HYDER - FIRST ALASKA TOWN THAT CAN RE REACHED BY THE PACIFIC - YUKON ~ ALASKA HIGHWAY
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SPECIALIZING IN
MINING NEWS OF THE
PORTLAND CANAL
DISTRICT
V
HYDER WEEKLY HERALD
r—.
SUBSCRIPTIONS
$3.00 PER YEAR
IN ADVANCE
V.
VOLUME NO. 8, NO. 31.
HYDER, ALASKA, SATURDAY, MAY 14, 1932.
BY THE YEAR $3.00
HOOVER WILLING TO
CONSIDER SILVER
That the accusation of Sena
tor Pittman that President
Hoover deliberately refrains
from making an effort to in- i
duce a world conference on
silver, and the more recent
and direct charge of Senator
Borah that the chief executive
has failed to proceed in good
faith to procure an internat
ional conference as requested
by the Senate, have struck
home and caused Mr. Hoover
to adopt a somewhat altered
attitude, is indicated in Wash
ington reports this week, stat
ing that the president has at
last indicated a willingness to
give consideration to the vari
ous silver proposals now under
discussion.
From the standpoint of the
silver exponents, this is the
most cheering news relative to
silver that has emanated from
the national capital and is
looked upon as a most promis
ing indication that the white
metal may come into its own j
again before long.
The nation-wide demand for
cheap money, with its enevi
table problem of inflation, is
said to be the main factor in
forcing the silver issue to the
front. The rejection by the
House of the Bonus Bill and
the Senate and administration
opposition to the Goldsborough
bill, directing the Federal Re- s
serve Board to restore the av
erage price level of 1921-29 by
manipulation of the volume of
credit and currency, owing to a
fear of “dangerous inflation,’'
have brought to the fore other
proposals which are said to be
meeting with approval in un
expected quarters.
Many who believe that some !
sort of inflation is unavoidable j
are inclined to favor the reso
lution of chairman Somers of
the House Coinage committee i
as the least harmful of all the
inflationary measures so far
proposed. This measure, which
has also been introduced in the
Senate, authorizes the presi
dent to accept silver in pay
ment of the war debts dining
the next four years at the rate
of 11/2 fine ounces for each
dollar owed, provided the debt
or nation does not melt or de
base its silver coins to make the
payment. As a further incent
ive to this employment of sil
ver, the measure provides that
if the debtor nation shall re
store its silver coinage to a fine
ness of at least nine-tenths sil
ver, or shall establish the use
of silver for coinage, it shall be
allowed to pay its war debts at
the rate of one fine ounce of
silver for each dollar owed.
The measure thus offers, the
war debtors a substantial sav
ing in paying their debts in sil
ver and one sufficiently at
tractive to induce them to buy
silver and remonetize silver.
Thfis in turn will increase the
Bill Transfers Road
W o r k in Alaska
A copy of House Resolution
11717, providing for the trans
fer to the Department o^ the
Interior of the road construct
ion activities of the Alaska
Road Commission, has been re
ceived from Delegate James
Wiekersham.
The measure provides that
the Secretary o f the Interior
shall execute all laws pertain
ing to the construction and
maintenance of roads and trails
and other works • in Alaska,
heretofore administered by the
Alaska Road Commission
under the direction of the
Secretary of War and also
transfei’s to the Interior De
partment all equipment and
other property.
The bill was introduced by
Repi-esentative Taylor ofColor
ado, and is designed to accom
plish “a more economical and
effective organization” of fed
eral road administration in the |
Territory.
-o
Moose Install Officers
The Moose Lodge has install
ed the following roster of new
officials for the coming yeai\
Past dictator, H.B.Campbell, ;
dictator, E. D. Haddon; vice- i
dictator, D. J. McLean; prel- j
ate, Rev. H. R. Cross; secre-!
tary, P. S. Jacks; treasurer, W.
Stewart; tn.istee, R. Young;
sargeant at arms, Don Essel
mont; inner guard, G. Erick-1
son; outer guard, O. G. Hutch-,
ings.
SOFT BALL LEAGUE PLANNED
Stewart sport-lovers are planning
the organization of a soft-ball league
at a meeting to be held in Stewart on
May 28. The Canadian Legion, Moose
lodge. Board of Trade and Stewart
school are expected to organize soft
ball teams to enter the league.
price of the metal in the world
markets and should speedily
restore it to approximately the
formery normal value.
The resolution provides fur- j
ther that silver so received by!
the United States shall be!
coined into dollars of standard j
weight and fineness and be de
posited in the treasury, and
silver certificates be issued
against the dollars so coined.
The resolution is to be consid
ered this week by a sub-com
mittee of the senate banking
and currency committee, which
will also consider the Pittman
bill, providing for the purchase
and coinage of not to exceed
five million ounces of silver a
month, to be paid for in silver
certificates. Senator Pittman
is said to have proposed the
combination of the Somers
measure and his own.
However, the most encourag
ing possibility for early action
on silver is seen in the an
nouncement that there is evi
; dence of an awakening interest
in the White House in the gen
! eral subject of action to manip
[ ulate upward the price of sil
! ver.
SEN, BORAH OUTLINES
RESTORATION PLAN
In probably the most forceful
utterance on the present situ
ation that has been heard in
Congress, Senator William E.
Borah, chairman of the Senate
foreign relations committee,
declared last week that the
coming summer “would he
pregnant with salvation or
disaster” and outlined a pro
gram for world recovery,
which includes the restoration
of silver as an essential to the
return of prosperity, according
to Washington reports.
Borah’s program is three
fold and includes:
1. Armament reductions.
2. Settlement of reparations.
3. Restoration of silver.
i
Borah’s severely criticized
the government for failing to
take action on the silver quest
ion and demanded t o know
whether an international con
ference on the question has
been blocked by France and
Great Britain, as has been re
ported.
In addition to pointing out
remedies for the economic dis
order, Borah’s thunderous mes
sage bore a distinct note of
alarm over the lack of con
structive effort toward rehabil
itation.
“ The timidity of the govern
ment is sinking the peoples in
degradation. We have no
leadership ,” he declared.
Borah’s predicted that the
Geneva Disarmament Confer
ence and the Lausanne Debts
Conference will fail and de
clared that reparations would
“ destroy Europe” unless they
were settled, so that Europe
can start an economic recovery.
“ Unless silver is restored to
the place it occupied prior to
1925, to restore to some extent
the purchasing power of half
the world, there will not, in my
judgement, be any return to
prosperity,” the Idaho senator
thundered.
“ Under the present situ
ation ,” he said,' the masses
everywhere, including our own
country, are becoming rest
less, ” adding significantly,
“we do not generally accom
plish things in this country by
revolution.”
Borah s drew attention to the
fact that Rome was not saved
from overthrow by i t s vast
wealth, declaring that the
national wealth is estimated
at $400,000,000,000, “ But
Rome had as much when it fell
on account of a defect in the
administration of its wealth,”
he declared, adding that
“China has the greatest un
developed wealth in the
world.”
Senator Borah’s also attacked
the so-called gold mentality,
declaring we must “ get rid of
it.”
CHAMBER COMMERCE
HOLDS DINNER MEET,
Excellent attendance matkeu
the monthly dinner meeting of
the Hyder Chamber of Com
merce in Pioneer Hall Wednes
d a y evening; twenty-eigho
members and visitors b.-ing
present when the session was
called to order by Chas. Sand
ford, president of the board of
trustees. Included among the
visiting elements were a con
siderable number of ladie< of
the town, many of whom are
lately displaying increasing in
terest in the activities of the
Chamber by attending the
monthly dinner meetings. Fix
pressing the Chamber’s appre
ciation of their apparent inter
est, the chairman voiced the be
lief that the work of the organ
ization would be helped mater
ially by the cooperation of the
feminine elements of the com
munity and said it was hoped
that more members of the fair
sex would participate in the
meetings.
The meeting was pervaded by
a fine spirit of optimism re
regarding the future and of
confidence in the camp’s out
look.
Following an excellent repast,
prepared and served by the
Friendship Club, the Chamber
transacted a variety of routine
business, including the reading
of several communications rel
ative to the Salmon river flood
control project, now before
Congress, showing that the
Chambers of Commerce of Los
Angeles, San Francisco and Se
attle are lending their assist
toward securing favorable act
ion in Washington.
At the conclusion of the bus
iness program, J. K. Green,
whom late primary election re
turns indicate will be one of the
democratic party candidates
for Territorial representative,
outlined briefly his platform.
Included among the proposals
to which he is pledged is an
enactment porviding for bi
weekly payment of wages in
the Territory. Mr. Green said
such an enactment would be
not only beneficial to all labor
but would mean the payment
of approximately $G00,00 in
wages every two weeks in the
salmon packing industry. Un
der present conditions most of
the wages paid by the packers
is paid in Seattle and San Fran
cisco, and Alaska derives no
benefit. He also favors pro
tection for resident fishermen
by placing a high tax on non
resident fishermen and pointed
out that this would also tend to
create more Alaska citizenship.
Mr. Green said he would like
to see an adequate workmen’s
compensation act; one that
would not only protect the lab
orer against want while incap
aciated fiom injury but also
provide protection for merch
ants and others who assist in
carrying the worker during in
Cnntinued on Page 4
That McRitchie Report
A report current during the
past few days to the effect
t lj a t illness had befallen
“ Blackie ” McRitchie, who
went into the isolated district
between Bell-Irving river and
Taylor Creek, north o f -the
Nass river, with Ernest Blue
and Tommy Walters some
weeks ago, appears to be
another of those peculiar can
ards which so frequently
appear in t h i s neck of the
woods.
| According to the report, a
note written by Mr. Blue, in
\ which he said McRitchie wa:
ill and was being carried b y
his companions, was found by
some Indians in a cabin near
the east end of Bowser Lake.
The note was said to have been
dated in mid-April and in
dicated that the party was con
tinuing on to their destination,
despite McRitchie’s indispos
ition.
The Herald has been unable
to trace the yarn to any reput
able source. Recent visitors to
the Bowser Lake section
appear to have heard nothing
of such character concerning
the party and the only Indians
who have visited Stewart since
the departure of the Blue party
did not, so far as can be learn
ed, bring in a report of such
character.
-o
New Bicentennial
Quarter Dollar
If, in the near future, you
receive in change a strange
looking coin the size of a quar
ter dollar and bearing the cap
tion “United States of Amer
ica”, don’t jump to the con
clusion that someone is trying
to “hand you” something. It
will be the new George Wash
ington quarter dollar, to be
issued shortly by the United
States Treasury as a feature of
the George Washington Bicen
tennial celebration. It is ex
pected to be ready for distri
bution about June 1. The de
sign is by John Flanagan, New
Yoik sculptor and was chosen
from more than a.hundred
submitted.
The obverse side carries the
portrait of Washington in pro
file, with the words “Liberty”,
“In God We Trust”, and the
date, “1932”. T h e other side
bears a spread eagle with the
inscription, “United States of
America” a n d “E Pluribus
Unum” above, and “Quarter
Dollar” below. An olive branch
also appears below the eagle.
The new coin is exactly the
same size, weight and fineness
as the present quarter dollar
and is the first coin of regular
issue to bear the image of the
First President. The new quar
ter will replace the twenty-five
cent piece now' in circulation
and no other quarter dollar
will be coined for the next 25
years, unless authorized by
special act of Congress.
sm BIG BUNKERS
OPPDSED TO SILVER
Commenting o n the recent
declaration of Senator Pittman
that silver exponents have been
compelled to forgo efforts to
induce the administration to
call a silver conference because
president Hoover “ will not
’all one the Wallace (Id
aho) Press-Times, a journal
widely noted for i t s plain
speaking attitude on public
questions, says:
From the statement of Sen
ior Pittman i t appears that
the criticisms o f President
Hoover’s passive resistance to
any recognition of silver w’hich
have been made i n these
columns, are amply confirmed.
Nearly 18 months ago congress
authorized the president to call
an international conference to
consider the silver question in
:ts relation to the slump in
world commerce and particul
arly with regard to the Hoover
panic in the United States.
“ The president contempt
uously ignored this authoriz
ation.
“ The reason thereof is not
far to seek.
“ The New York-Internation
al-Plunderbund, led by J. P.
Morgan & Co., is viciously op
posed to any recognition o f
silver, particularly a return to
bimetallism.
“ Again the reason thereof is
not far to seek.
“ The re-establishment of bi
metallism would break the
strangle hold of the Plunder
bund, but i t would restore
wages and salaries, revive
pi'ices, validate all the foreign
bonds which are now so badly
depressed, and vitalize the
commerce of the world, espec
ially that of the western hemi
sphere, which supplies about
85 per cent of the world’s pro
duction of silver.
“ In a word, the remonetiz
ation of silver on the constitut
ional basis of sixteen to one
would restore life and prosper
ity to a famishing world almos-j
instantly.
“ But the Plunderbund re
presented by J. P. Morgan &
Co., in New York, Eugene
Meyer Jr., first governor of the
Federal Reserve banking sys
tem, Ogden L. Mills, secretary
of the treasury of the United
States, and Herbert C. Hoover,
president of the United States,
does not want silver restored
to its rightful place as a money
metal. The Plunderbund is in
different to the immense dam
age, the huge loss, and the
cruel sufferings of the people.”
GOVERNMENT ENGINEERS LEAVE
J. G. Truitt ami Lieutenant Berton
of the U. S. Engineers Office, left
Tuesday for their headquarters in
Juneau after completing an extensive
additional survey of conditions along
Salmon river in connection with *he
Hyder flood protection project, now
awaiting consideration by Congress.
The engineers gave out no informat
ion regarding their activities.