THE NENANA DAILY NEWS
Application made April 1, 1918, at the postoffice at Nenana, Alaska
for entry as second class mail matter, under the Act of March 3, 1879
“WHERE RAIL AND RIVER MEET”
Published every afternoon except Sunday, by the Nenana Printir.i
Company, at First and B Streets, Nenana, Alaska.
R. G. Southworth....Editor and Manage
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this paper and also all the local news published herein.
WICKERSHAM LETTER
TO SECRETARY LANE
Former Delegate Believes Alaska Railroad Should Bo
Constructed by Contractors. Says Lane is Failure
The first instalment of the letter j
written by former Delegate James '
Wickersham to Secretary Lane,
iharging him with mismanagement
of the affairs of the Alaskan En
gineering commission and the Alas
ka railroad project, is given in this
issue for the benefit of the readers
of the Nenana News. (
The letter is as follows: .
Washington, D. C. :•
January 8, 1919. i
Hon. Franklin K. Lane, i
Secretary of the Interior, '
Washington. D. C.
Sir: !
Your administration in the con
struction of the Alaska railroad,
the first test of government con-! .
struction. ownership and operation
of American railroads, under the ,
Act of Congress approve-1 March 12,
1914, is now about conciuded under ,
present legislation. That it has prov-.
en disappointing to those familar
with the work is admitted; the people'
of Alaska who are best acquainted.,
with the facts think the failure ,
results from your inefficiency, in- ,
competency, and petty political par- ,
tisanship, in which conclusion I am
forced to concur. No doubt if you ,
were required to answer public .
charges of that kind you would take
refuge behind alleged changed con- .
ditions brought on by the world’s
war, since you began the work; and
because that ready excuse will occur
to others, as well, it is necessary to
call your attention to some facts
which you may not otherwise notice,
which tend to show that the failure
is not wholly due to that cause.
1—Appropriations are Dissipated.
The Act authorizing the president
to locate, construct and operate a
government railroad in Alaska was
approved by him on March 12, 1914,
nearly five years ago, 38 Stat. L.
305. The Act carried an authoriza
tion for the full sum of $35,000,000
and an appropriation of immediate
use of one million. The following ;
appropriations have been made and :
expended:
$1,000,000, 38 Stat. L.. 305
$2,000,000, 38 Stat. L„ 861.
52.000. 0000, 39 Stat. L., 23.
$6, 247,620, 39 Stat. L. 306.
$3,000,000, 39 Stat. L. 1202.
57.500.000, Act June 12. 1917. j
$4,000,000, Act October 6, 1917.
$4,250,000, Act July 1, 1918.
$30,997,620. total appropriations :
to date.
$4,002,380, estimate for 1920 :
$35,000,000, total authorization i
for project. ::
When the sum of $4,002,380 car- ■
ried in the estimates for 1920 shall 1
be appropriated as now requested <
by you, and expended, the entire j i
sum authorized by Congress for this i
project will have been spent, and j
the project will be about two-thirds;;
completed. The people of Alaska i
want to know why there has been '
such a waste of their trust fund,
why the project has been so long 1
delayed, and why there is such a
difference between promise and 1
performance.
Your estimate in the book of es
imates. 1920, for the expenditurt
>f the balance of the appropriation
he sum of 84,002,380, shows how
tear the danger line this propeel
low is. While this official estimau
s so skillfully drawn and presented
hat no mere layman, be he repre
entative or delegate, can say with
ertainty what it means, past experi
nce in noting the expenditure of
hese funds, justifies the fair as
umption that at least certain of the
terns therein will be expended, some
>ecause they are necessary for the
test use of the road, others for
he convenience of the officials, as
ollows:
Construction, Seward Division,
1718,340.
Operation Seward Division. $712,
!20.
Operation, Fairbanks Division,
;329,890.
Expenses, Seattle and Washing
on. S66.000.
Salaries 8967,295.
Total 82,793,745.
Subtract this sum from the ba!
nee estimated for, 84.002,380, and
here is remaining but 81,208,635
or all authorized work on the road
rom Seward to Fairbanks. There
ire other items, too, in the estimate
vhich more than use up that bal
in'-e, for instance ‘‘materials, equip
nent and supplies 81,486,880,’
vhich for itself leaves a deficit
.Then it is understood that this bal
ince is the end of both legislation
md appropriation it seems the pan
>f good judgment to call a halt
mless you intend to carry on the
vaste until the last dollar is
eached. and then abandon the un
ompleted joints of the enterprise tc
lepreciation, demoralization a n c
vreck. It may be fairly assumec
hat you do not intend to do that
md that no more miles of main lint
vill be constructed out of this bal
ince. unless some other way can bi
:ound to continue the necessary op
oration and protection of the prop
erty pending further congressiona
iction.
I.—Cost Per Main Line Mile.
On December 13. 1918, your of
’ice furnished me a blueprint maf
>f the Alaska railroad showing mair
ine progress to December 12, 1918
?rom that may it is ascertained thal
,'ou have constructed 228 miles ol
nain line, not including, of course
he 71 miles purchased from tht
Alaska Northern Co., nor the nar
■Off guage Tanana Valley branch
3oth these were paid for out of the
und provided by Congress for the
onstruction of the general project,
tnd their cost must, therefore, be
ubtracted from the $35,000,000 be
ore the cost of the main line mil
age can be determined. These twe
terns amount to the following sum.
iccording to your official estimates:
Purchase price 71 miles Alaska
Cortl.erJ $1,150,000.
Re'nabiliatation of 71 miles Alaska
Corthem $1,163,888.
Purchase price Tanana Valley
Irar.ch $300,000.
Rehabilitation of Tanana Valley
’ranch $137,500.
Total $2,751,388.
Subtracting the purchase price of
these two items and the cost of their
rehabilitation as shown in your
estimate for 1919, H. Doc. 588, 65th
Congress, 2nd Session, pages 751-2,
*32,248.612, representing the total
cost of main line constructed by
you, or 228 main line miles at a
cost of *141.441 per mile.. The es
timates made by both the Taft rail
’ road commission of 1913, and your
Alaskan Engineering commission,
. have averaged about $50,000 per
main line mile, and it is a surprise
i to find that the actual cost has thus
1 jumned about 200 per cent above
1 the estimates, to more than $140,000
. per main line mile.
3. —Project Left Disjointed and
1 Wrecked.
From mile 225 at Talkeetna, there
, is an unconstructed gap of 148
miles, to mile 373 on the N'enana
river; there is also an unconstructed
( gap in the narrow gauge line be
tween Xenana and Fairbanks; no
provision or estimate has been made
for a bridge across the Tanana river
which makes the gap doubly diffi
cult, for no coal may reach the
Fairbanks mining camps until fur
ther action by Congress. The pro
ject is thus left in a disjointed, de
moralized and wrecked condition,
with the various parts of construct
ed road north of Matanuska Junction
entirely useless, until, in some fu
ture time, they can be united and
combined into one complete through
line Immediate loss and deprecia
tion and immoderate expense for
protection and watchmen must fol
low the cessation of construction
while waiting for future legislation
and appropriations. Xo part of this
disjointed main line north of Ma
tanuska Junction, more than one
half the whole line mileage, is cap
able of performing useful service
in this dismembered condition. Un
less Congress shall make immediate
provision for closing these gaps and
completng the main line to Fair
banks, the whole project except the
Matanuska branch is a waste. The
relief from excessive rates on the
Yukon and Tanana rivers so long
expected by the mining, mercan
tile and home-making interests of
thees river regions will be post
poned indefinitely, and the White
Pass and Yukon route steamboat
monopoly on the rivers will have
gained all it fought for before the
Senate committee on territories in
1914, because of the abandonment
of the uncompleted through line.
4. —Bureaucratic Railroad Construc
tion.
In the light of experience it is
plain that it was a mistake to at
temp' to build this railroad through
a new bureau organized in the in
terior department. The Act au
thorizing the construction provided a
well devised plan for doing it by con
tract. But you declined to ask for
competitive bids, to let a contract
for constructing the whole job, or
any large part of it, and formed the
elaborate bureau called the Alaskan
Engineering commission ,n the in
terior department, and began its
construction by day wages.
On pages 763-5 of the book of
estimates, 1920, that organization is
spread out for “official inspection,
headed by three commissioners, each
drawing *10,000 a year salary, a
greater sum than either of them
ever before receivjd. There they
are, commissioners, managers, sup
erintendents. editors, disbursing of
feers, etc., 726 of them, all drawing
high annual salaries, winter and
summer, whether they work or not,
for building a pioneer railroad line
in Alaska. Then follows a long line
of lesser officials, foremen, pack
masters, captains, stewards, engin
eers. electricians, sawyers, butchers,
bakers, etc , 1345 other men who
draw good wages but who do not
build railroads, a total of 2,071 non
raiiroad builders in the “organiza
tion” or “overhead” clas"
On page 765 is the list of labor
ers, railroad builders, the “pick and
shovel men,” the men who build
grades, lay ties, place rails and
spike the road together, 2,016 in
number, less than 50 per cent of
the total number of employes! And
that condition has been the rule
since the Alaskan Engineering com
mission began the creation of this
bureau in 1914, there have been
more civil employees in the offices
and yards thai# laborers in the con
struction camps. There has been
perfection ,n bureaucratic organiza
tion, excessive overhead attach
ments, a gross expenditure for
plant and useless buildings, and too
little attention to grading and track
laying along the main line.
Look at the estimate on page 765
for the payment of employees for
the fiscal year 1920, “salaries $967,
295,” “wages $305,465.” “Salaries"
in the bureaucratic organization,
“wages" to railroad builders. Sev
enty-five per cent for overseeing,
and twenty-five per cent for con
struction work. Notice, too that
the 25 per cent includes a large
number of employees who do not
construct railroad®, so the true sum
to be paid to actual railroad ouild
ers is really much less than 25 per
cent of the total sum expended for
salaries and wages.
The Anchorage division is your
best showing for construction work
on this government railroad; more
work has been done there, more
men employed than all the rest of
the road combined, yet your official
overhead and non-railroad buildine
list there amounts to more than 50
per cent of the total employes' You
have had more “pencil holders" on
that work in 1918 than actual rail
road constructors. No contractor
would have any such overhead organ
ization. or any such extraordinary
waste of his or corporate funds.
You could have saved as much
if not all of this official overhead
i r organization waste by a judicious
contract in 1914 for the construction
of che road. When the bill became
a law on March 12, 1914, railroad
contractors came to Washington to
offer competitive bids for its con
struction under that plan. None
were called for. no contract was let.
but the- scheme of bureaucratic con
struction by wages out of the fund
was entered on “to save the con
tractor's profits." Contractors of
fered to build the Copper river
route from Chitina to Fairbanks, a
distance of 313 miles, for $13,971,
1000, or an average of $44,640 per
main line mile, but that offer was
declined It is mentioned here
merely as a standard of comparison
with the line which you have built
at an estimated cost of about $50,
000 per main line mile, though at
an actual cost of about $140,000
per main line mile. It also illus
trates the difference between a po
litical bureau control and a live rail
road contractor on the ground under
responsibilitc.
The second instalment charging
incompetence and wasfe on the Ne
nana division will be published in a
later issue.
FRIDAY BRIDGE CLUB WILL
MEET AT O'KEEFE HOME
The Friday Bridge club will hold
its regular weekly meeting at the
nome of Mrs. Larry O'Keefe, on
Front street tonight.
Play will commence promptly at
8 o'clock and all members are re
quested to be present on time.
A vote will be taken after the
end of play on whether the club
shall continue during the summer
or disband; and members who are
unable to be present and send sub
stitutes, are requested to instruct
the substitute as to how she should
vote on the question.
SHOTGUNS and Shotgun Ammu
nition—new stock just opened, at
Anderson B-os & Ner'iane.
Jack Single tor. s a town visitor
from nis roadhou-e near Lignite.
He reports that the forest fires in
his neighborhood did considerable
damage but that they are not dan
gerous now.
Nenana House
Under New Management
Q-—Why is the NENANA HOUSE like a dog sitting on
a cake of ice? A.—Because it's so dog gone nice.
Mrs. A. B. Easterly, Proprietress
jx-M-x-x-x-x^j-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x
? :!
X
*
The government has
announced the Opening of
the Fifth Bond Selling Cam
paign and Local Patriots are now
Actively Engaged in Disposing of
VICTORY BONDS
YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED
to Insure the Success of the Drive.
Your Dollars May Put Nenana Over
the Top. Don t Hold Back. Buy
• • • • • • • • * * *..•**a*®#**»*****e**e**e**e*®e®*e**e"*e*®e*****»#*e®'
X
$
COLES AIR TIGHT
HEATERS
RANGES
OF ALL DESCRIPTIONS
Yukon Stoves and Drums
Air Tight Heaters
Any Thing in the Sheet Metal, Plumb
ing or Heating Line
Tanana Sheet Metal Works
WANT ADS
FOR SALE—A Singer sewing ma.
chine. Inquire at Coghill’s.
I LOST—Nugget chain. Liberal re
i ward for return to News office.
I OR RENT—Small one-room partly
iurnished frame cabin, on First
and B streets. ■ Aplly at Chezzi's.
Prospectors and Contractors!
Now is the time to have that tar*
paulin, tent or bag made for the
seasons outfit. . Bed and hat nets
a'e now readv. at small cost at
MRS. D’ORSAY’S TAILOR SHOP.
Third and A Streets.
Membership List
Nenana
Commercial Club
Anderson, Herman
Allred, Mrs. Clara
Bergman, Charles
Brown, Jess
Berggren. Ernst
Browne, F. D.
Bresnahan, E. D.
Blankfield, D,
Bowen, J. R.
Brooker, Ed
Bennett, J F.
Ball, I. B.
Brown, Erie
Coutts, W. T
Calderhead, It. W.
Campbell, X. J.
Coghill, W. A. .
Cooney, M. J.
Boner, Frank
Diven, R. j.
Bouse, Fred
Ekeland, Alf t'
Funk, A B.
Finlayson, K A. ~ *
Fisher, Joe
Flower, J. H.
Foster, Steve
Gagnon, Wm.
Ghezzi, Alfred
Gray, E. B.
Gilcher, W. H.
Head, E. A.
Hagan, James
Hill, L. Vi.
Hagen, Hans
Hoey, Andy
Isabel, L. C.
Irvine, A. J.
Johnson, A. G. J
Jones, Frank u
Julian, W. J.
Johnson, Joseph
Jepson, Peter I
Joseph, H. B.
Koland, Knut
Ketooroky. John A.
Laughlin, E. L.
Lund, E. E.
Lehr, Q. F.
Markus, George
Mortensen, Peter
Myers, R R.
Moore, Frank B
McDonald, R. S.
Martin, G. S.
Morris, R. c.
Nash, Martin
O’Keefe, Larry
Parks, S. E.
Pennington, G. Vi.
Pally, Paul
Packer, Vi. L.
Ryan, W. A.
Rosburg, Herman
Roth, Andy
Rodigkeit, Wm.
Sborgia, William
Shaw, Harry N.
Schmidt, Carl
Schaeffer, M. A.
Slippern, J. A.
Simson, Lipman
Scott, J. H.
Sellander, C. J.
Schmidt, Pete
Smith, George A.
Southworth, R. G.
Spira, Frank
Taylor, Frank
Tunison, B.
Thompson, Theodore
Toussaint, J G. K
Tyler, M. V.
Taylor, Wm. J.
V'erhaeghe, Cyriele
Van Orsdel, J. C.
Woods, Geo. W.
Williams, E. A.
Waechter, R. I.
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