Alaska Constitution
Section of
KENAI PENINSULA PIONEER
FEBRUARY, 1956
PAGE 1
CONS IT
☆ ☆ ☆
t.’-'M'iune
Eisenhower
Sends Hole
lo Convention
Messages Are
Exchanged With
William A. Egan
President Dwight D. Eisen
hower sent a personal message
to the Alaska Constitutional Con
vention. The message was in the
form of a telegram to 'William A.
Egan, president of the conven
tion.
The telegram was in answer to
a message which Egan had dis
patched earlier, advising the
President that the Alaska con
stitution was being framed.
Here is the text of the Presi
dent’s message:
lext of .Message
“Thank you for your radio
pram concerning the work of (lie
Aiaska Constitutional Convention.
In the event that the proposed
Alaska Constitution is ratified by
1 tie voters in April, J am certain
that Congress will take due cog
nizance of it in connection with
its consideration of any State
hood legislation.
“In the meantime, 1 can as
sure you that the ratified con
stitution will receive careful con
sideration by the executive
branch.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
a
Sign Papers
Tt the Tennessee plan is ap
proved by Alaska voters, the new
senators and representatives who I
will go to Congress will have j
credentials written by Conven
tion President William (Bill) 1
Egan.
Egan was empowered by the \
convention to write up a manor- j
ial advising congress of the ar-j
rival of duly elected representa
tives of the Alaska people.
Here is the text of the conven
tion's resolution:
Be it resolved by the Delegates
in Convention assembled: That
President William A. Egan, be,
and lie is hereby authorized to
prepare and sign a memorial after
the election of senators and a
representative, directed to the
Congress of the United States,
which memorial shall be the cer
tification of election and creden
tials of the officers-elect, and in
substance shall contain a state
ment of the votes cast for the of-'
fiees and the reasons that the’
Territory of Alaska used this j
method to petition Congress.
This plan follows in part the
same plan used by Tennessee and j
six other states when they achiev
ed statehood in the face of oppo
sition.
CONSTITUTION HALL—This a color photo
graph of Constitution Hall, on the Univer
sity of Alaska campus. The university made
its new Student Union building available to
the delegates for the full 75-day convention
session. Students gave up use of the facilities
so that delegates could be accommodated in
adequate quarters. The delegates to the con
vention passed resolutions of thanks to the
University of Alaska, its officials, staff and
students for hospitality and assistance extended
during the convention.
Delegates Came from All
! Walks of Life in Alaska
The 55 delegates to the Alaska constitutional conven
tion represent 23 different walks of life, range in age from
30 to 82 and come from 21 communities throughout the
territory.
Among the constitution-framers are 13 lawyers, nine
store owners, four mining men, four fishermen, three
housewives, two freighting
operators, two ministers, two
pilots and two hotel operators.
The remaining 14 delegates
are: news distributor, city plan
ner, agriculturist, editor, arch
itect, homesteader, real estate
dealer, construction firm opera
tor, publicity man, oil distributor,
photographer, retired law officer,
theatre owner and bank execu
tive.
Larger Cities
Alaska’s three larger cities
claim 30 of the delegates. Twelve
of them live in Anchorage, 11 in
Fairbanks and seven in Juneau.
Most of the delegates are in
their middle to late years. The
youngest, Thomas Harris of Val
dez, turned 30 during the last
week of the convention. The old
est, E. B. Collins of Fairbanks, is
82 years old.
AH Ages.
More than 20 delegates are
; over 50 years old, with the pre
[ dominance being in the 50 to 00
| age bracket. More than 20 are
I aged between 40 and 50 years
i old. Some 10 delegates are un
I der 40 years old.
Packed Hall
Well over 1000 people were as
sembled in lire University of
Alaska gymnasium for the Con
stitution signing ceremony. In
addition to this, at least 500
were turned away from the door
because the h£l was packed.
Convention Was 'Representative'
The 55 men and women who
created Alaska’s constitution
comprise the most representative
body ever assembled in the Ter
ritory.
For the first time, voices from
such Cities as Anchorage, Fair
banks and Juneau were joined
with equal strength by voices
from such villages as Unalakleet,
Klawock and Dillingham.
Many Communities
Although 30 of the delegates
are from Alaska’s three major
cities, the other 25 constitution
framers represent 15 communi
ties.
There is one delegate each
from Cordova, Nenana, Kotze
bue, Dillingham, Douglas, Ko
diak, Palmer, Homer, Ketchi
kan, Petersburg, Unalakleet,
Spenard, Seward, Wrangell and
Klawock. Valdez, Haines and Sit
ka are represented by two dele
gates each and Nome by four.
No Partisanship
Throughout, the entire conven
tion delegates affiliated them
selves with issues and ideas, not
with sectionalism. The most
often repeated remark made by
delegates was this: “This body is
free of partisanship. We are not
1 here to represent Anchorage,
Fairbanks, Nome or any other
place. We’re here as Alaskans,
writing a constitution for the
good of the whole state,”
Official Journals
The official journals of the
convention show that that state
ment, or something similar to it,
was made at one time or another
by more than half of the dele
gates.
With factionalism out of the
picture, personalities moved to
the forefront.
Made Contributions
All delegates made contribu
tions in committee but some of
them had little to say on the
floor of plenary session, where
all final decisions were made.
W. W. Laws of Nome, retired
law enforcement officer, rose to
hi/ feet only once, and that was
regarding the proper placement
of a comma. H. R. VanderLeest
of Juneau spoke for the first
time on the 73rd convention day.
Other silent delegates were Peter
Reader of Nome and Mrs. E. A.
Fischer of Anchorage.
Many delegates expressed the
feeling that they should take up
precious time in plenary session
only on issues about which they
were specifically knowledgeable,
or on which they were especially
bothered. This course was pur
sued by such delegates a§’ Ada
Wien of Fairbanks, M. J. Walsh
of Nome, Chris Poulsen jf An
chorage, Leslie Nerland,' John
Cross of Kotzebue and E. B. Col
lins of Fairbanks.
Specific issues served to touch i
off keen powers of expression j
of several delegates. The fiery
debate on abolition of fish traps
brought El dor Lee of Ketchikan,
Truman Emberg of Dillingham
and Klawock's Frank Peratro
vieh to their feet. They were
found to be spokesmen of high
calibre with strong abilities of
persuasion.
Won Their Points
Never pretentious or formal,
these delegates won their points
by the simple citing of graphic
examples.
More than half the delegates
reacted constantly to issues pre
sented to the body in a constant
stream for more than two
months.
The two Rivers. Victor of An
chorage and Ralph of Fairbanks,
architect and lawyer respectively,
were among the most frequent
talkers, both being at home in
(Continued on Page 3)
Convention s Work Hailed as
'Model' by Political Experts
Delegates from All Over Alaska Wrote
Document That Is Ranked with Finest
That £xist; Strong Executives Created
By JOHN J, RYAN
Alaska’s Constitution has been hailed by political
science researchers as “one of the finest documents of its
type ever written.”
John E. Bebout, assistant director of the National Mu
nicipal league with headquarters in New York; Emil J.
Sadie, project supervisor for the Public Administration
Service of Chicago and Kim
brough Owen, professor of gov
ernment for Louisana State Uni
versity all agree that: the Alaska
Constitution is virtually what po
litical science authorities would
consider to be “a model consti
tution.”
Only Fundamentals
“The constitution is not based
on regional or group interests,”
said Bebout. “It includes only
the fundamentals, and it sifts the
best out of United States exper
ience.”
The three consultants were on
hand during closing days of the
convention to advise delegates.
A total of more than 15 exper
ienced consultants assisted dele
gates during the 75 days of the
convention.
The three consultants agreed
that an outstanding feature of
the constitution is the fact that
it comes closer to carrying out the
classic pattern of “separation of
powers” laid down by our found
ing fathers than any other state
constitution. They voted Alaska
first, New York second and New
Jersey third, in this respect.
separation Acnieveo
Separation of powers is achiev
ed in the Alaska constitution
through three strong depart
ments, with each department
checking the others, and the peo
ple provided with checks on all
three departments.
The executive department is
strong because only the governor
and the secretary of state are
elective, and they run on the
same ticket in the final elections.
All other state department heads
are appointive. Furthermore, the
strong executive is given power
and authorization to “get things
done.’’
Strong Executive
However, the strong executive
will he strictly accountable to the
people, for there can be no “buck
passing” in this state govern
ment. When tilings go wrong, the
governor is responsible and peo
ple can take action oil a simple
ballot directly against him.
The legislative department is
strong because the constitution
leaves so much for the future
legislators to accomplish, and be
cause the constitution puts no
serious restrictions on the power
of the legislature. The legislators
will hold an annual session and
there is no time limit on this
session. Furthermore, the legis
lators are paid an annual salary,
and they have a legislative coun
cil composed of their own mem
berg which operate* throughout
the year.
Are on Ballot
But, members of the house
come up for reelection every two
years, and senators every four
years. Furthermore, after every
census, an automatic reapportion
ment plan is provided using a
formula that is in the constitu
tion. A board is provided to as
sist the governor in carrying out
this reapportionment. Legislators
have nothing to do with reap
portion ment, and cannot block it
to save their own seats as is now
happening in many states.
The judiciary system is strong
because manner of appointment
leaves judges independent of po
litical branches of government,
and the administrative head of
the court system is the chief
justice of the supreme court. The
| supreme court is given the power
to make law for all courts, sub
ject only to change by law.
Named by Council
Judges are appointed by a ju
dicial council which consists of
three laymen named by the gov
ernor, three attorneys appointed
by the state bar, and a seventh
and presiding member who is the
chief justice of the supreme
court.
But, the people are given a
powerful check on the judicial
system. The constitution specifies
that thrfifl^x&avf,.,f;r—^ -
merit:, each superior and supreme
court judge goes on a nonpart
isan ballot and the people can
(Continued on Page 3)
All of Alaska
Receiving Copies
Of This Section
This edition was printed
by the Fairbanks Daily
.News-Miner, and is being:
distributed througout the
Territory of Alaska by the
Alaska Statehood Commit
tee. Newspapers throughout
the Territory are cooperat
ing by including this special
Constitutional section i n
their own newspapers and
distributing them. The State
hood Committee is taking
this means to inform ail cit
izens of Alaska exactly how
the new constitution is writ
ten.
,V v
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION DELEG AXES—The men
and women who wrote the proposed constitution for the state
of Alaska are left to right: (Front row) Douglas Dray, Douglas;
George Cooper, Fairbanks; John Coghill, Nenana; Yule Kllcher,
Homer; Warren Taylor, Fairbanks; James Hurley, Palmer; Ed
Davis, Anchorage; James Doogan, Fairbanks; George Sundborg,
Juneau; Victor Fischer. Anchorage: Robert McNealy, Fairbanks.
mmsm? mmmmmmmmmm
(Second Row): John Rosswog, Cordova; R. Holland Armstrong,
Juneau; Katherine Nordale, Juneau; H. R. VanderLeest. Ju
neau; Dora Sweeney, Juneau; B. D. Stewart, Sitka; Mildred Her
mann. Juneau; Frank Peratrovieh, Klawoek; William Egan, Val
dez; Ralph Rivers, Fairbanks; Helen Fischer, Anchorage; William
Knight, Sitka; Dorothy Awes, Anchorage; Frank Barr, Fair
banks; Ada Wien, Fairbanks; M. J. Walsh, Nome; Eldor *©•»
•: -■mum
Petersburg. (Top Row): Peter Reader, Nome: Seaborn Ruckalew,
Anchorage; Barrie White, Anchorage; Truman Emberg, Dilling
ham; Irwin Metcalf, Seward; John McNees, Nome; E. B. Collins,
Fairbanks; W. O. Smith, Ketchikan; Maynard Londborg, Cnala
kleet; John Boswell, Fairbanks: Leslie Norland, Fairbanks;
George McLaughlin, Anchorage; M. R. Marston, Spenard; John
Cross, Kotzebue; Thomas Harris, Valdez; Maurice Johnson, Fair
banks; Jack Hinckel, Kodiak; James Nolan, Wrangell; John Hel
lenthal, Anchorage; Leonard King, Haines; Chris Poulsen, An
chorage; W. W. Laws, Nome; Herb Hilscher, Anchorage; Burke
Riley, Anchorage; R. E. Robertson, Juneau; Steve McCutcheon,
Anchorage; and Victor Rivers, Anchorage.
(fhof h rt**i*J