. "The Prince William Development Company was in need
of coal; no enterprise can be carried on without it in Alaska. And the
consolidation brought necessary capital to us; without it, our railroad
was bankrupt. It meant inestimable benefit to the country, to every
prospector, miner, homesteader, who must waste nerve-breaking weeks
packing his outfit through those bleak mountains in order to reach the
interior. But, before forty miles of track was completed, the executive
withdrew all Alaska coal lands from entry, and we discontinued
construction, pending an Act of Congress to allow our patents. The
material carried in there at so great a cost is lying there still, rotting
away."

"Gentlemen, is it not all clear to you?" The prosecuting attorney flashed
a glance of triumph over the jury. "Do you not see in this Prince William
Development Company the long arm of the octopus that is strangling Alaska?
That has reached out its tentacles everywhere, for gold here, copper
there; for oil, coal, timber, anything in sight? That, but for the
foresight of the executive and Gifford Pinchot, would possess most of
Alaska today?"

The men on the jury looked thoughtful but not altogether convinced. One
glanced at his neighbor with a covert smile. This man, whom the Government
had selected to prosecute the coal fraud cases was undeniably able, often
brilliant, but his statements showed he had brought his ideas of Alaska
from the Atlantic coast; to him, standing in the Seattle courtroom, our
outlying possession was still as remote. As his glance moved to the ranks
of outside listeners, who overflowed the seats and crowded the aisles to
the doors, he must have been conscious that the sentiment he had expressed
was at least unpopular in the northwest. Faces that had been merely
interested or curious grew suddenly lowering. The atmosphere of the place
seemed surcharged.

The following morning Morganstein took the stand. Though in small matters
that touched his personal comfort he was arrogantly irritable, under the
cross-examination that assailed his commercial methods he proved suave and
non-committal. As the day passed, the prosecutor's insinuations grew more
open and vindictive. Judge Feversham sprang to his feet repeatedly to
challenge his accusations, and twice the Court calmed the Government's
attorney with a reprimand. The atmosphere of the room seemed to seethe
hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness. Finally, during the afternoo