Th- - Klassan
Pubished every Friday by the Alaska Native Brotherhood Pub
lishing Company at Petersburg, Alaska.
Entered in the Post Office in Petersburg as Second Class Matter.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
Six months, $2.50 Per Year, $4.00
Advertising Rates on Application.
LOUIS F. PAUL.MANAGER and EDITOR
Pointing to a Leadership
-x
The young editor of the Ket
chikan Chronicle has become a
self-appointed leader of the ab
oiginal people of Alaska. He
leads the way with the following
editorial in a recent issue of
that paper:
“The political leadership that
has taught the Indians that
their only occupation is to seine,
that their only aim In life is to
abolish the fish trap, should be
displaced by an intelligent lead
ership that will teach them not
only to seine but to seek a
means of living in other pursuits
available to them; the exercise
cf their native art, which has
a ready market, the planting of
gardens which would stock their
homes with something besides
dried fish, and any of a dozen
ether things.”
If the good looking young
editor of the Chronicle would
step out of his office and move
about the several Native villages
in the First Division he will find
that these people have more
gardens, in proportion to pop
ulation than the white citizens.
That long before any white men
appeared in Alaska they culti
vated gardens of their own, that
they have a greater assortment
of greens which nature pro
vides, including the store vari
eties than other citizens eat;
that they are just as competent
or: boats as captains and en
gineers, as boat builders, as car
penters, as machinists, as miners
in hard rock with machines, as
teachers, preachers and other
lines of industry and profession.
We repeat, if this editor and
others would get out into the
highways and byways looking
for competent educated Indian
citizens, he will find them.
Not for nothing has education
been among them for the past
fifty years; not for nothing has
the Alaska Native Brotherhood
and its leadership demanded co
equal educational opportunity.
Even today, the school census in
both Territorial and Indian Bu
reau Schools shows that there
are more Indian children at
tending the schools than white
and this naturally has a devel
opment that the Chronicle is
urging.
The Brotherhood and its lead
ers have urged, have demanded
opportunity for All Alaskans to
earn a living from the fisheries.
That is the only basic industry
in Alaska which can furnish any
l
employment to the 60,000 people
I oi the territory. Through the
operation of seine boats and
through employment in the can
neries. The Demmert Packing
|and Peratrovich Packing Com
panies in Klawock Inlet point
jtbe way with their approximate
ly 300 resident employees oper
ating those canneries and with
as many seine crews employed
I as could be used. But blind men
like the editor of the Chronicle,
men who depend upon the re
sident population for its circula
tion, are unable to see these
things.
The best that they can hope
lor these citizens is that they
shall peddle their native arts,
basketry, totem carving “and
any of a dozen other things.”
The last being definitely vague
for the purpose of making the
readers wool-gatherers.
Right now, with but little at
tention paid to totem carving,
the scant half dozen doing the
work find their fields limited.
And this is not excluding orders
from the several curio stores in
the states. The weaving of
basketry is so slow and tedious
and the market so unwilling to
even allow a few cents a day for
the work, will not soon permit
this to become any sort of an in
dustry.
So return to the fisheries: If
the Chronicle joined the parade
in oppostion to bureau rule or
misrule; if they joined the
parade in opposition to foreign
ers invading the fisheries in
dustry of Alaska with the trap
system and permitted the gain
ful employment of Alaskans,
they would see an increase of
population till there would be
150,000 in the Territory instead
cf the short 60,000. The added
population would invite capital
and other industry for it is an
economic fact that industry
follows the population. The re
sidents would have more em
ployment and the Chronicle
would not have to urge that the
Indian population forsake their!
fight against the trap system by
going back to a civilization that
they are being taught to forget. |
Progress can never be made by!
going backward with any race'
of people. Perhaps the good)
editor does not realize this, if he ;
understands if.
Wanted: A Real Leader
x
On several occasions Republi
can voters declared, “If Paul
were not an Indian I would vote
for him. He is one of the ablest
men before the public in the
Territory.” And because his
grandparents were down on the
beach to meet those who em
barked from the Mayflower, he is
declared ineligible for a leader
ship which he has held anyhow.
On another column of this is
sue we reprint a statement by,
J. E. Johnson, Republican candi
date for Senator for the First
Division. Following that state
ment we re-print a circular
which was sent us from the West
Coast and which is the platform
of a Democratic candidate for
the Territorial House. N. R.‘
Walker, militant Democrat of
Ketchikan, candidate for the
Territorial Senate long since ex
pressed himself as opposed to
the ftsh trap system and not for
political reasons but because of
its effect upon business in gen
eral. George B. Grigsby surpris- i
ed his friends with the showing:
that he made in the last pri-'
rriary and that showing was i
made upon the platform of ’
complete abolishment of the i
fish trap. Had he been opposing!
Candidate Dimond alone, he
v/ould have swamped his op-|
ponent.
Dan Sutherland held his of-1
fice as Delegate because of his'
fight against the fish trap and
special privilege. He earned the
love and respect of his people in
Alaska. Dan spent every energy
;n fighting O’Malley and his mis- I
directed “conservation.” And his
regular return to Congress isj
proof of the fact that more
Alaskans believed him right |
than otherwise.
Now for the past ten or twelve
years there has been a lone
voice pointing the way to an |
economic independence for Alas-!
ka. William L. Paul, his asso-j
dates in the Alaska Native
Brotherhood and its publications
have been consistent in their
demand for the complete abol
ishment of the trap system
They point out that resident1
labor gainfully employed in the
fisheries meant more to the ter
ritory than the trap system I
j which each year took a toll of
the fisheries and which toll their,
owners took to the states to,
spend. The resident business re-1
ceived a few crumbs to pacify
\them and it took mighty little
to pacify some. But, with the,
[crumbs growing less and less,,
with resident business becoming
^riore hungry each year owing to
the fact that their trade can no
longer trade, the prejudices are
becoming overborne. There is aj
unity which now acclaims “Paul!
was right. He was always right ”
And that statement does not
come from the Indian fishermen
but it comes from business men
politicians, canners.
So, regardless of whether some
Republicans have refused to
follow the leadership of Paul
because he did not happen to bo
a Caucasian, the people of the
territory are now following his
leadership and the paths he has
constantly pointed out at a cost
which no other politician in the
territory has had to pay. He il
being vindicated. There is a deal
of satisfaction in that state
ment!
Home Rule for Alaska
Whenever you hear the poli
ticians talk about the greatest
[measure of home rule for Alas
jka and the home rule of fisheries
and game in Alaska, it is well to
ftake that as a lot of hokum
made for political purpose's.
|Alaska wants home rule—but
fiist it wants full use of the
powers it now has and which
|aie restricted by hampering bu
reaus and federal machination?.
| The Juneau Empire is one of
those champions of “home rule”
but the following taken from its
. editorial page shows that the
[“home rule” plank is a bit of
bunkum and should be duly re
cognized as such. The minute
there is a danger of really get
ting home rule, you will find the
Empire on the other side of the
fence. The editorial follows:
Bureaus And The Remedy
There is a tendency among
Alaskans to concentrate too
much opposition on bureaus and
not enough to the support of
I complete Territorial and local
self-government. As long as the
powers of government remain in
the National Government there
will be bureaus to attend to de
tails in Alaska. That must be so,
for Congress cannot function as
a Territorial Legislature and as
County Commissioners without
the assistance of bureaus. Even
a Territorial government with a
Legislature to cover the entire
Territory must be aided by a
gents that are far removed from
the people. In order to get real
self-government there must be
some sort of County or District
governments. The municipal
governments help the situation
some, but there are many things
that are of local concern where
it is essential tc exercise local
control beyond municipal limits.
As a whole the bureaus that
! are operating in Alaska are do
| ing the best they can do under
the laws and distant executives
j that control them. Time has
proved that Alaska troubles have
| not been due to the personnel
of the public service. The diffi
culties lie deeper. It all depends
upon who makes the laws and
controls the natural resources.
The important thing is who has
S the last word. There was a time
when some people thought our
i troubles would be over if a few
of tfie ministerial officials were
,made elective by Alaskans. That
w< s tried, but it has not reached
the source of the trouble. The
elective officials cannot cover
the details of government
throughout a Territory of near
ly 600,000 square miles and pro
vide self-government to the pen
pie. That cannot be done with
out local organizations. The
remedy for Alaska is full Terri
torial government. Otherwise we
shall have bureaus or other non
resident agencies from Washing- j
jton or Juneau, or some other j
; place.
I
We Condemn the System-Not Banks
-x
In our editorial “The Press —
The Tax Bill—The Bank Re
serves and Tight Money” it is
pointed out to us it might be con
s!rued as an attack on some
particular bank. Such a conclu
sion is in error.
The Legislature appropriated
more money than it had coming
in as revenue. It based its ap
propriations upon figures furn
ished by Treasurer Smith and
ignored the figures presented by I
Auditor Cole—the latter’s fig- j
ures showed that unless the*
revenue bill was changed there,
would be a deficit. And with the j
Closure of the Bristol Bay packs
in 1935 as indicated by Commis
sioner O’Malley, and with falling
revenues, that the Territory’s
financial condition would be
serious.
As predicted by Mr. Cole, the
Territory found it necessary to
withdraw its reserves from the
banks—all banks. This money is.
a reserve in the banks covered
by suitable stock and bonds. It
is not considered good banking
to hold a 40 or 50 per cent re- |
serve when the law does not re
quire more than 20 per cent.
That 30 per cent differential is
capital that is working for the
bank. So, according to general
practice the banks are holding
their reserves as close to the
minimum as required by law.
The sudden withdrawal of
Territorial funds, the forced
liquidation of stocks and bonds
at even present prices is not
good business for any bank. That
was illustrated in the Hyder
Bank which had to sell twice as
much stock to cover the Terri
torial funds that were on de
posit in that bank. That is, in
order to protect the Territorial
funds that were on deposit in
that bank and return it to the
Treasurer that Bank had to sell
$o0,000 worth of stock to meet
the $15,000 deposit.
i
I
i
All of which should not have i
been necessary had correct fig
ures been presented to the legis- I
lature to permit it to draw up <
a proper revenue bill to meet
the appropriations. This was not
done therefore the Treasurer j
had to withdraw the tail-end of
its resources from the banks.
The reserves were lowered and
in order to cover up there had
to be sale of stocks and bonds
or calling in of loans which
would ordinarily have been per
mitted to stand. The hardship
through lack of proper business
acumen and foresight has crear
ed a money stringency which
should not have been. In the
end, the business men must pay
such bills.
We repeat these facts to show
that the weaker banks are at the
mercy of the Terasurer and that
a grave injustice has been done
to the stockholders of some of
the banks and to many Alaskans
in business. It is not an attack
on the banks—there is no malice
back of the thought. We are
dealing in principles of benefit
to the territory, a protection to
the banks and bankers and an
aid to the business men of Alas -
ka. Any other construction on
the editorial is made by the
reader and not the intention of
the writer.
EVERYBODY LIKES PIE
We Make the Pies that
EVERYBODY LIKES
Always Fresh At
THE STAR BAKERY
1 . I
Cigars and Tobaccos of all kinds §
Pool and Billiard Tables
BRENNAN’S I
\v
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Northland
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Aug. 22
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Aug. 27
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Res.
1
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Northbound Southbound
Alaska
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Alaska
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Sept. 7
Pass. & Freight to S.E. & W. Ala t,ka.
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INFORMATION AND Tkv KETS:
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Petersburg - - - Alaska