Commerce, attended the An chorage meeting last week.
 Others of the Anchorage group were John Croul, manager; Bob Baker; Augie Hebert, president of the Anchorage c. of C.; and Hal Knudson, KENI program director.
 Hebert stated that the visit was made in an effort "to create a better era of understanding" They will visit other cities. he said. and that Seward was the first of series.
 In speaking of the proposed Anchorage port facilities. Hebert commented that "what benefits one place eventually benefits another" He dwelt al some length upon the "qreat poten- tial" developing with comple- lion of the highway between the two cities. and suggested that Seward concentrate upon the tourist industry. He promised the wholehearted aid of the An chorage Chamber of Commerce in development of that business on the Peninsula.
 Bob Baker, First National Bank of Anchorage, assured the Seward people that this was a "Friendship trip" and that there is mo animosity in Anchorage"
 He then spoke of Tommy Bic as having done a wonderful job in creating friendship in An chorage. Everybody in Anchor age loves Tommy and has great respect for him." Baker de- clared.
 In speaking of port facilities. Baker stated that if ii is proven 10 be practical. Anchorage prob ably will have a port of its own. He cited the number of ports around the harbors of Seattle and San Francisco as proof that a large number of ports can exist in close proximity without interfering with one another.
 John Croul stated that we are facing lot of very tough decisions in the railbelt' in the next few years. Very fine nat ural resources are considered marginal, he explained, because of transportation difficulties and the high cost of working them.
 After the military boom has ended. Anchorage will be inc back scratching center" for wholesale distribution. the solid economic future for us all"
 The only comment made by Seward to the speeches was given by Tormod Bic, president of the Seward Chamber.
 We are not in opposition 10 the Anchorage port program" Bic stated. but the thing that concerns us now is the money already budgeted by the Senate Appropriations Committee. Ii is too late for you 10 get anything done this year by Congress. but ii is not too late to lcse it for us.
 If too much H--(hullabalool is raised now about ports and appropriations in Alaska. we may all lose out" Bic declared.
 In meeting of the Board of Directors following the lunch con, the two groups agreed to work together to obtain the pro- posed hydro-power projects on Kenai Peninsula and to promote the tourist industry to the bene- fit of both cities.