Pros and Cons
Initiative No. 1 Capital Move
It will cost many millions to j
move the capital. Initiative No. 1
provides that the capital shall be
relocated to Westward Alaska. A
conservative estimate shows the
total cost will be in excess of $150,
000. A substantial portion of this
would have to be spent outside
Alaska on materials and supplies.
The move is unnecessary. The
quality of your state government
depends on the quality of those
you elect to operate it for you, not
where they meet or work. Do you
believe that your elected repre
sentatives to the National Congress
would better represent you if the i
national capital were moved to |
the midwest?
Let's spend what money we have
wisely. Alaska’s need for revenue
will continue to increase as de
mands increase for more roads,
schools, airfields, social services,
and other public needs. Even if
there were virtues to moving the
capital, Alaskans could not afford
such a luxury in this stage of its
economic development.
Alaskans will pay the bill. And
it will have to be paid with tax I
money. Does anyone really believe I
the propaganda that 6,400 acres of j
state land can be sold in a new |
capital site for a sufficient sum to I
finance the entire cost of moving j
i the capital?
Is Juneau accessible? At the |
time of the last initiative, pro- ;
i ponents of the move claimed that j
j the Juneau Airport could never ;
be serviced by jet airliners. Never
i theless. twice-daily jet airline serv- |
j ice by Pan American and Pacific
I Northern Airlines was inaugurated
j early this year using Juneau’s new
1 8,500 foot runway with the latest
electronic equipment.
Does Juneau have room for capi
! ial expansion? Juneau has more j
I property contiguous to its existing ;
state office buildings than the
State of Oregon is presently using
for its capital site.
I
Is the land satisfactory for con
structing? In 1963 the federal gov
ernment will construct an eight or :
nine story federal building of mod- I
ern design at a cost of about $16,- |
000,000 on almost identical land \
only a few hundred feet distant.
Juneau has adequate office j
i buildings. Juneau has the basic nu
cleus of permanent governmental
structures that can be expanded
slowly as the need arises and as
the state can afford it.
What are these public works
needs? A summary table in the re
port shows that $71,624,000 will be
needed for construction of state
operated elementary and second
ary schools, vocational schools and
for the University of Alaska. An
I other $30,339,291 will be needed for
i hospital and health facilities
| throughout the state and for such
things as the Pioneers Home and
i a juvenile institution. The greatest
I need, however, is the category en
j titled “Economic D e v e 1 opment”
which includes highway construc
tion and maintenance, harbors, air
ports, biological facilities, tourist
I and recreation facilities, minerals
analysis and other productive in
vestments required to maintain a
healthy, growing economy.
Where will all this money come
from? Anyone who has looked very
closely at the state’s financial po
sition realizes that it will not be
possible for us to pay for anywhere
near all of these needs unless
some unforeseeable event occurs
to greatly increase projected reve- J
nues. In the light of these facts 1
Alaskans cannot honestly contem
plate supporting such a huge and J
unproductive investment as would 1
be required by the capital move. 1
SUBSCRIBE TO THE NUGGET
i
i
It need not cost millions. The
new capital site must be on state
owned land. The state will profit
immediately through sales of land*
The money will come from private
parties who want to build hotels,
restaurants, shops and all the
establishments a city requires, and
from developers who will build
residential projects.
The move is essential. Our state
government can never operate ef
fectively and efficiently when its
headquarters are so remote from
the people it serves. The isolation
:>f the capital has serious effects
an good government practices, ef
ficient economy and ethics.
Let's spend what money we have
wisely. Alaska's needs are great
and will become greater. The state
>wns only four structures in Ju
neau. It will soon need more
buildings for offices. To build a
permanent capital in Juneau would
require the purchase of costly sites.
The federal government has ear
marked $1,000,000 to buy a lot in
Juneau for one building.
A new capital will pay for itself.
The state owns 103 million acres
of land. The new state capital can
be financed by the sale of land
around the capital site for com
mercial and residential develop
ment.
Juneau has no room for expan
sion. The 30 acres available are
mostly a rocky precipice that no
body has found a way to use—
or marshy lowland that is unsatis
factory for building foundations.
The land is not satisfactory for
construction. The capital site sug
gested by the Juneau planners is
a rock pile where no one has ever
tried to build, or man-made land
from tide flats which is suitable
for a parking lot or low buildings.
Juneau does no have adequate
office buildings. While in Juneau
engineers say the state will need
408,000 square feet of office space
in a new location, the state at
present owns 293,543 square feet
of office space in Juneau. We say
the state has only four buildings,
they say five by including the
support building which is a ware
house.
Let's think of the future. State
population is going to grow at a
rate of at least 5,000 persons a
year. State government is also ex
panding at a rapid rate. Initiative
No. 1 does not call for the move
ment of the capital from Juneau
tomorrow, but that it shall only
begin by 1968. This is six years
from now. The completed move
can take from 10 to 20 years or
longer and be regulated to the
installation of new industries into
Juneau to offset the loss of state
employes. This is the future.
Phony Real Estate
Salesmen Create Scandal
KANSAS CITY, Mo. OP) —
Phony real estate salesmen are cre
ating the greatest land scandal in
recent American history in the
southwest and Florida, says four
officials of the National Associa
tion of Better Business Bureaus.
Investors, mostly low-income
persons, will lose more than $100
million and the scandal is still
growing, they said.
The statements were made at
a regional meeting of the associa
tion by Victor Nyborg, of Rye,
M.Y., association president; Lowell
Nicholas, general manager of the
Des Moines bureau; Kenneth Ber
nard, president of the Chicago bu
•eau; and Joe Birkhead, head of
he Kansas City bureau.
Bernard said low-income persons
ire buying — sight unseen and on
he installment plan — swamp
and, remote desert or inaccessible
nountain land for retirement and
nvestment purposes.
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