TNE FRONTIERSMAN
Entered as second class matter on Oct. 21, 1947, at the post office at
Palmer, Alaska, under the Act of March 3, 1879.
A. J. DeJulio_ Publisher-Manager
Editor_Virginia Gallant
Subscription Rates 50c a month, $5 a yesr In Valley Area
Mailed to all points in Alaska and the United States
$6 per year
National Adv. Representative — Weekly Newspaper Representative
404 Fifth Ave — New York 18, N. Y.
A STRONG BID
Editors Note:
The following editorial is tak
en from the NATIONAL MUNIC
£PAL REVIEW, published by the
National Municipal League, and
because of it's timely importance
is reprinted below for our read
ers:
Last year the people of Alaska
decided to strengthen their ’bid
for statehood by following the
example of Hawaii and drafting a
state constitution without wait
ing for further action by the Con
gress. The immediate result of
this decision is partially describ
ed in the article at page 158 of
this number of the REVIEW.
Assuming that Alaska is ulti
mately admitted to the Union
with this constitution it will have
one of the best, if not the best,
state constitutions ever written.
All of the stateside consultants
of the Alaska convention, includ
ing Assistant Director John E.
Bebout of the National Municipal
League, agree on this. They also
agree that this achievement is
distinctly an Alaskan achieve
ment and that the constitution re
presents to an unusual degree the
personal labor as well as the per
sonal convictions o* the members
of the convention.
As Convention President Wil
liam Egan has pointed out, it is
altogether probable that this doc
ument is the last constitution for
a new state that will be written
unqer tne American flag. No mat
ter what vicissitudes it may en
counter in the Congress, the peo
ple of the older states can learn
much from the work of the 55
men and women who spent three
cold winter months together at
the University of Alaska. They
demonstrated, for one thing, the
enduring value of some of the
classic principles of American
constitutionalism. They recogniz
ed that the liberty and security
of the people depend not, upon
weakening government by petty
limitations on a multitude of in
dependent officers but upon a
clear placing of responsibility up
on a few officials subject to con
stant scrutiny and control by the
people.
They demonstrated also that a
convention unhampered by in
terests entrenched in an outmod
ed or over-detailed constitution
can draft a clean document to
meet the needs of today rather
than the fears of yesterday.
The people of Alaska apparent
ly believe that they need a strong
state government and are confi
dent that they are wise and alert
enough to make such a govern
ment serve their interests. This
is consistent with the doctrine
that has recently been preached
by the Commission on Intergov
ernmental Relations and by the
American Assembly. Many of the
older states would do well to em
- ulate the Alaska pioneers.
Reelect N*
KEN C.
JOHNSON
Democrat
" for \ \
representative''
• 21 Years Alaskan Resident ^
\; it_ • Integrity in Business \ ]
• Integrity in Government
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Letters to the Editor
Editor
The Frontiersman
Palmer, Alaska
Dear Sir:
I note that the “Matanuska Val
ley Sportsmen” believe that the
Constitution should be rewritten
on the grounds that a Fish and
Wildlife Commission which is not
politically controlled is not con
tained in the present Constitution.
They also say a number of other
things which have no bearing on
the Constitution at all, accepted
or rejected.
The proposed Constitution sets
up no agency for the administra
tion of fish and wildlife or any
other resources or activity for
some very good reasons. First the
“sportsmen” themselves couldn’t
agree on whether they wanted
two commissions or one commis
sion; second, the experience of all
other states has indicated that it
is the quality of the personell ad
ministering the program and not
the constitutional restrictions
that determine the success of a
good fish and wildlife program;
third, the convention did not con
sider itself capable of forseeing
the best type of organization for
the future; fifth the composition
and powers of a fish and game
commission are legislative mat
ters, full of detail and not with
in the scope of a constitution.
The wording of the resources
article of the proposed Alaska
Constitution, leaves no doubt of
the intent of its framers that fish,
wildlife and all other natural re
sources shall be administered for
me Denem or an or tne people.
I requested the president of the
“Matanuska Valley Sportsmen”
to allow me to appear before his
group and discuss this matter as
well as the balance of the Con
stitution. No invitation was
forthcoming so I presume that
they didn,’t want to hear my side
of the question. i
The last two paragraphs of
their letter which appeared in
last week’s issue of The Front
iersman, are pretty wild accusa
tions and at least in my case are
absolutely false. I did not prom
ise anything to anybody except
that I would call the shots as I
saw them. I voted against the in
clusion of a commission or com
missions in the Constitution every
time the matter came up and I
was proud of the convention for !
resisting the lobbying of inade
quately informed people using
the crudest means of pressure
politics. For the information of
the ‘‘Matanuska Valley Sports
men” I am just as interested as
they are in natural resources as
I know that all 55 of the dele
gates were, and we think that
the Constitution establishes a
firm framework for the preser
vation of fish and game for the
future.
JAMES J. HURLEY
Editor,
Frontiersman,
Dear Sir:
On April 24, we Alaskans must
accept or reject the constitution
written for ds in Fairbanks last
winter. Since few of us are ex
perts on constitutions, we need
some simple measuring stick to
apply to this document.
The essential question is, “Un
der this constitution, who will be
boss?”
In America, we voters are sup
posed to be “the boss.” We must
delegate our power to representa
tives, but we should never dele
gate away all of our powers. We
are supposed to control our repre
sentatives; they are not supposed
to control us.
Studying the Fairbanks consti
tution on this basis, I am obligat
ed to reject it. I regard it, not as
a people’s constitution, but as a
managerial constitution, with the
flow of power all in one direction,
—toward a powerful, centralized
government.
This proposed charter creates
a set of managers for us, whom
we will not be able to manage
adequately. We may “fire” them
by voting them out, but by the
time their terms are over, they
will have had their own way,
which may not necessarily be our
way. What wre need is a wray of
exerting our own authority over
our representatives while they are
still in office.
On the surface, it might appear
that we will retain this authority,
since initiative and referendum
are included in the constitution.
Nominally, these features would
allow us to enact legislation of
our own, and reject or modify
acts of the legislature unsatisfac
tory to us.
In the proposed constitution, in
itiative and referendum are little
more than tokens. I attended the
sessions in Fairbanks when they
were under debate, and saw them
whittled down into a tool for
well-organized, powerful interest
groups, but very difficult for or
dinary citizens to apply.
If, in spite of handicaps, peo
ple’s legislation should get thr
ough by means of initiative or re
ferendum, the legislature would
retain the power to amend it.
We have been urged to adopt
this constitution regardless of its
faults, with the assurance that we
can change it afterwards. This
would be valid reasoning if the
voting public had the power to
initiate amendments. We will not
have such a power. This consti
tution contains no provision for
amendment by popular initiative.
The people will be permitted to
vote on specific changes only
after they have ben approved by
two-thirds of the legislature.
In effect, if we should become
dissatisfied with the degree of
power we have delegated to our
legislators, we will not be able to
make a change, except by consent
of'those same legislators. We will
not have the power to alter the
constitution to suit ourselves.
Alaskans are in a position to
make important, creative contri
butions to the art of government,
since we are still relatively free,
and not politically “set.” In this
respect, the new constitution is
an extreme disappointment. It is
not fundamentally creative,—
merely in some minor details.
It only forces us deeper into the
dismal dilema of “big govern
ment, vs. little men.”
Sincerely - ♦
BEN HITCHCOCK, Box 641
Caribou Creek
Palmer, Alaska
Palmer, Alaska
April 16, 1956
Dear Citizens of Palmer,
First, let me state that this is
my first time to write a letter to
a newspaper. Next let me make
it clear that I am not a dog-hater.
1 think it is fine to have a dog
as pet if you take care of them
properly and keep them home
w'here they belong. Too many
people in Palmer and vicinity fail
to do this.
Ten days ago my son was bit
ten bv a dog on Central School
grounds. He was not molesting
the dog. As yet nothing has been
done to try to catch the dog by
the city officials. I am told that
since the city does not have a dog
pound in which to place stray
dogs there is nothing they can do
when one causes harm or damage.
Don’t the citizens of Palmer,
after all the city taxes we pay,
deserve more protection than this
for us and our children?
What would you do if a dog bit
your child?
WHICH IS MORE IMPORT
ANT TO PALMER PEOPLE,
THE CHILDREN OR THE DOGS?
OLA P. DENISON
Editor
The Frontiersman
Palmer, Alaska
Dear Editor,
You will recall that the Interior
Department decided to continue
maintenance of 13 farm fccess
roads here in the Valley. The en
closed letter describes the status
of one of these roads as of this
date. Perhaps other folks in the
area would be interested in know
ing what has been done toward
maintaining and improving theis
particular road.
Sincerely
PAUL F. MARTIN
Box 846
Palmer, Alaska
Palmer, Alaska
April 16, 1956
Mr. A. F. Ghiglione
Commissioner of Roads for
Alaska
Juneau. Alaska
P. O. Box 1961
Dear Mr. Ghiglione:
I am at a complete loss to un
derstand why the farm road lead
ing to the Martin property is in
the deplorable state we find it to
day. Considering your authoriza
tion from Washington to continue
its maintenance and improve
ment, as reported to us by letter
from the Interior Department, I
cannot fathom why this road con
tinues to be ignored.
The Sunday before Easter a
“cat” spent all day “winging” the
ditches of neighboring roads
readying them for the coming
thaw. That is all roads, except
the “chosen ones” of the neigh
borhood, were made ready for
the coming runoff.
Now the thaw is here and the
road of our interest is flowing
into the Matanuska River. Poorly
ditched, hardly a pebble of gravel
showing, and with snowbanks
still six to eight feet high on
either side, this road is an erod
ing mire. We’ve been walking,
not driving it, for seventeen days
already.
Since the road is the lowest
spot of the area all drainage is
merrily flowing right down the
middle of it. So far, about 100
feet of the road have washed
away to a depth of 18 inches and
a width of three feet—and the
thaw has just started! This dam
age would have been avoided had
this road received the same treat
ment accorded other raods in the
area.
For ten years we have grate
fully accepted the few bits of
maintenance and improvement
performed on this road. Always
we have cheered the valiant ef
forts of A.R.C. employees to
break through after a Matanuska
winter blow. Never have we com
! plained to the local A.R.C. office!
Only with the announced pro
loosed closure of 13 farm roads
in the Valley last fall did we
voice our protest. A decision fav
orable to our just cause was ren
dered. “The roads are to be main
tained”, says Washington.
Now as I splash homeward
downstream through the “canal”
I ask, “What goes?” Please excuse
my vernacular but, like a bear
coming out of hibernation, my
taxpaying patience cometh to an
end.
Very truly yours,
PAUL F. MARTIN
Dear Sir:
In behau of the great majority
of the people of the Chugiak Area
l wish to publicly apologize to
- he people of Palmer Area for the
disrespectful, inconsiderate and
ill-bred conduct of that very small
minority from Chugiak which so
effectively disrupted the Annual
Meeting of the membership of the
M.E.A- held in Palmer Saturday,
Contrary to the impression the
peoples outside the Chugiak Area
may have gained at that Meeting
the great majority of the citizens
of the Chugiak area uphold demo
cratic processes and abhor the
‘goon s'quad” tactics employed by
the small dissident minority so
evident at the Meeting. We read
ily recognize the presence of this
group by its resistance to any
thing constructive and as a small
minority has little impact on ithe
activities of our own community,
ft was humiliating to the majority
of us attending the meeting to
find this group had extended its
activities beyond the Chugiak
boundary.
It is the feeling of the great ma
| jority of people of the Chugiak
i Area that the Annual Meeting of
the M.E.A. membership can serve
! the useful purpose of keeping the
membership informed and inter
ested in the yearly progress of our
electrical utility which is so im
portant to the economy and devel
opment of the Matanuska Valley
and adjacent areas, and that evi
dence of the membership’s inter
est in this business can stimulate
management (Board of Directors,
Manager, engineers and staff) to
progressively greater accomplish
ments in our business with which
they are intrusted.
It is our hope that the wounds
inflicted by our dissident minor
ity upon the targets of the recent
Annual Meeting will heal before
another year’s end. If our apolo
gies are accepted the respectable
citizens of the Chugiak Area can
assure the Membership that every
effort will be made to avert at
any future meeting a repetition of
the unfortunate and humiliating
ordeal witnessed Saturday night.
In behalf of the great majority
of the M.E.A. members of the
Chugiak Area I belatedly express
appreciation of the Board of Di
rectors for the accomplishments
of the past year which was made
possible only by much personal
sacrifice of time, effort and money
on the part of the Board mem
bers.
GLENN G. BRIGGS
Certain members of the Mat
anuska Valley sportmen (and it
is not unanimous, by any means)
would destroy the chances of 208,
000 people for achieving political
equality in the American nation,
and wipe out Alaska’s chances for
statehood, because something
they wanted was not written into
the constitution.
The 55 delegates to the Consti
tutional Convention, after much
study and much discussion of the
matter, voted that the creation of
a fish and game commission was
a legislative matter, and not a
constitutional one.
This was done in spite of a
high-pressure campaign put on
by some members of the sports
men’s lobby, who refused to lis
ten to reasoning of the delegates,
but demanded and even threaten
ed that their own wishes be
adopted.
Even after the constitution haa
been signed, some of these sports
men still persist in their opposi
tion, and, as a result, are attempt
ing to destroy the entire docu
ment.
The sportsmen are only one of
a number of groups who wanted
to have their interests included
in the constitution. But, the dele
gates felt, these interests were
matters strictly for the legisla
ture. 1
An important example was the
large group who wanted a com
mission type of control for our
public schools written into the
constitution. The delegates con
i tended that this was a matter for
[ the state legislature. After the
| vote was taken, the proponents
| of a school commission didn’t set
| up a war whoop and call on all
voters to destroy the constitution.
They said, “We will take up our
cause at the first session of the
State Legislature.”
The delegates to the Constitu
tional Convention have written
a constitution which is a basic
document considered by experts
throughout the United States to
be the best state constitution
ever drafted. Its effectiveness lies
in the fact that it includes in its
framework only those matters
which are constitutional matters,
leaving to the legislature the es
tablishment of the departments
of government, and the determin
ation of the best methods of their
administration.
HERB HILSCHER
ARMY RECRUITER
PLANS PALMER VISIT
M/Sgt. Francis A. Klaiber, Ter
ritorial Army Recruiter, will be
' in Palmer on April 20th and can
be contacted through the ACS
office.
Parents interested in learning
about the military obligation of
their sons and other aspects of
military life and opportunities in
the service are invited to call
Sgt. Klaiber for information on
these matters.
THINK
If the proposed Alaska Constitution is ratif
ied April 24, our natural resources will be
preserved for alt time.
“Fish, forests, wildlife, grasslands, and all
other replenishable resources belonging to
the State shall be utilized, developed, and
maintained on the SUSTAINED YIELD
PRINCIPLE, subject to preferences among
beneficial uses.” (Sec. 4, Article VIII)
Vote YES on ratification of the proposed
Constitution.
(Free copies may be obtained in the office
of Delegate James Hurley)
MATANUSKA VALLEY
STATEHOOD COMMITTEE