The Seward Polaris &
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No Vote Unless You Register; Books Close Sat Apr.3
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A BID TO MUTUAL
ADMIRATION PARTY
One of the most amazing pieces ,
of corresponence ever to come |
into our possession is the letter |
and questionaire sent out by the j
retiring Mayor who asks ques- '
tions where he should be answer- |
ing them.
The letter follows:
March 20. 1348
Dear Candidate: j
You are hereby asked to at- ]
\ tend a town meeting to be held
in the USO Gymnasium at 8 p.m.
on Friday. April 2.
You will be introduced from
the attached information ques
tionaire which should be present- '
ed to the speakers platform in
the gymnasium by 8 p.m. on Fri
day.
Should it be impossible for you
to attend this meeting for reas
ons beyond your control, fill in
this attached questionaire and
have it delivered by someone to
be presented to the public.
Ignoring this request will place
your motives for seeking office
in a clouded position.
Sincerely yours.
Clarence P. Keating
Mayor
Couched in other terms, a re
quest to appear before a regular
ly gathered group of voters and ,
taxpayers, most of the candidates |
r would no doubt enjoy placing :
their ideas or beliefs before the '
constituancy. However with the j
end of the words “Dear Candi- |
date", the “iron mittens” are!
pulled on and the "free for all
is on, with no 'holts' barred."
“You are hereby asked” could 1
have been. “You are respectfully
invited."
The second paragraph—“You
will be introduced from the at
tached questionaire” means that
th rule as followed in the past i
—bureaucracy and regimentation
is to be the vogue. There is per
sonal enjoyment in a fellow get
ting up before his friends and
neighbors and asking for their
vot s on the merits of what he !
has done or is of a mind to do. I
He has no choice here,
p “Should it be impossible” as
the third paragraph states, "to be
present—
You have a candidate at a dis- i
advantage there; if he is unable
to attend, he will not be present
* to defend nor to explain his
stand.
The fourth paragraph states:
"Ignoring this request will place
.vour motives for seeking office
in a clouded position.”
It is imnlied that if the request
is ignored, his motives for run
ring for office are under ques
tion: that he is a questionable
person seeking office; that he is,
not the sort of person who |
* should seek office nor one who
should receive votes if he did. !
This implication can and will
be resented by all who seek of- '
fice unless they are aligned with 1
r those “of the party” or bloc.
Were we a candidate we would
ignore completely this bid to a
“mutual admiration" meeting. I
QUESTION AIRE
Candidate for:
Name
1— Occupation
2— Length of time in Seward
3— PropHty owner
(If yes, state where)
4— Number of years experience
as municipal or Territorial Repre
sentative of the people, d 'Sig
nate:
5— Do you favor municipal own
ership of Seward Electric Sys
tem:
6— Are you now supporting a
bove named system as a custo
m .r?
7— Are you in fovor of municipal
ownership of the Seward Marine
Ways and facilities:
8— If elected will you support
th ‘ city's lease to the Seward
Fish and Cold Storage Company:
9— If elected will you support
the retention of the present po
lice officers for the coming year:
Signed:
Suppose we REVERSE the situ
ation a bit and ASK the above
questions of MR. MAYOR.
1— What is your occupation?
2— How long have you lived in
Seward?
3 Are you a property owner
and what is the location of your
property?
4— Wo know you served one
term as councilman and one as
Mayor but what Territorial office
have you held or do you speak
for some one else?
5— »Whv do you favor city own
ership of the Seward Electric Sys
tem when you know and it has
been proved that the privately
owned plant can operate cheaper
and produce power cheaper than
diesel plants, because it uses
water power0
6— Is it necessary that every
num or person in Seward be pen
alized for using City diesel-pro
duced power in order to satisfy
private feuds or Save the face of
persons who were foolish enough
to put in a diesel plant to com
pete with a plant producing pow
er by water power? (Besides its
none of your business). What dif
ference does it make: some peop
le don’t pay their bill either.
7— Are you in favor of Munici
pal Ownership when the figures
shown in a former issue of the
Polaris show the loss to the city
of over S30.000 in 20 years not
including maintenance of docks.
Cold Storage or facilities which
are figured to be in the neighbor
hood of $125,000.00 over that peri
od.
8— Do the present lessees haev
the financial backing to pay the
city each year: do they pay Union
wages; Do they have operating
capital? Do they have funds to
completely rebuild and equip the
Cold Storage Plant?
10—That is one of the most in
congruous questions ever asked.
Suppose for Instance, that two
McRae To Put Up
Cinder Block Plant
A. G. McRae gave us the in
formation today that he has pur
chased the equipment of the An
chorage Concrete and Cinder Pro
ducts Co. there and is moving it
to Seward.
In Anchorage the plant will be
replaced by one of much larger
capacity, which shows the very
successful operation ihe small
plant had there.
McRae states that he expects to
b■ able to produce blocks for
building purposes by the last of
April.
The plant has a capacity of a
bout 400 blocks per day and the
'owners expect to use cinders nl
J most exclusively in theii construc
tion.
! A. G. McRae is well known
! here and has been a resident of
| Seward since about 1942.
a
A man can do more than he
thinks he can, but he usually
does less than he thinks he docs.
"How’d you like to be the ice
man?"
•
"What becomes of your lap
when you stand up?"
"It retires to the rear and pops
up under an assumed name.”
policemen were certain of their
jobs for the year and were of the
type who would open a line or a
gambling hall or believed in a
completely wide-open town. A
candidate who stated he would
support them for a year would
certainly be aiding and abetting.
We know Police Chief Clark
and his assistant and we hope
they will accept another year's
service in Seward but we are cer
tain they do not wish any candi
date to place himself in jeopardy
i for their sakes.
We have answered the Ques
tionaire by asking questions and
questions were asked in former
we arc certain none of these
! years. It was not necessary.
Th re are three questions which
J should bo explained on the ros
trum Friday, April 2 and we are
j certain they will not be -they are
, question No. 1 of the Question
j aire, also this one: How do you
I explain, or shall we say itemize
the expense account of $1600.00
j which the city is expected to pay
Land the third: How do CouncU
I man Dahl (who again seeks the
one-year term) and Councilman
Kennedy justify the payment to
themselves and other bond hold
ers $2400.00 of unearned cash be
longing to the city? We here
call attention to the Alaska Laws
about receiving commissions etc.
while a part of the city govern
ing body.
City Candidates
File For Office
MAYOR
1— Eugene Lanier
2— Thomas L. Erdmann
3— Don Carlos Brownell
COUNCILMAN TWO YEARS
1—Patrick W. Bogan
1—George Lesko
3— Raymond Seferovich
4— (Robert D. Muller
5— L. A. Miller
6— Russell Painter
COUNCILMAN ONE YEAR
1— Wm. H. Novick
2— ILlen S. Head
3— Phil E. Harding
4— Oscar V. Dahl
UTILITY BOARD THREE YEARS
John Rosness
UTILITY BOARD FIVE YEARS
Herman E. Leirer
SCHOOL BOARD THREE YEARS
Beryl Wagner
Tuesday the count on Register
ed Voters showed approximately
420. By April 3rd at 3 p. m. the
registration should be well over
500.
hington N£jXtL
COAST GUARD DISTRICT
IN ALASKA
Recommendation for reestab
lishment of a separate Coast
Guard District for Alaska has
been made to Secretary of the
Treasury Snyder and the chair
man of the House and Senate Ap.
propriations Committees by busi
ness consultants of New York.
The recommendation is em
braced in a study carried out
through agreement made last
September between the Ebasco
Services Incorporated and the
three government officials in an
effort to determine the functions,
policies and operations of the U
nited States Coast Guard “with
efficiency of the service.”
I Delegate Bartlett has for many
a view toward promoting the ef
I months urged that the Alaska dis
trict. closed last July after eight
years' operation. be separated
from the Seattle district and re
I established. He has reiterated
| his belief to Secretary Snyder, up
I on issuance of the Ebasco report,
pointing out. "There is very good
reason why Alaska, with a coast
line longer than that of the cont
inental United States and with
| an economy almost completely
dependent upon water transporta
tion. should have a separate dis
trict."
The Ebasco report reveals the
Coast Guard plans to constiucl
four I.orans (long range aerial
navigation aids) in Alaska. At
the present time there are four
in the Aleutians. It is contem
plated that three of these will be
relocated, and with the construc
tion of the additional four, the
ship and plan ■ routes to Alaska
and Japan will ho well serviced.
$ * *
THIRD DIVISION
JUDGESHIP
Preliminary testimony on the
reappointment of Anthony J. Pi
mond sa District Judge for Ihe
Third Division at Anchorage was
heard this week by the Senate
Judiciary Committee. A further
hearing is scheduled for April 5
as the committee is awaiting ad
ditional reports.
Judge Dimond, who served as
Delegate to Congress from Alas
ka for six two-year terms, was
appointed by President Roosevelt
for the judgeship in 1944. He was
reappointed on March 13 by Pres
ident Truman to a second term
to be confirmed by the Senate.
NOME
SEAWALL
Shore protection in the form
of a seawall or other construction
embraced in Delegate Bartlett's
enabling bill. H. R. 28G5, was fav
orably considered this week by
the Subcommittee on Rivers and
Harbors in ordering an affirma
tive report to the full House
Committee on Public Works.
The measure would authorize
protection to the city from rim
ing storms which, in the past,
have caused heavy damage to
Nome.
SI 1,500 ALLOCATED
DEPT. OF HEALTH
n
Dr. C. Earl Albrecht. Commis
sioner of Health, has received
word from the American Junior
Red Cross Headquarters in Wash
ington. D. C. that an allocation
of SI 1,500 was mad to the Depk
of Health.
This grant is for the transporta
tion of approximately 24 crippled
children from their homes in Al
aska to Chicago. Illinois. The D -
rector of the Crippled Childrens
Services of the Department of
Health has comp'eted arrange
ments with the Hospital of ttm
University of Chicago for th •
treatment of cases under the Cri; -
pled Childrens Program of Ala
kn The University of Chicago
Hospital is offering the hospltalW
nation and treatment wither,
charge to the Department of
Health. The cases sent to Chicago
will be selected from th large
waiting registry in the Division of
Cripled Childrens ervices. Di
Philip Moore, Orthopedic Surgeon t
will assist Dr. Catherine Sher
wood, the director of the division,
in the selection of cases.
Dr. Albrecht indicated that..
“The generous grant of the Na
tional Junior Red Cross has made
it possible for Alaskan children,
in sucli great need of care to re
ceive the benefits offered by the
University of Chicago Orthoped
ic Clinics. Alaskans can indeed!
he grateful that this additional
hospital facility has been made
available.”
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