APPENDIX 2 CLASSIFICATION OF ACTIVITIES EXPLANATORY NOTE The Classifications of Activities have for their purpose to list and classify in all practicable detail the specific activities engaged in by the several services of the national government. Such statements are of value from a number of standpoints. They furnish, in the first place, the most effective showing that can be made in brief compass of the character of work performed by the service to which they relate. Secondly, they lay the basis for a system of accounting and reporting that will permit the showing of total expenditures classified according to activities. Finally, taken collectively, they make possible the preparation of a general or consolidated statement of the activites of the government as a whole. Such a statement will reveal in detail, not only what the government is doing, but the services in which the work is being performed. For example, one class of activities that would probably appear in such a classification is that of "scientific research." A subhead under this class would be "chemical research." Under this head would appear the specific lines of investigation under way and the services in which they were being prosecuted. It is hardly necessary to point out the value of such information in planning for future work and in considering the problem of the better distribution and coördination of the work of the government. The Institute contemplates attempting such a general listing and classification of the activities of the government upon the completion of the present series. 76 CLASSIFICATION OF ACTIVITIES 77 CLASSIFICATION OF ACTIVITIES This classification of activities is an outline of the various activities which have been carried on by the commission from its appointment to date. In this case, a service is being considered that is temporary and meant for the execution of a definitive project. 1. Activities preceding construction 1. General investigative activities I. A general survey of the alternative routes 2. Examination of the three existing Alaskan railroads which had a direct bearing upon the routes to be considered 3. Investigation of the resources of the country tributary to the proposed railroads in order to obtain. some measure of the possible traffic 4. Examination of the merits of various harbors in Alaska as locations for railroad terminals 5. Preparation of cost estimates including a valuation of the Alaska Northern Railroad 2. The placing and staking of the final location for the routes 2. Construction activities I. Construction of the railroad 2. Construction of terminal facilities 3. Construction of telegraph and telephone system 4. Construction of wagon roads 3. Activities supplementary to construction I. Purchase and rehabilitation of the Alaska Northern Railroad 2. Purchase and rehabilitation of the Tanana Valley Railroad 4. Operating activities 1. Operation of railroad 2. Operation of coal mines 3. Operation of telegraph and telephone lines. 5. Operation of power plant 6. Operation of miscellaneous services. 5. Maintenance 6. Activities aimed to create and encourage traffic for the railroad 1. Establishment, development and management of townsites 2. Dissemination of information on resources of tributary country 3. Effecting coöperation between farmers, merchants, and miners 4. Administration of coal land leases APPENDIX 3 PUBLICATIONS Alaska Railroad Record (Weekly.) This paper was published as the official publication of the Alaskan Engineering Commission from November 14, 1916, to July 1, 1920, after which date it was discontinued by order of the Secretary of the Interior. The editor was the manager of the Land and Industrial Department, and the printing was done at Anchorage. The general aim of the paper was to give to the employees and to the general public weekly reports of the progress of construction and operation, but its prime value was in improving efficiency and establishing morale among a force scattered over a distance of 471 miles. It furnished also a convenient medium for distribution of official orders and circulars. The subscription price was $1 per year, but the paper was issued free to Government departments, representatives of foreign governments, public libraries, and employees of the Alaskan Engineering Commission. Out of 1125 copies printed in July, 1919, there were only thirty paid subscriptions, while 160 were "free public" and 935 "official." Annual Reports. Only two annual reports have been printed to date, one covering the period from March 12, 1914, to December 31, 1915, with maps in portfolio (64th Congress, 1st Session, House Doc. 610, Part 2) and one for the year 1916 (64th Congresss, 2nd Session, Senate Doc. 741). Each of these reports, illustrated with photographs of scenes along the line of the railroad and sections of the railroad itself, includes a description of the work of the commission for the period covered, and an account of the general development of the territory tributary to the railroad during the year. The appendices include financial and cost statements, maps, |