GRAND JURY REPORT
Ketchikan, Nov. G.—The federal
grand jury ended its sessions last
Thursday, when the following report
was filed:
nited States District Court for the
District of Alaska, Division No. 1, at
Ketchikan, October, 1911 term.
To the Hon. Thomas R. Lyons, Judge
of the above entitled Court.
We, the Grand Jury, summoned to at
tend the October. 1911 Term of the Un
ited States District Court for the Dis
trict of Alaska, Division No. 1, having
completed our labors for the said term
and concluded the business before us,
jiow beg leave to report to the honora
ble Court as follows:
We have been in session ten days,
and have acted upon twenty-four bound
over cases, have conducted several oth
er investigations, have found twenty
true bills and five not true bills. We
f&ve summoned 68 witnesses and em
j^oyed three interpreters.
We have examined the jail and find
t clean, well kept and in good condi
'on.
We have examined into the manner
n which the municipal government of
Ketchikan is conducted and find that
!or approximately five years, no en
deavor has been made to enforce the
police ordinances of the city and that
no arrest has in approximately that
space of time been made for violation
of any such ordinance—except that the
public women of the town have been
haled before the municipal magistrate
once every two months to pay a fine
into the municipal treasury—and that
ruring that time the municipal author
sries have habitually called upon the
ederal authorities to enforce law and
rder in the town. Instead of briug
ag disturbers of the peace and persons
uilty of other misdemeanors before the
aunicipalmagistrate, they are taken be
fore the United States commissioner
jnd placed in the custody of the Un
ied States marshal. This seems utterly
inexcusable.
The municipality has been given full
power to define misdemeanors and to
take such action “as may be necessary
to protect and preserve the lives,
health and safety and well-being of
the people of the town." These func
tions should be exercised. To fail to
take advantage of and exercise such
powers is a public declaration that the
people of the municipality are unfit for
such responsibility. When the munici
pal has been operated solely for, and
municipal authority has been devoted
exclusively to, the .collection of subsi
dies from fallen women, it will natur
ally give the outside world the impres
sion that this community desires Home
Rule only for the sake of sharing in
the profits of debauchery and vice.
The common council should see to it
that all offenses ever which the munici
pality has jurisdiction should be tried
before the municipal magistrate.
Especially do we recommend that or
dinances against drunkenness in public
places be thus enforced rigorously, in
order to cleanse our streets from drunk
en men.
It has been admitted to the jury that
bi-monthly fines of from ten to fifteen
dollars have been collected from each
of the public women by the munici
pal magistrate in the form of fines, and
that this was not done as a punishment
for past offenses nor as a detejrant to
future transgression, but purely as a
tribute to a needy government from
the flourishing institutions.
We unhesitatingly condemn this prac
tice as an infection of most vital moral
principles which cannot be violated
with impunity. A municipality which
insists upon replenishing its stores from ,
the profits of the brothel cannot escape
the condemnation wliichtlie instincts of
hunmanity universally place upon the
individual who gains a livelihood in
the same manner or by kindred prac
tices. Public morals cannot be., lower
than private morals. On the contrary,
the former are natural manifestations
of the latter, and by the publi’s mor
als private morals must inevitably be
measured. Even if the social evil must
be tolerated, there can be no decent
reason why the municipality should- en
gage in it on a profit-sharing basis, or
make the brothel of the town the catch
basin of municipal revenues.
So depraving is this system that a
large percentage of the community has
become inoculated with the idea that
the moral education of our youths is
dependent upon the prosperity of the
demimonde.
Unless in the immediate future an
awakened sense of moral responsibility
on the part of the general public mani
fests itself in this community, we think
it entirely proper that the federal au
thorities should step in and abate the
nuisance.
The excessive use of intoxicating li
quors is unfortunately one of the great
est evils our people have to contend
with. And in order to reduce to a
minimum the curse of intoxication, we
recommend the following changes in
the liquor laws:
1. It should be unlawful to sell or
otherwise dispose of liquor to an In
dian, whether he is a citizen or not, and
whether he is descended from the abor
ignal races of Alaska or of adjoining
territory.
2. It should be unlawful to sell, give
or otherwise dispose of liquor to mi
nors, except by the minor's own par
ents or guardian.
3. In procuring signatures for saloon
license, the licensee should obtain all
names in person, and all signers should
be resident citizens of the town, and
the United States attorney or other fed
eral officer Should examine the list and
satisfy himself that all of the names
thereon are of bona fide residents.
The game laws of Alaska need radi
cal revision. The present law is framed
on the theory that game should be pro
tected for the purpose of furnishing
somebody the amusement of killing it
and the pleasure of seeing it die. The
object of the law being thus purely sav
age, it is natural that its provisions
should be antiquated. It is reasonably
safe to assert that more than ninety
per cent of the domain of Alaska is ut
terly useless except for the purpose of
raising animals indigenous to the coun
try and useful for fod and clothing.
We, therefore, recommend that the
government exercise husbandry over
these game pastures, assist in stocking
them with such animals as will natural
ly thrive there, and strive to domesti
cate the game of Alaska the same as has
been done successfuly with elk in Wy
oming, ostriches in California and Ari
zona, and deer and pheasants in many
parts of the United States.
That there be a bounty of Ten Dol
lars ($10.00) placed on wolves killed in
the district.
greatly hampered by lack of privacy
of the jury room where their delibera
tions have been held, due to the fact
that '■he walls are so constructed as co
afford no appreciable obstruction to
sound, and ordinary conversation in
the rooms can be distinctly heard in
adjoining roms as well as outside. This
evil can be remedied before the next
term of court. We find that the same
recommendation has been made by ma
ny former juries, and we trust it will
be unnecessary to repeat it hereafter,
as the present conditions greatly depre
ciate the efficiency of the grand jury
system.
It was evidently the intent of Con
gress to exclude aliens who were not
bona fide residents and who had not
declared their intentions to become citi
zens of the United States, from fishing
in Alaska waters, but, under the pro
vision allowing companies to employ ali
en labor, numerous aliens are now com
ing into the country and engaging in
fishing, under the pretext that they are
laborers in the empoly of qualifie-I
fishers.
We earnestly recommend that the
law be so amended as to absolutely pro
hibit'aliens^ whether as laborers or oth
erwise, from drawing, or assisting in
drawing, fish from the waters of Alas
ka.
We earnestly pray that immediate ac
tion be taken on the above action.
We' recommend that a law be passed
for the further protection of fish of
Southeast Alska; that no sock eye or
humpback salmon be caught after Sep
tember 1st of each year.
That the government erect a federal
building in Ketchikan of sufficient size
to accommodate all of the government
offices now located in Ketchikan, and
that the present courthouse and jail be
used as jail only.
In conclusion we extend our thanks
to this honorable Court, the United
States attorney, his assistants, and
other officers connected with the de
partment of justice, for the many cour
tesies we have received at their hands
during the sitting of this grand jury.
D. W. HUNT, Foreman.
Dated at Ketchikan, Alaska, the 2nd
day of November, 1911.
Come and look at our new stock of
Cut Glass. Alaska Drug Company.
A CURIOUS CRAFT
"The Ark,” perhaps not so fearfully
and wonderfully built as the famous
craft in which Capt. Noah erased for
forty days and forty nights, but a very
strange craft for all that, is moored
near the James saw mill. The Ark is
pretty near rectangular in shape, with
a flat bottom like a scow, about thirty
five feet in length and about ten feet
beam, with a capacity of 17 tons. She
is not built for freight, however, but
for cruising and prospecting. She has
a six horse power engine in her, and
this carries her along, so the crew say,
at five miles an hour. -A large cabin
takes up most of the boat and this is
divided up into comfortable rooms.
The crew consists of Robert Green
wald and Jim Burnett, and they have
been over every foot of the inland
waters of southeastern Alaska in the
last few years, prospecting, and have
picked up some likely claims. Just at
present they are f orking on Mm my s
r.t-w tank', and laying in a grub stake.
TOO TROD
The shipping companies, especially
those which operate little linvs like
some of those to Alaska, are wont to
obtain steamers on the Atlantic coast
many of hem being nothing but old
vessels which have been shoved onto
obscure runs, or condemned by the gov
ernment and afterwards sufficiently re
paired to pass muster. Many of these
vessels actually have been sunk, raised
overhauled, and—painted. Then with
their new suits of glittering colors and
a wireless apparatus on board, they are
introduced to the slow Pacific merchant
marine as "coramodius and fast." It
really is a burlesque half the time with
such purchases. Alaska people know
this to be a fact. They have seen
them go down time after time, have
seen them laid to in mid ocean with en
gines or boiles out of order, have trav
eled on them when they were not quite
confident that they would make port.—
Cordova Alaskan.
BUILDING PENCES
Jack Waqwan, a Juneau Indian,
brought suit against Dave Femmer be
fore Commissioner Winn lakt week for
trespass. The trouble grew out of a
contest over a piece of ground near the
Indian village. For a week or two Wa
qwan and Femmer have been busily
engaged in building fences to include
the disputed territory, the Indian own
ing a lot in the Indian village and
Femmer owning a lot on the upland be
hind it. As fast as one party would
build a fence the other party would
tear it down and build another.
After hearing part of the testimony,
the commissioner discovered that . the
dispute related to the ownership of real
estate, and dismissed the suit. The
case will probably be begun again in
the district court.
MORNINGSIDE ALL RIGHT
Governoor' Clark was well satisfied
with, his recent investigation of , the
conditions at Morningside, the Oregon
Asylum where the Alaska insane are
cared for. Personally he spent four
days at the institution, and an investi
gator whom he employed spent two
weeks there.
“There is no institution for the care
of the insape anywhere in the United
States that is not occasionally made
the victim of groundless newspaper
scandals, and Morningside has simply
been no exception to the rule,” said
Governor Clark on his return. “I was
entirely satisfied after my investiga
tion that there was absolutely no foun
dation for the charges that have been
made. ”
We have the only $25 hornless Phono
graph. Alaska Drug Company.
A
Hand
some
Stock
Of Out Glass, Japanese Hand Ware,
Flat Ware and Silver Ware, and
Alaska Souvenir Goods at Attrac
tive Prices.
Paul
BMora
Watch Repairing and Jewelry
Front Street, Between D & Bradley
The Juneau Steamship Co
U. S. Mail Steamer
STEAMER GEORGIA
Juneau-Sitka Route—Leaves Ju
for Funter, Hoonah, Gypsum, Tena
kee, Killisnoo, Chatham and Sitka,
8 a. m., Oct. 6, 12, 18, 24, 30; Nov.
5, 11, 17, 23, 29; Dec. 5, 11, 17, 23,
Leaves Juneau for Tyee—8 a. m.,
Oct. 24, Nov. 23, Dec. 23, Jan. 22,
Leaves Juneau for Baranoff—8 a.
m., Oct. 12, 24; Nov. 11, 23; Dec.
11, 23; Jan. 10, 22; Feb. 9, 21;
leaves Juneau for Sanitarium
(Sitka Hot Springs—8 a. m. Oct. 6,
18; Nov. 5, 17; Dec. 5, 17; Jan. 4,
Juneau Skagway Route—Leaves
Juneau for Pearl Harbor, Eagle Riv
er, Yankee Cove, Sentinel Light Sta
tion, Eldred Rock Light Station,
Comet, Haines, Skagway, 8 a, m.,
Oct. 4, 10, 16, 22, 28; Nov. 3, 9, 15,
WILLIS B. HOWELL, Manager,
When you want drugs go to the Alas
ka Drug Company.
OVER SANGUINE 15
Some sanguine reports have been
printed as to the attitude of President
Taft and Secretary Fisher on the sub
ject of home rule for Alaska.
What Secretary Wilson said at the
mining congress was that “There should
be,” for Alaska, “some form of ter
ritorial government better fitted to its
needs. ” He said absolutely nothing
more significant than this.
President Taft has said nothing which
goes any farther than his declaration
at Seattle, in which he stated that he
would consent to a governing body,
half elective and half appointive.
RIFLE CLUB AT FAIRBANKS '
The men of Fairbanks get an im
mense amount of fun out of a rifle club
which has been maintained there with
unabated interest for some time. The
club meets as often as once a week,
and at every meeting there is usually
more than one match.
There has been some talk of organiz
ing a rifle club at Juneau, but it is far
from realization, apparently.
TO IMPROVE INDIANS
Governor Clark does not believe iii
ornamental education for the Indian.
“The way to improve them,” he said
in an interview in Seattle, is not by
teaching them thp higher mathematics,
but teaching them to improve their
material and physical condition. They
are interested not in the lost tribes of
Israel, but they are deeply and intens
ely interested in getting something to
eat. ”
GENERAL AGENT
Willis Nowell has been appointed gen
eral agent for Alaska Of the Chicago,
Milwaukee and Puget Sound Railroad,
and has already sold some through tick
ets.
Weekly Sourdougii, $3.00 a year.