Speech #840040974

Alaskas Delegate. at that time the late Dan Sutherland. testified that the Seattle terminal charges on local shipments to the Hawaiian Islands or to Asia were 30 cents a ton. and all handling charges were absorbed by the steamship lines. the result of competition between Canadian and American railways and Canadian and American steamship lines. But for Alaska. where the Congressional legislation had eliminated competition. the Seattle terminal charges on local shipments. that is to say. on goods bought in Seattle destined for Alaska. were 100 percent higher. or 60 cents a ton as against 30 cents a ton. plus 50 cents a ton wharfage. So Alaskans paid $1.10 a ton for what cost Hawaiians and Asiatics 30 cents a ton. Thus the act of Congress in favor of the Seattle steamship and other business monopoly has been costing Alaskans hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for 35 years. But this was by no means all.