r
“Our Motto is truth and accuracy”
H ATI QN A l EDITORIAL a
|A^C0T,gM ■
INCORPORATED
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA
“For the cause that lacks assistance; for the wrong that needs resistance
‘ for the future in the distance, and the good that we can do.”
Home Owned, Controlled, and Editeu. Jessen's Weekly was established Jan. 22, 1942.
F ablisljed every w eek at Fairbanks, Alaska; Post Office Box 970. Entered at the Post
Office at Fairbanks. Alaska, as second class matter under the Act of March 3. 1879.
£ F. JESSEN. Publisher; RICHARD J. GREUEL. Editor; E. J. SANDBECK. Business
: mnager; MELINDA THOMAS. Office Manager; PAUL 'IP' LIEN. Advertising
~ianug«r; HAROLD MANSUR. Mechanical Superintendent; AL NOSKOFF, Press
Foreman. Editorial Department. Phone GL 2-2511; Advertising Department, Phone
SL 6-.">292: Business and Job Printing Departments, Phone GL t>-jm2.
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I EDITORIAL -> I
The RIGHT To KNOW . . .
The names are in and the hat is full. From now until
August 14th, the air will be filled with electioneering,
Alaska style.
Certainly the primary contests for the respective Dem
ocratic and Republican nominations for Governor are of
the greatest interest. They will occupy most of the spot
light for the next several months.
Of great importance too, are the contests for party
nomination as candidates for the State Legislature. These
must not be overlooked.
There are many candidates for the nominations. There
are good men seeking the nominations on both sides of
the political fence.
This newspaper is looking forward to hard-hitting
campaigns in both party primaries. (If a candidate cannot
stand up to a few hard knocks in the primary election,
then it is doubtful if he can stand up for the people of
Alaska either imthe Governor's office or in the State Legis
lature.)
But while the campaigns must be rigorous, they
should also be founded on substance. Too often in the
past, elections have been lacking in this regard.
We all recall vividly the 1960 election campaign.
Neither party conducted a campaign worthy of the in
telligence of the Alaskan electorate.
The Democrats campaigned on their "great record
of accomplishment" . . . but failed to mention the examples
of it. The Republicans campaigned in favor of "returning
Alaska to the two party system" . . . but failed to mention
any positive reasons for so doing.
Saying that the candidates of the Democratic Party
should be reelected because "we did a good job," or say
ing that the candidates of the Republican Party should be
elected because "there are too many Democrats", . . . jus?
doesn't make good sense.
Past history is of great value in determining potential
performance in the future. But it can be overdone. No
voter wants a campaign that dwells exclusively with yes
lerday.
The candidates of both parties are charged with a
responsibility to talk about tomorrow. The voters have a
RIGHT to KNOW.
For example, how does each candidate feel about a
Statewide Safes Tax? . . . Or, how does each candidate
feel about the issue of administrative boards versus single
department heads?
It is fine to be in favor of progress, and some people
may think it is fine to be in favor of regression . . . but
what specific things are the various candidates going to
espouse in these directions if they are nominated and
elected?
Too often voters are forced to mark their ballots in a
dark room. It is time for the candidates to turn the lights
on so the voter can see.
A candidate must offer something more than plati
tudes or negative criticism. A candidate must offer con
crete statements on concrete issues.
.The voters have a RIGHT tp KNOW. /L ' W >1 .
Caught In
The Sluicebox
(Continued from Page 1)
miss alaska contest is in Fair
banks, an the king crab festival
is in Kodiak. (That lew Wil
liarns junier in Petersburg bet
ter git busy, they is the only
town bein left out.)
Way, anyways, I got to tell
about the demacrat Nome meet
first, cuz our editer give the
big keynote speech there. After
he was done everybody asked
for a subscription to jessin’s
weekly.
He says it ivas all very excit
! ing at the convention an that
the democrats is gonna win.
There wasn’t none of the wras
selin an rabbit punchin every
body expected, but they all had
l a lot of fun stompin on senute
! bill 147 an the legislaters what
j voted for it.
\ Wendil kay giv the best
I speech when he announced that
i he wasn’t gonna give any. War
| ren tayler giv the longest, but
then he has bin here the most
years. Stanley mcCutcheon give
the new model of his old fij>h
trap speech, an it is still real
good, even tho he has had .to
change the wording a little now
j that the fish traps has bin hit
j in the head.
That shore proves the good
j ole days is gone. It jist ain’t
i the same, havin a demacrat con
j vention without stompin on fish
traps for a spell.
Down in ketchikan, folks
found out what tough shape
j they is in. (Some of them for the
first time.) I say some, cuz most
j of ’em had been to republicun
i meets before.
And in Wrangull, in honor of
i senuter gruening’s announce
i ment that he will run agin, the
i state chambur of commerce
| come out in favor of the ram
j part dam. Oh, they is bold vis
ionaries! (Or is bill sneddin jist
losin his hold on the state cham
bur? )
I’ll bet if senuter bartlett was
runnin this time, they would
hav come out in favor of missile
bases for Alaska instead of the
rampart dam.
Say, that shore wuz good news
about them bases coming. Guess
jessin’s editorial what was print
ed in the congressional recerd
by senuter bartlett over a year
ago, finully soaked in to them
boys over at the pentagon.
CANDIDATES CORNER: (It
really ain’t a corner no more).
Almost all of our predickshuns
keep coming true. Our big one
i on Mike stepovich running for
’ governer come through last
I Friday.
Mike will hav a big fight with
: one of the two “cry babies'’
from Anchorage, senuter Pol
I lack. Sermter Phillips (Howard
[pollack’s twin brother) says he
Iain’t gonna run. (Guess the draft
i he was feelin sort of died down
after mike said he was gonna
I run.)
i nere in tair panics, smilin jim
binkley ain’t quite had enough
yet. He is gonna run agin. In
announcing his bid, the smiler
said “We may not have done
much, but we sure stopped a lot
of things from happening.” Oh,
he is a progressive, forward
lookin republicun, he shore is.
Speakin about starry eyed
radiculs, I see where my ole
pal maury smith is gonna be
one of smilin jim’s runnin mates.
He has alwuz liked polaticiuns
so well that it really don’t sur
prise Buck too much.
Boy, if he gits in the legisla
ture, the news-miner will be in
tough shape. Right now, he is
about the only staff member
they has left. There reporters
has bin headin in all directions
that leads away from fairbanks
the past few weeks.
Wonder if there publisher is
gonna bring up another batch of
Alaskan workers from the out
side for is tt the smaller states?)
to fill there shoes?
c'rite Washington
Merry-Go-Round
By DREW PEARSON
Lyndon Johnson celebrating quarter of a century
in Washington; Johnson and Kennedy, once rivals, now
work together; LBJ is a person of contrasts.
(Keillors note — The brass ring’
| good for one free ride on the Wash
ington merry-go-round, today goes
to Vice President Lyndon John
son.)
WASHINGTON — Last month !
Lyndon Johnson celebrated his 25th
year of government service. It was
on April 10, 1937, that a tall, gang
ling country boy from Texas got
off the train at the Union Station
to become a member of Congress.
It was a fateful day both for Wash- j
ington and for Lyndon.
Indeed, some have sworn that the
dome of the capitol has sometimes
■ resembled his Texas sombrero. This j
impression gained force during the
| eight years he rode herd on the
Senate and kept the political strays
in the corral better than any Senate
leader in history.
He was such a persuasive and
powerful leader, that the nolitfeal
| wiseacres predicted he would never
! be at peace sitting behind John F.
; Kennedy. Johnson had worn the
pants in the Democratic family too
long, they said, to work under one
! of his freshmen.
They warned that he would try
| to run the Kennedy administration
from the back seat, that there would
be a struggle between head and tail
to rule the dog.
But the dire predictions haven’t
I come true. Far from competing for
j power, Johnson has channeled his
! restless energy and enormous influ
I ence in the Kennedy cause.
LBJ and JFK
There wasNa period, after their
bruising battle for the Democratic
presidential nomination, that the
two men regarded one another with
cold suspicion. Brother Bobby was
especially chilly. But the chill
thawed under the Florida sun dur
' ing their pre-inaugural. Palm Beach
conferences.
The hostility changed to mutual
respect, then frank admiration.
“If you have any legislative prob
lems.” the President told his first
cabinet meeting, “ask the vice pres
ident. He knows better than any
one else how to handle Congress.”
Today a genuine warmth exists
I between the two men. They fre
i quently confer, lunch, and swim
i together. Johnson is the only per
i son, other than Attorney General
( Robert Kennedy, who is allowed to
I walk in on the President without
an appointment.
The tireless and talkative John
; son has become the most active vice
| president in history. He works out
of half a dozen offices between the
i White House and Capitol Hill. In
I fact, he has a mania for many of
I fices. But his favorite is an imperial,
i aquamarine suite off the Senate
floor from which plush sanctum he
oversees the space program. Peace
Corps, and fair employment drive.
He had made impressive accomplish
ments in all three.
He has quietly persuaded 52 of
the nation’s largest corporations to
pledge an end to job discrimination.
For a politician from segregated
Texas, this is revolutionary.
As a diplomatic trouble-shooter,
he has also taken five trips abroad
from the President. His folksy, corn
pone approach, greeting people in
far-off lands as if he were running
for re-election in Texas, has won
friends.
But probably Johnson’s most ef
fective work for the Kennedy ad
ministration has been on Capitol
Hill where his persuasive arm.
wrapped around a recalcitrant Sen
ator, has changed many a vote.
In all these functions, the vice
president has kept out of the spot
light, deferring to the President to
take the bows.
What Is LBJ?
But what of Lyndon Johnson the
man? He isn’t the sort of politician
who can be described in a word. He
is a study in contradictions, a cur
iously comnlex person: a homespun
Texas politician yet a sophisticated
world leader.
He can be harsh, brusque and
demanding: yet he is warm, gener
ous and kind. He has a massive ego
which is easily bruised. Yet he is
a political pragmatist who accepted
his defeat in the presidential sweep
stakes philosophically.
“I tried out for pitcher.’’ he told
friends with a shrug. “When I lost
out. I stayed on the team as short
stop.”
He moved cooly and efficiently
into the second spot. No one who
knows him doubts that he is aim
ing for the top. But it is typical of
his political acumen that he is pre
paring for the day by becoming the
best possible vice president.
Inside LBJ
But underneath the drive, under
neath the vanity, Lyndon Johnson
is a warm, outgoing human being
who can be tender and affectionate
toward his friends.
Also sentimental, he is easily
touched by a word of praise. After
a depressing day recently, he was
cheered by a quotation he was
shown from a PakinStani taxi driver
who had told an American news
woman:
“We taxi drivers get to know peo
ple very well. I, myself, have driv
en a king and some of your sena
tors in mv cab. But Mr. Johnson
was the first big man who came
here and looked down at a comman
man and made him happy.”
Sighed the vice president: “No
matter how tough things are in this
iob, it is all worth while when a
taxi driver in Karachi will say
that.”
Johnson was also warmed by a
comment from a Negro voter who
had been listening to him campaign
for Congjessman Henry Gonzalez
last year from the rear of a pickup
truck.
“I’ve lived here all of a long life,”
the old Negro told Johnson. “Never
in the wildest night did I dream
that I'd live long enough to have a
white Texas Vice President of the
United States come to this corner,
be introduced by a Negro, and get
up and appeal to the people to vote
for a man named Gonzalez.”
Those who were standing beside
the vice president, as he bent over
to shake hands, noticed that his eyes
were moist.
MASONIC TEMPLE
Masonic Temple, 809 First Ave, Dial GL 2-2836
Tanana Lodge No. 162 F&AM
2nd Degree, Wednesday, May 2, 7:00 P.M.
Stated Communication, Wednesday, May 9, 8:00 P.M.
Elmer A. Lanstra Worshipful Master
Forbes L. Baker, Secretary
Midnight Sun Chapter No. 6, O.E.S.
Second Friday of Each Month
•Pearl Scherer, Worthy Matron
rMary Helen Chaddon, Secretary