SIGNAL CORPS, UNITED STATES ARMY H
WASH.-ALASKA MILITARY CABLE AND TELEGRAPH SYSTEM
RECEIVED At SEWARD, ALAS.
14K G 336 NL WU
SAN FRANCISCO, CALA. DEC. 3, 1925.
SEWARD GATEWAY, H
I am going to take this opportunity of presenting to the people of
Alaska for their approval an idea we have discussed—an All-Alaska
Chamber of Commerce, but there has not yet been a plan for completion EE
of a forceable organization that could act for general and not local good.
I wish to suggest that one representative from each central community EE
be selected by the Chamber of Commerce of that particular district and ==
then we complete the organization by enlisting as members traveling
salesmen who have made the Territory for a perod of three years or H
over. The boys who are looking after the trade interests of Alaska H
know more about the Territory than any others; they are acquainted EEj
with the financial situation of each merchant in the Territory and can EEI
tell by the pulse of sales and collections as to the prosperity of any par- =
ticular district, and they have well in mind the particular reasons that Ie
are causes of lack of prosperity of any region. Added to that they are - H
always a bright, active and courteous bunch of individuals capable of
expressing themselves at all times. They are not only acquainted with |§
the needs of the Territory, but also with the business situation on the
“Outside” Their frequent trips to the “States,” and their ability to H
meet and mix in the various centers in the “States” make them proper EE
representatives for the business interests of the Territory. They are EE
an advertising agency par-excellence; their membership would at all H
times keep the organization from becoming localized; it will do awav =E
JACK McCORD
“Delegate of The Gateway City” to the United States Chamber
of Commerce at Seattle, December 12, and Representative Extra
ordinary of Alaska’s Interests.
== with divisional controversies tending toward selfish interests.
== What organization could be more powerful than an All-Alaska Chamber of Commerce, with one man such as you know
sj from each community, selected by the business and mining interests; linked with such boys as Joe Meherin, Max Altman, Bert
H Green, Chamberlain, Gucker and Shucklin? When putting something of general good to the Community, we need this
H Chamber of Commerce right now. LET’S HAVE IT! JACK McCORD
SIGNAL CORPS, UNITED STATES ARMY
WASH.-ALASKA MILITARY CABLE AND TELEGRAPH SYSTEM
RECEIVED At SEWARD, ALAS. s
13K G 652 NL WU •
SAN FRANCISCO, GALA. DEC. 3, 1925. =
SEWARD GATEWAY, • p
In traveling through the “States” it is surprising the percentage of people, who, in mentioning Alaska, have something to =
say about Congressman Free’s ideas relative to the tearing up of The Alaska Railroad. The harm caused by his selfish mo- EE
tives can only be combatted by strenuous publicity against him. Our ideas at home will not help the masses of people that have =
been influenced by Frees statements through the press; this brings to my mind a great writer whose daily talks appear in H
twenty-two of the leading newspapers of the United States. Each day his talks are headed: “Washington Observations”; H
his columns are sought after eagerly by the reading public, and his radio talks in Washington, D. C., possibly rank first as to
“listeners in” of government officials. The wonderful part of it all is that this same writer, Frederic William Wilde, has re- ==
quested that the people 'of Alaska place before him all data relative to its resources and needs, and he will make space on fre- H
quent occasions to give Alaska the proper publicity that its needs. At this time let us have Wilde to champion our Alaska
Railroad cause in the press. EE
We are already telling the world that Congressman Free’s statements are based on ignorance, lack of information and sel- H
fish motives; that in making his statements, he has forever placed himself among the rank of small men in the making of our H
country. How could anyone think of him along with such men as those who okayed the bills that provide for the building of
our trans-continental railways, which link the Atlantic with the Pacific, and made possible the development of the West? Free
states that the Alaska Railroad only serves about five thousand people; we say that it serves one hundred and ten million peo- H
pie! It was not built to pay; it was built to develop the country. It was not built for the people of Alaska, but for the people
of the United States. All nations assist in every way in the constructions of railroads into the mineral sections so that they =
may have resources of those sections run through the veins of commerce, and that they may have them both in times of peace =
and war Alaska is a continent within itself; not only because it is one-fifth the size of the United States, but because it has H
all the physical features for the North American continent. No road could cut this Northern Empire without causing the de
velopment of vast mineral resources. Already the low-grade placer areas of the Interior of Alaska are being prepared for
the recovery of many millions of dollars, because of this road. The spikes are still warm from its building so we cannot expect * H
the lode mines to be developed for years to come. This building is a basic investment intended for the development of resources
needed in the next thousand years, and not as income investment for the present generation.
Any practical man knows that a wagon road could not be maintained over a railroad bed; that snow would fill the cuts
and soon the trestles would wash out; that there would be no motive power with which to handle material, and rebuild. The
railroad gets its fuel from the country it traverses, and easily clears its bed of snow. The cost of tearing up this road and plac- b:
ing it in shape as a wagon road—together with the cost of upkeep—would maintain the railroad into a time of profit. H
As stated, the road belongs to the people of the United States, and families from every State of the Union pass over it =f
each year as tourists, sharing with us the grandeur of our last frontier. Let us enlist these people on our side as soon as pos
sible through the press, correcting the mistaken statements of a weakling and use this incident as an excuse for greater adver
tising of Alaska and as an asset to the Nation. JACK McCORD =