zähe Heini-W T«
A. N. B. PUBIjISHINO COMPANY
SUBSCRIPTION RATES.
The Alaskan, six months. $2.50
The Alaskan, per year .. $4.00 1
Published every Friday by the a. N. B. Publishing Co., Petersburg
Entered in the Post Offlo* in I etersburg as Second Class matter.
LIMITATION OF PACKS
NOT NKCESSAUT 1927
“He who would dunce must pay
the fiddler.”
In the past resident fishermen
have been dancing to the music set
by the cannery interests, it the>
felt like paying the iishermen a de
cent living wage in return for sal
mon sold to the canneries, they
did 'so; if not, they did not have to
do so, and they could even tell the
resident fishermen to go to purga
tory in no polite terms—and they
did.
They were sitting on top of the
world; the fish wa3 to be gotten by
the millions through their traps;
they no longer needed seiners ex
cept to fill a few extra cases. They
had no thought of the future and
only knew' the law' of payment of
dividends regardless of the future.
When the plea wras made for con
servation they declared “ false
alarm.” They packed to the limit.
Two years ago the Petersburg Pack
ing Company by the 11 tli of August
had packed 90,000 cases—-but at
the cost of seed lish. Today they
are paying the price of their past
hoggishness.
Said one cannery man to us; “1
stand to lose several thousand dol
lars unless 1 put my pack up.” AVe
did not sympathize with him for
we have seen too many children en
tr school without needed under
wear; we have loaned money to oth
ers to buy flour and milk and su
gar; we have asked and received for
these people from fraternal organi
zations cast off clothing and even
bedding where it could be best used.
The resident fisherman has paid
the price and now Mr. Canneryman,
must pay the fiddler for he has
danced without paying heretofore.
The run from one end of the
country is a failure and in the limit
ed time to closing period—they
will not be able to put up enormoib
packs, in fact We expect a few will
lose their interest in these can
n.eries
PACKERS ORDER REGULATIONS
BUREAU FISHERIES — PUPPETS
Alaskans familiar with the meth
ods of regulations and management
of the fisheries of Alaska have con
tended all along that the Bureau of
Fisheries are the puppets of the
Packing Combine in Alaska. It is
a fact too often demonstrated to
be denied.
When the back-Boue-less gov
ernor of Alaska, the pride of the
Juneau Empire and the pet of the
Juneau Chamber of Commerce was
in office ,there was a failure of sal
mon in the Wrangell district. The
fishermen, resident businessmen and
Chamber of Commerce of our neigh
boring City, held mass meetings a
result of which was the sending of
William H. Lewis and Capt. Rey
nolds to appeal to the Alaska Fish
Commission, in session at Juneau,
and to the“governors joke” for the
extension of the fishing period in
the Wrangell area. Further appeal
was made to Henry O’Malley, fed
eral voice of the Canning Trust, but
to no avail. The salmon must be
permitted to escape to the spawn
ing ground; it would be bad pre
cedent to change the regulations.
Without sufficient earnings to carry
them through the winter, the fish
erman closed their season. Theyj
still remember and damn Henry
Q’Malley and Herbert Hoover.
Do you blame them?
On the 16th of July this year thei
regulations of the Bureau of Fish
eries called for the closing of the
Behring Sea area. It was so pub
lished in the press and we note that
at closing date the packers did not
have sixty percent of their pack up.
Statement was issued from the of
[ices oi' tlie Fisheries Bureau that
awing to the tact lha there had been
insufficient escapement, the season
in that area would close tor the
balance o£ the year. A few days
later was published orders open
said area to fishing indefinitely or
until Dennis Winn, agent of the Bu
reau gave orders to close.
Regulations for the benefit of'
but residents can go to Yankee
Doodle. And they expect Alaskans
to sing “Praise God from Whom
All Blessings Flow” and they are
God.
EXTEND THE SEASON
For the benefit of the “Kaiser”
of Petersburg fame The Alaskan
hopes that the fishing season will
be extended “indefinitely” as in
the Bthring Sea, so that he will get
up his pack. ^
The taxes from this elemoossinary
institution runs the town; the pay
checks run to over “$100,000 a
year handled through the Bank of
Petersburg” and it is giving away
machine shops and stores, etc., etc.
(per certain mass meeting last
spring.)
Therefore, in order that they may
continue giving other industries to
citizens of Petersburg and that they
may be all that was claimed, we
hope that the Bureau of Fisheries
will extend the fishing season right
through to January first, 1928.
The fishermen do not care one
tinker’s dam whether or not any
salmon come this year. They do not
care a German mark whether the
canneries wish the season ertend
ed or not.
Regulations made for the benefit
of conservation—must not be
changed this year. To insure the
run in the return cycle, fishing
should be prohibited right now. The
three and four hundred salmon
at four or five cents per, is not go
ing to buy much bread next winter
nor put up many cases this sum
mer. They will be of far greater
value to the Territory as seed fish
than the “lousy” taxes they prate
so much about.
KOKH’S APOLOGY TO THE JEWS
AS VIEWED BY WILLIAM ALLEN
.. WHITE, EDITOR EMPORIA. .
..GAZETTE.
Henry Ford according to his own
story, allowed the “Independent” to
abuse Jews unmercifully because
of their race. He now seems fo have
concluded that the “Independent”
will not abuse the .Tews unmerciful
ly.
A man with the tremendous re
sponsibility that comes with an
ownership of a paper like Ford’s
who would idly or carelessly or ig
norantly use his power t0 p&in and
humiliate millions of liis fellowmen
has no qualities as an editor which
his fellow-men are bound to re
spect. His change of opinion is un
important. The fact, that his change
of opinion will relieve the Jews of
a gadfly’s sting does not render the
gadfly more intelligent.
Ford has one talent in his little
bag of tricks. That talent is a cer
tain knack of industrial organiza
tion. That idea has revolutionized
the industrial. world and has made a
vast social change in America. His
ideas and opinions are silly and
insignificant. It is a sad comment
ary on humanity that. Ford’s great
wealth has not revealed his ignor
ance, his mental sloth, and his in
capacity to think.
Man is always inclined to feel
that greatness in one field of activ
ity presumes greatness in all act
ivities.
THE ATLANTA “CONSTITUTION”
“Although manly and courageous,
the retraction is no more than Mr.
Ford should have made lopg ago.
A.nd the greater pity is that a Na- f
Lionally circulated magazine, with!
Llie name of» one of the most ex
Lensivelly known men of the world:
it its masthead, should ever have1
permitted such baseless attacks to
have begun.
“The Jewish people as a whole
j,re among the most patriotic, most
charitable, and most constructive
of any group in the business and na
tional life of the Nation. They have
never turned a deaf ear to the call
of their country, whether to arms
or to the relief of human suffering
or to the financing of war. They
have served their Government in
many and momentous capacities of
honor and trust and responsibility.
In municipal and community life
they have been active in civic af
fairs, in education, in culture, and
in the economic development of the
people.
“As a group the Jewish people
predominate in several lines of busi
ness, but they are particularly fair.
This is illustrated and accentuat
ed by the court dockets of every
State in the Nation.
“The Dearborn Independent made
a serious mistake in its fight, as its
owner is now credited with admit
ting. If is gratifying that Mr. Ford
lias the manhood to publicly ack
nowledge the injustice done through
him.”
Ed. Note.— In similar racial at
tacks, only on resident and native
Alaskans, the above applies with
equal force. We do not believe
that a single editor of these junker
papers lias the mental capacity or
character to admit the wrongs and
injustices perperated in the name of
“purity of the ballot.”
SHALL WE HAVE REAL
CONSERVATION
As we enter upon this part of our
theme we hud the most amazing
facts recorded in two documents
which were published by the Gov
ernment Printing Office in Washing
ton, D. C. One is entitled “The
Looting of Alaska’s Resources.” It
is a speech which was made by Hon.
Dan Sutherland of Alaska, Wednes
day, February 28, 1923. It bears
the number 35S98-2358G. The
other document is entitled “Conser
vation in Alaska as Practiced by the
Department of Commerce Under the
Direction of the Fish Trust.” It
is a speech of Hon. Dan A. Suther
land of Alaska which was made Sat
urday, February 2, 1924. It bears
the number S4123-132. in these
two government documents the de
legate to Congress from Alaska re
veals how Mr. Hoover and Mr.
O’Malley were the servants of the
Fisli Trust and how they helped the
trust by means of rules of the Bu
reau of Fisheries. The looting con
sisted of the delivery of the Na
tion's greatest natural food supply
and Alaska’s largest resource over
to the Chicago, San Francico Fish
Trust by the United States Bureau
of Fisheries of the Department of
Commerce. This was accomplished
by two fisheries reservations, one of
which embraced about 1200 miles
of sea-coast. Both of these reser
vations were made in 1922 by Ex
ecutive orders.
The first reservation was obtain
ed by the attorney for Libby, Mc
Neil and Libby. The attorney went
to Washington early in 1922 and
approached the Department of Agri
culture with a request for the cre
ation of a bird reserve which would
automatically become a fishery re
servation, but he was informed by
that department that it would not
he a party to the creation of a pri
vate monopoly in the Alaskan sal
mon packing industry. Afterwards,
through the efforts of the Bureau
of Fisheries, the executive order
was issued. No notice of the inten
tion of the Department of Com
merce was given to the people most
vitally interested—the coastal pop
ulation of Alaska—nor to their re
presentative in Congress, nor to
the general public, but it was ac
complished surreptitiously at the in
stigation of the attorneys of the
packers.
The proposal of the second reser
vation was advertised in Pacific
Coast publications and the delegate
from Alaska was notified. The de-"<
legate voiced the opposition of tbe^
people of Alaska against placing the |
salmon fisheries in the territory A *,
l he United States Bureau of Fisher- ,
ies without regulatory statutes by ,
Congress. On August 16, 1922, he
wrote a long letter to Herbert C. ;
Hoover, Secretary of Commerce,
and he protested against the reser
vations, and drew vivid pictures of
the depleted salmon streams, and
he called attention to the unjust
and un-American principles of the
fish reservations.
Mr. Sutherland told our Congress
of the Fish Trust’s idea of conser
vation as applied by the Depart
ment of Commerce. For example
it should be observed that the Bu
reau of Fisheries placed limits up
on the amounts that each cannery
should pack. Under ordinary condi
tions, one would understand that
the word limit, when applied to con
servation, would mean that the
catch would be reduced in localities
where the natural resources were
waning. In this case, however, it
did not have this meaning.
(Continued Next Week)
THE GIBBERS
Every season several hundred
Lirls are shipped to Alaska to gib
; nd pack herring. They are told
that the herring runs 700 to the
barrel and their remuneration is
75^ per barrel. But the written
contract is silent on the subject of j
the size of the fish. It simply says j
the pay is to be “75^ per barrel ot I
fish” gibbed and packed. General-j
ly the herring in Southeastern Alas
ka is so small that it runs 1000 or
more to the barrel,—which means
almost twice as much work. The
girls, therefore, have to stay and
j work for about half of what they
were led to believe they were going
to receive,—or walk home.
The bill prepared by the Attorney
General provided that where the
contract was silent on the subject
of the size of the herring, it should
be presumed that it referred to her
ring of the size of not more than
700 to the barrel. This could work
no injustice to the operator, for he
could protect himself in the con
tract a clause giving a minimum size
of the fish. But Tom Gaffney, “the
Friend of Labor,” would stand for
no such provision. Fooling the
working girls had become one of
those sacred rights of Capital which
| needed the protection of the Legis
i lature. And so, fooling and de
frauding these girls remains a pro
tected industry and will remain
such while the Gaffney-Lomen brand
of statesmen are elected to make
the laws.
WAGES
A herring fertilizer plant hired a
bunch of girls in Seattle last year,
telling them about the “big wages”
which are to be made in Alaska do
ing “easy work.”
After working from May 19th to
July 13th, three of the girls quit,
one was paid as follows:
HOOD BAY, ALASKA
July 13, 1926
STATEMENT OP IRMA HAYSSEN,
—Gibber
By 29 ^-bbls gibbed @ .37%^—
—$10.87
By 5 hrs. re-packing at 40^ 2.00
To store account 9.70
Net amount due $ 3.17
The girl wa3 glad to get the $3.17
The other girls fared as badly on
ly we have not their statement.
(Note:—The Honorable Tom Gaff
ney, Rydeens and Lomens helped
defeat the minimum wage bill in
the last legislature. They were as
sisted by Sheldon, Fisher, and the
Joe Murray bunch. Opposing them
and supporting the bill were the
Regular Republicans led by Ross,
Johnston, Sundquist and Paul).
NO MONEY IN CANNERIES
A prominent canneryman, whom
we will not mention for obvious
reasons, was being sued for divorce.
He put up the plea that he had lost
money—millions—since 1921 and
could not pay the alimoney demand
ed by friend Frau. In reply she
stated that she took Hubby's car to
California, sold it and returned to r
a* r home; sold her furniture and
woved to other apartments which
..he furnished with $40,000. worth
af furniture. The trial judge ask
ed What did your husband say
when he learned you had spent this
amount for furniture? She replied,
with a shrug of her shoulders, You
know how these rich foreigners are
he said it was too cheap.
Forty thousand dollars spread out
among ten crews is $4,000 to the
crew; divided it would bring .net
per share $500.
That’s too much for a common
“gurry slinger” to earn in a short
a summer season, say certain “fish
experts.
.. What Good? Mr.Business Man. 1
What good is the $40,000 spent I
on furniture in Seattle to Alaskans? j
How much more $40,000 would be
worth to resident business if put
in the resident fisherman’s hands.!
FISHING SEASON FAILURE TO
DATE UNDER HOOVER'
Reports come in from the south I
that there is no fish; report comes j
i
in from the south that there is no '
fish; report comes in from the west
that there is no iisli; report comes
i
in from the east that there is no1
!
fish and the cannerymen are getting
worried. It is reported that Port
Althorp which was giug to pack 100,
000 cases of salmon this year has
closed down, that other canneries
plan to shut down very shortly if the
poor fish do not show up in more
plentiful numbers; that the Peters
burg Packing company this date
last year had approximately 00,000
case3 hut this year only have about
6,000; that two years ago it had
96,000 cases by the 11th of August
and will he lucky it has a half cf
that amount this year; that the
Kake cannery is reported to close
about the first of August unless
more of he “cheod humps” and de
spised dogs are put into oans.
An illiterate Indian, despised at
the polls by the cannery plutocrats
said, ‘‘Kill off the chickens before
they lay their eggs; put in more
traps and you will get more fish—
dreams of wealth. It is a law that
when the parent is killed off before
reproduction of species, the species
will be exterminated. The literati
of the Territory are too ignorant to
believe that such a law is applicable
to the fisheries. They will pay for
1 it and in the end leave the fisheries
to those who would save it to pos
terity.
A FEW QUESTIONS
The Petersburg Packing Company
paid in the past a tax of a little ov
er $9,000. At the rate they are
packing this season, how much case
tax are they going to pay this year?
With overproduction of packs
for several years, what is the reason
that there is such a shortage of
salmon this year?
How can the Bureau of Fisheries
build up depleted areas when they
permit dore traps in these areas?
What good has the hatchery sys
tem been in Alaska—or Canada?
Where do the salmon go to when
they leave parent stream and just
how many years before they return?
With the Wrangell Narrows clos- :
ed to all commercial fishing for the
past two years, why is it there are
no fish to speak of in the Peters
burg Creek?
Who is the Czar of Alaska Fish
eries; his “leftenant?”
Why is the Kaiser worried?
What is he worried about?
What has the Bureau of Fisheries
accomplished in thirty years of di
rection over the fisheries of Alaska?
When the Bureau of Fisheries
designates a certain area closed to
ALL COMMERCIAL fishing, how is
it that a trap can operate in that '
district but any seines caught are
punished for violating the law?
At present rate of destruction,
how long will the Alaska fisheries
last; what other industry is there
to turn to when this industry is
gone; who will pay the bills—the
resident fisherman? Canneryman or
resident businessman?
A years subscription to The Alas
kan will be given to the best set
i
of answers mailed in.
Quality
and
Quantity
For less at
The
Modern Grocery
'i: . ma .'v^seaaaMHMi
Buy at Star Bakery and Save Mo . /
hresh Doughnuts, vlup Cakes, Coo1! .a
and Cinnamon Rolls
Always on Hand Fresh
STAR BAKERY
AMI'jRICA FIRST arrives in Pe
tersburg Friday morning, leaving
fur Juneau via Kake and way porta
noon.
HA HOW TRANSPORTATION
COMPANY
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DAY & NIGHT SERVICE
Stand at Arctic Hotel
Phone 35
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George Kim, Proprietor
Meals at all Hours
Good Services, Fair Prices
We Solicit Your Trade
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When in I own Stop at
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D
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