WASHINGTON NEWS LETTER
By MARY LEE COUNCIL
Secretary to E. L. (Bob) Bartlett, Alaska's Delegate to Congress
Hoad Funds and the Alaska
Legislature
The suggestion that a special
session of the Alaska legislature
resulting in raising of increased
revenue for territorial road con
tributions might lead to addition
al federal road funds was made
by Congressman Ben Jensen, who
head the subcommittee of the
House Appropriations Commit
tee handling appropriations for
the Interior Department.
The advice was given by the
Iowa Republican following the
admonition of the House commit
tee in allowing $10 million for
federal road construction for the,
1954 fiscal year, a slash of $8,
400,000 below the Truman bud
get and a cut of $4,600,000 from
the revised budget of President
Eisenhower. In addition to this
reduction, the House committee
also recommended that $3 mil
lion be made available for road
mamtenance work in the Terri
tory, $400,000 below the amount;
requested in both the Truman and
Eisenhower • budgets.
The House sustained both cuts
in passing the Interior Depart
ment appropriation bill this week
in addition to other reductions
eliminating entirely the Seward
Portage rehabilitation program
for The Alaska Railroad in the
amount of $13,592,000 as recom
mended by former President
Truman and reducing by $675,
000 the $15 million Alaska Public
Works program contained in the
Truman budget.
“If they in Alaska expect the
United States Congress to change
the amounts which the commit- j
tee has recommended in the
I^ouse bill,” Congressman Jen-: <
sen stated to Delegate Bartlett' :
when the committee action on *
roads was initially made known,
“I would suggest the new Gover- 1
nor, B. Frank Heintzleman, con- i
ver.e the territorial legislature <
in special session for the purpose !
of passing legislation which will i
increase the gasoline tax, license i
fees on trucks, and such other c
revenue as the Governor feels t
should be increased. If they get i
that done in time—before the £
Senate committee marks up the i
bd.—there is the possibilitv that £
the Senate will be more liberal 1
than the House has been, and a
then the House conferees who <
will sit with the Senate conferees i
will naturally be inclined to ap
pre s a greater appropriation for
•fiuMini mm mm m
roads in Alaska.”
This statement followed close
ly on the committee’s warning in
cluded in its report on the Interi
or bill: ‘‘The committee is con
vinced that an adequate roads
construction program is a neces
sary development in Alaska and
has in the past been rather gen
erous in allowing funds for this
purpose. However, the committee
has consistently felt that a great
er share of the burden of building
roads and maintaining them in
Alaska should be borne by the
government of Alaska. Just prioi
to marking up the bill it was
brought to the committee’s at
tention that the Alaska legisla
ture had adjourned its recent ses
sion without adopting proposed
legislation which would have in
creased revenues for the Territory
for the purpose of carrying their
fair share of the road program.
In view of this fact, the commit
tee sees no reason for continuing
the construction program with
federal funds at the level of re
cent years.”
Delegate Bartlett offered twc
amendments to the bill, one to
restore the $400,000 cut in the
road maintenance funds and $2,
400,000 for continuation of the
Copper River Highway in the
road construction allowances.
However, these met the same fate
of rejection as did all amend
ments offered by individual mem- ,
bers. In urging restoration of '
these funds, Delegate Bartlett '
asked Congressman Jensen dur- •
ing House debate on the measure
vhether “it might not be too late
"or this year, even, if a special
=e=<?ion of the legislature were
:alled forthwith, to increase the
iporopriations?” to which the;
lubcommittee chairman replied:
‘If the legislature of Alaska were -
o meet and pass revenue-rais
ng legislation, it is possible they
•ould get that accomplished be
or the Senate committee marks
ip this bill. If the Senate com-1
nittee would look with favor up
m a larger appropriation than
he House committee has recom
nended, then, speaking for my
elf as one member of the com-;
nittee, I would say it would
eem quite natural that the mem- i
>ers of the House committee
could look witK favor on a Iarg
■r appropriation for that pur
>ose.”
Bureau of Reclamation
The House approved the ear
I
The Butte
MILE 41 /i GLENN HIWAY
Featuring
MARION MURRY
with her Hammond organ
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY
FINE FOOD AND COCKTAILS
EVERY DAY
FRIENDLY COURTEOUS SERVICE
Always Take the
AuRoRa
BETWEEN ANCHORAGE AND FAIRBANKS
Lv. Anchorage 8:30 A.M.
Ar. Fairbanks 8:30 P.M.
Safe, Dependable DAILY Service
THE ALASKA RAILROAD
No Train on Tuesday
marking of $100,000 for Alaska
water power investigations by
the Bureau of Reclamation dur
ing consideration of the Interior
Department appropriation bill, a
sum far below he amount recom
mended in the Truman budget.
The funds requested by former
President Truman for general in
vestigations of the Bureau
throughout the country were cut
from $6,250,000 to $2 million. The
bill as reported by the House Ap
propriations Committee called for
Alaska investigations but no
.specific sum was spelled out for
the work. When the bill came
up for action the House allowed
in accordance with the commit
tee’s recommended amendment
$100,000 for the Alaska work, a
slash of $230,000 below the Tru
man request of $330,000 for this
work. Chairman Jensen told Dele
gate Bartlett that the committee
desired to assure, by means of
the amendment, that the Alaska
office would not be closed. How
ever, according to Bureau of Re-1
clamation officials, the House al
lowance if sustained will permit
only a “skirT and bones” staff in
Alaska. The Truman budget had
projected the following alloca
tion of $330,000 for various activ
ties including a detailed investi
gation of Susitna River Devil
Canyon project in the amount of
$254,928; stream gaging at Wood
Canyon on the main stream of the
Copper River in the amount of
$2,000; stream gaging in the Yu
kon River basin in the sum of $4,
)00; completing reports on the
IVickersham project near Fair
banks in the sum of $19,294; the
Susitna River Basin study in the
sum of $2,817; Lake Dorothy out
side Juneau, $10,467; and Blue
1-ake near Ketchikan, $14,494. j
BUZBY TO GUIOE
OIL GEOLOGISTS
Bob Buzby, local guide, and his
family have a busy (and enviable)
summer ahead of them, guiding
geologists of the Shell Oil Com
pany who are in the territory for
surface mapping work in the In
iskin Bay area and westward.
Buzby left this week, with the
family to follow at the close of
the school term. Mrs. Buzby will
cook for the jfroup; son Denny
will help with the guiding and
Alice and Ted will “vacation.”
Buzby will be flying supplies and
equipment during their stay, for
many camps they will be setting
up, he said. “We’ll be in bear
country all the time and by the
time the bear season rolls around,
we’ll be on speaking terms with
some of the best of them,” Buzby
laughingly said. There will be a
Other work had been contemplat
ed for the Lawing project in the
Kenai survey in the sum of $20,
000 and the Power Creek project
near Cordova in the amount of
$2,000.
BEST WISHES
to the
graduating class
of '53.
TREASURE CHEST
guide with the party all the time
he said.
, FRONTIERSMAN CLASSIFIEDS
ALWAYS BRING RESULTS
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Old-Fashioned
To Be Without A
CHECKING ACCOUNT!!
Pay your bills by check and you'll be safe and sure.
For the cancelled check is absolute proof that the
payment was made. A checking account here also
helps you to budget, to keep track of your expenses
and control them. An automatic record of expenditures,
how. where and for what spent.
CHECKING
ACCOUNTS
MATANUSKA VALLEY BANK
Palmer, Alaska
OPEN FRIDAY EVENINGS «—0 Pit
DAILY 10 A.M. — 0 P.M.
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