Is
The Älajkxm I
] OUIS F. PAUL,.EDlfcJk
t:. O. PARKS,.BUSINESS MANAGER
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.
The Problem in Common
A number of years ago in a i
(appeal we made to the halibut
(fishermen, we stated that
■though the halibut industry was
n different angle from any oth
er, that the problem of the sein
er, the gillnetter the troller and
the halibuter were *11 one and
the same economic problem o:
struggle for an existence. There
fore. it was incumbent upon the
halibut men to support the oth
er fingers of the industry, part
ly out of sympathy and parti./
that they in turn might have
the numerical support of others.
With few exceptions, howeve*,
their support has not been forth
coming. Poetically, some ha/e
opposed the principles for whien
this publication has fought.
Now the business men of the
territory are beginning to un
derstand what the “ignorant
Siwashes” have been struggling
against the past ten years. With
the loss of earning power of
every angle of the fishing in
dustry just where does the bus
iness man expect to turn in the
years of famine which now face
the territory? The Indians have
cinched up their belts these
many years since H*nry O’Mal
ley parcelled out the fishing
waters to a few corporations.
The Indians W'll live. Hard
scratching, to be sure, but they
will live off the land Those who
do not understand that method
of living will cinch up their belts
for a time and then move our
of the territory. With the spend
ing power of the territory gone,
just what will the business me 1
cio to keep up their business0
Must the fishermen fight their
light alone? Is the fight theirs
alone? And will all branches of
the fishing industry stand
shoulder to shoulder in their
common cuase0
In the past we have present
ed oar solutions and urged a
change <a the condition of Al
aska’s fisheries adi inistration.
In the present diiemma it is up
to the pirty in power to lead the
people of Alaska out of the des
pondency o: economic distress.
Mr O’Malley is due to arrive hi
Ala ska any day now. He has the
opi ortunity of a lifetime to do
sor ^hing for those Alaskans
who must depend on fishing for
the ;; living, and that includes
thf 1 who, in turn, depend on
the fishermen. He has also an
opi ’’t,unity to deal the territory
a r rse blow than any hereto
fore dealt. Although he has us
by the throat ann we are on our j
knees, we still gnash our teetnl
and hope against hope that o ir
Alaska may yet be freed of the !
despotism which this one-man |
dictatorship makes possible. But
it is only our great need, rather
than past experience with the
fisheries bureau which prompts'
that hope. What can be the ob
jection to giving Alaskan fisher
men a greater opportunity to
participate in Alaska’s fisheries,
just as is being done in Britb.i
Columbia? How will Mr. O' •
Malley explain the fact that fish
traps are not necessary on tin
Canadian side?
In view of recent herring fn.h- j
ing regulations will the halib it j
fishermen still contend that'
their problems are purely econ-l
omic and that they have noth-)
ing to fear from the bureau of
fisheries? In the year 1930,!
fresh herring in the amount of
3,340,180 pounds was used for
bait in Alaska. In the same
year 5,957,960 pounds of froze v.
bait were put up in the terri
tory. More than mne millio l
pounds of herring bait to eaten
some twelve million pounds ol
halibut.
Various groups of fishermen
have tried “fasting” as a recon
ditioner. The Pacific Coast
halibut fishermen have observed
voluntary closed seasons. Tnc
tuna fishermen of Californ a!
voluntarily suspended operations
during last December and Jan
uary, which, kept perhaps 150,
000 cases from being produced.1
Rightnow another sixty-day lay
off is in effect running from
May 1st to July 1st. No doubt
this reduction in the supply has
its effect on something some
where, but the f?sh buying pub
lic must turn to other source of
food supply. Norwegian can
neries did not pack sild and
brisling this year during the
months of February, March and
April under a co-operative a
greement, though a considerable
Quantity has been packed in the
past during that period. Thes»
sporadic and spasmodic at -
tempts to bolster up an industry
merely show the need for closer
co-ordination of effort. The
sooner we realize how depend
ent we are upon each other, the
better ’t will be for us all, and
a little candid reflection on out
individual / sponsibiities can do
no harm.
Politicians Sort of Flounder Around
-Y
T '•e Republicans are flounder
inf iround like a bunch of lost
she ). They jo’ned forces in
tlv “harmony program” and
afi ■ putting William Paul out
on .he end of tht political limb
thev cut it off and now they
don’t just know how they are
going to take up his mantle of
’■adership and continue with
their program.
There has been talk of various
federal political forces joining
up v/ith the tarritorial political
forces and calling it a reorganiz
ed Repubican P°rty. But, des
pite the fact that the rotative
ballot ras oassed to eliminate
the Indian vote it is being more
forcibly realized that this ele
ment has not been eliminated
by any means but that it has
been somewhat antagonized. So.
there has been some talk of .a
meeting of the leading political
satellites of the so-called Re
publican party to meet in any
other town than Juneau and
preferably Wrangell or Peters
burg.
The Republican National com
mitteeman, Capt Lathrop, has
been led to beheve that his party
which received a purgative in
the form of the Rotative Ballot,
js sitting pretty and will be able
to defeat any combination
which might enter the field of
political battle After listening
«o his Juneau political mentors
he refused to enter into any
combine whereby the Republi
cans will get a working combin
ation in the territory. So these
forces which have been seek
ing to weld together the broken
ends of the party, finding them
selves ' unable to get on to ■)
common ground of thought or
action, have sort of stepped
back just to see what the polit
ical hyphenates will do.
From all indications the Re
publicans need a Moses to draw
►hem out of the wilderness of
darkness and political doldrums,
rerhaps if they will join hands
with the Frank “Moses” Boyl*,
great, leader of th-* Democratic
party, they will be able to form
a combine which rtan continue
its power in office ynd the price
il'oulcn’t matter.
-x
Bait for Suckers
Alaska’s would-be friend and
benefactor, Steward Edwaid
White, in a leng^bv article in
the Alaska Weekly (Seattle),
still harping on bis idea of set
ting aside Chichagrif Island as
la reservation for the propaga
tion of grizzly bea* ■>, voices one
great iundamentai truth when
he says “Aiaskans are ratbir
fed up on setting things aside
and I don’t blame them." Spok
en like a gentleman and a
scholar. How we can agree with
that man sometimes! He argues
that if the tourists who come to
Alaska could be induced to stop
here and spend a lot of money
it would help ever and ever so
much, and there we agree witn
him again. We have noticed all
along that the Alaska tourists
mostly follow the beaten tracK,
spend only a few days in the
territory and most of that time
they are kept aboard the steam
er wondering about the mean-!
ing of the things they see. They
buy perhaps a few postcards and
a few totem pole curios “Made
in Japan” (turned out on a
lathe) with no one to point out
the superiority of the genuine
Indian hand made articles. They
catch a fleeting glance at a half
dozen Alaska towns and leave
the territory feeding that they
know all about the conditions in
“Uncle Sam’s Attic.” They pr > -
bably tell their friends it w -,s
all “just wonderful” and display
their remarkable fund of im
aginary misinformation. Mr.
White says that under proper
conditions the number of tour
ists might be materially increas
ed and there we would like to
agree with him again, but we
think it will -ake something
more than the turning of Ch»
chagoff Island into a grizz y
bear farm to accomplish tha*.
Bears can be seen in zoos th-*
world over. Forget that grizzly
bear stuff! We have other things
far more wonderful. Where el>?
on earth can the wonders of
Glacier Bay be matched? Y »u
will not find real live glaei -rs
in any park, or any museum, or
any zoo in the states, nor any
place else except right here in
Southeast Alaska where grert
rivers of ice in a temperate
climate discharge • their bergs
directly into salt water; where
glacial action can be studio 1
first hand at close range, giving
I But how many of our visit :*s
| really learn to erad the mean
ing of the landscape* they have
come so far to see? And the
creation of a national park wul
not, of itself, spell the difference
either, we fear, for Glacier Bar.;
is already a national monume t,
yet not many tourists ever see
the place. Nor would the pres
ence of a few wild arimals make
any great difference for Cruzoif
Island, near by, is a game res
erve but there are no touri.ls
there. There is game in Mount
McKinley National Park, also
the highest mountain in all the
world above ths tinker line, y ;t
thousands of toor'r* ■ turn bacr
from almost its very gates. It
may be that t.ie steamship com
panies have overlooked a be"
If they were to establish resorcs
as the Canadian Pacific has
done at Banf and other places,
they might get more money out
of the toruist crop but there the
business would end. Very little
of that money would remain in
Alaska.
As the tourists are being herd -
ed at present, not more than
j three or four out of a thousand
Jever get off the beaten track or
jhave any opportunity to gather
[information, and when these
| few ask questions we Alaskans
I find a peculiar delight in peddl
ling them the most fantastic
j misinformation imaginable. We
; tell them about the ice-worms,
[how we fatten the crabs, what
j makes the shrimps tails curl/,
| and how the mother porcupine
j catches the trout to feed her
young ones, and so on. We even
suspect that Mr White, himse f,
seasoned traveller that he is.
has been the butt of a littie
icpocfing at the hands of some
I clever sourdough, for he goes o.i
to say:
“Fisheries would not be in
terfered wuth. Canneries oc
cupy a few acres on the coasf
traps, no acreage at ait. They
are a curiosity and an added
attraction. A water expedition
to see a trap bailed—at so
much a head—would be ver/
popular.’
Won’t somebody kindly slip
Mr. White the information, qui ;e
confidentially of course, that
since the near depletion of the
whales the baiting of fish traps';
is well nigh a lost art. Of late ’
years, as every sourdough knows, :
it has been necessary to employ i
whole fleets of tollers (or “trol-j
lers” as they are sometimes :
called) who tow dead herrings
on long lines behind their boats,
and when the °reat schools of
salmon follow them into tne
traps the trap tender tender y
closes the gate ana sheds a te if.
Truly thebaiting of fish tra *s
Is not what it used to be. But
the baiting of tourists—that's
something else again, and some
thing we are .quite willing to
learn.
Hospital Needed
The native people of Alaska
and vicinity have united in peti
tion to the Bureau of Indian Af
fairs praying that a hospital be *
established at Ketchikan for the
benefit of the natives of that
section and the west coast.
There is at present a splendid
government hospital at Juneau
but the natives of the souther'./
section declare that the distance
and cost makes it nrohibitive to
receive medical attention there.
The matter will be investigated
by Dr. Ryan when he comes
north in July
-x
Speaking editorilly of the visit
of the Los Angeles Chamber of
Commerce to Alaska, the Seldc
via Herald says in part: “It is
a safe view that a little com
petitive interest on the part of
outside chambers of commerce
in Alaska’s trade and resources
will be of benefit to the tern-,
tory. Isn’t it about true that
Alaska has done more for Seat -
tie than the Queen City has ever
done for the rugged Northland?
Seattle got its first big boost
from Alaska and boosts pretty
regularly ever since from the
same source. The cornucopia of
riches has been pouring pretty
’avishly into Seattle lap for
these many years More general
md reciprocn’ distribution
would not do Alaska any harn!
ind might result in dong a lot
A good.”
-x
EDITORS WILL COP!
THIS ONE
According to the findings of
in English university in London,
editors and lawyers are the
world’s smartest men. These
men can boast of a mental age
A 18 and upwards, it has been
established. Below them come
doctors, dentist? and office
managers. Professors and min
isters are not mentioned. T *e
mental age of music-hall actors
and policemen run about the
same—from 13 to just under 15,
it was found
-x-.
CANADIAN SUPREME COURT
RULES U. S. BO'ITS HAVE
NO TRL '<7 i RIGHTS
overwhelmed ov sea and weath
er conditions it is because she is
so constructed that she cannot
cope with such conditions. Und
j-r the court’s reasoning then it
would appear that the inability
of any vessel to cope with nat
ty al conditions at sea would
subject themaster’s good fait a
to suspicion, tl his vessel wras
incapable of keeping the sea
it would be evidence of bad fait i,
which would exclude him from
right of shelter in Canadia i
waters. This is a heartless at
titude, indeed.
. .A Duty For The U. S.
The decision of the Supreme |
Court closes the legal aspect of]
the cases of the “May”, “Queenj
City”, “Tillie M.” and “Sunrise ”
It could be appealed to the
Privy Council but such a course
is most iirotobable. If the mat
ter were merely one cf the rib
ing of Canadian court in the
case of four trolling boats it
would be ended. However, 112
court hr s held that the Treaty
of 1818 is not applicable on this
coast. In so doing it has open
“Where Your $ Has More Cents’
General Merchandise -
- Fishermen’s S’
E. W. Harris, Proprietor
Sitka
Alaska
ANDERSON BROTHERS
Marine Ways
General Boat Work
Repairing and Overhauling
Our marine ways are built to handle boats up to
110 feet in length. Thoroughly modern wood
working plant equipped to do every sort of re
pairing or new construction.
All Work Guaranteed and priced right
Petersburg, - - Alaska
Are You Suffering en Piles?
IF PILES DRIVE YOU MAD
About one person out of five suffers from some disease or
other of the large intestine. Many of them suffer acu:e
pain for years and are in misery because of piles and are
satisfied to secure occasional relief by usuig some remedy or
other. But these remedies do not help. For those who suf
fer from piles, time is too costly to waste experimenting
with untimely methods. A tried and proven method of cur
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wounds and constipation is the use of
OUR FAMOUS IMPORTED
Vechelde PILE SALVE
Postpaid $1.25, C. 0. D. $1.40
Wytte today to
VECHELDE IMPORTING CO.
4640 Broadway, New York
Department: 239-A
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BRENNAN’S
Pool and Billiard Tables
| Cigars and Tobaccos of all kinds
r i
I Alaskan Glacier Sea Food Co. 1
• Petersburg, Alas! a
Packers of Shrimp Meat,
Crab Meat and Clams, 1
BIGGEST PACKERS OF fl RAT MEAT IN II EWORLD
Buyers of
Halibut, Salmon> and Trout
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When you think of j
Eats,
Think of
Grand Cafe I
Southbound
July 1
July 8
July 15
July 22
Northoound
June 2G
Alameda June 2<
Northwestern July 3
Alameda July 10
Northwestern July 17
Pass. & Freight to s.E. & W. Alaska,
t nris Tveten, Agent
Phone 15 Petersburg, Alaska
Doors
Sash
Lath
Fir
Cedar
Spruce
I Hardwood
LUMBER
Factory Lumber
Boat Lumber
Mouldings
Shelving
Milwork
Shingles
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BUILDING
MATERIAL,
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Patent Shingles
Chimney Blocks
Building Paper
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Passenger accom
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Admiral Line Ves
sels have been'
completly and ma
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You will find them
very attractive and
comfortable.
Northbouna from Seattle
Admiral Rogers June 21
Admiral Watson June 26
Southbound from Petersburg
Admiral Rogers June 27
Admiral Watson July 7
INFORMATION AND TICKETS:
Ed. Locken. Agent.
Petersburg-Alaska
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