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A. N. B. Publishing Company,
. .Published every Friday by the Alaska Native Brotherhood
Publishing Company, at Petersburg, Alaska.. Entered in the Post
Office in Petersburg as Second Class Matter.
Subscribtion Rates:
The Alaskan, six months, $2.50
The Alaskan, per year, $1.00 Louis F. Paul, Editor-Manager.
A PERIOD OF INDECISION
The 18th Amendment is un
dergoing the most drastic and
thorough criticism and analysis
accorded an amendment to the
Constitution in many years. Offi
cials high in authority and con
fidence of the nation are com
plaining of the failure of the law
to achieve the results which it
wTas hoped w'ould eventuate from
its enactment. The blame is
placed largely on the lax meas
ures and faulty machinery of
enforcement. Added to this dif
ficulty is the fact that several
States possess no State laws pro
hibiting the traffic in intoxic
ants, and the other States fail
to enforce their laws adequate
ly. This places an impossible
burden on the Federal enforce
ment unit. These facts plus
the popular belief that many
governmental officials who favor
prohibition as a legislative meas
ure are revealed from time to
time as given to personal con
sumption of intoxicants have
created a wide-spread public
disbelief in the posibility of en
forcement of the act.
And this is not a fact to be
lightly passed over with serene
optimism. The press at large
reflects the attitudes of those
who oppose prohibition, and they
are active to embitter the popu
lar mind against the 18th
Amendment. Varied and subtle
forms of propaganda are em
ployed in this campaign against
the national prohibition amend
ment. People of prominence in
the social and business world op
enly state their disapproval of
the law and assert that some
plan should be substituted for
the present law.
Few of these individuals, how
ever, have formulated any defin
ite laws or plans for altering the
present system for the better.
Most of the noise of opposition
is largely devoted to rebelling
against the law in a highly emo
tional and prejudicial fashion.
Concrete plans for solving - the
social issues which hinge on the
solution of the liquor problem in
this or any country are conspic
uous by their absence.
The cry is that we are develop
ing a nation of those without
respect for law, that children
should ‘ be taught to drink as
gentlemen and ladies” and much
additional twaddle. This is said
in face of the obvious benefits
derived in the realm of industry,
community welfare and by the
homes of the majority of the
American people. Again, these
alarms are raised after prohibi
tion has had a brief ten year in -
terval in which to try its mettle.
The most deep rooted customs
and economic factors entrenched
In our American life are altered
by law, and the law is accorded
only ten years in which to prc . e
100 per cent successful! We sug
gest that no law is enforced to
perfection and that we should
be surprised if any .uws wei j s -
enforced.
In this dilemma the average
citizen recognizes tlv- fact that
the present law is highly unsat
isfactory and that better ma
chinery for enforcemeri is need
ed. ' In spite of the hue and cry
he believes that national prohi
bition is the answer to the li
quor problem and that mach
inery for enforcement is needed.
Greater good should accrue to
the more effective enforcement
pi the law. Let him wait anoth
er ten years or even twenty years
before passing final judgment in
any sense final as regards the
effects of the Eighteenth amend
ment. Let him allow the Com
mission, appointed by President
Hoover, time to adequately
study the situation in this
country and then to make re
commendations on the steps to
be taken. In a time of unrest
and indecision, what anchor can
a sensible and loyal citizen pos
sess other than allegiance and
support to the laws of the land
as enacted by Congress—Moral
Welfare.
LAW ENFORCEMENT
-x
After watching the ways of
justice in the land, we have
come to the conclusion that laws
snould be enacted separately for
the rich and the poor; that the
poor should sit in judgment upon
the rich and the rich sit in judg
ment upon the poor.
This thing we call “good citi
zenship,” “decent citizenship”
and “better class” of citizens is a
I Jot of hooey. The breakdown is
due to the blindness of justice
when Jarie, rich, or related to
richness goes off and violates the
laws of the land, the laws of
morals and decency. Because of
his position his defection from
the paths of good citizenship
ere overlooked. But Ole comes
f long, in from a fishing trip, and
'•)Lt for a good time, follows Mr.
Jarie’s footsteps and is pinched
forthwith, and being broke, gets
10 days.
Spootigan takes a girl in her
teens, contributes to her delin
quency and even has her deliver
ing moonshine; on occasion she
nas been tanked. Because he has
certain influence, he is allowed
to contribute to the delinquency
of a minor. But Jerry comes
along and gives a girl a couple of
shots of shine and her father
has him arrested and he gets 60
days. The father a notorious
t:wack hound has kept his girl
| out of school, she has gone wild
i and over the bounds of decency
v ith any number of other men,
but Jerry foots the bill and sat
isfies justice demanded in this
case.
Thieving, deliberate thieving,
by miscreants known to the pub
lic are left alone. They do not
e'v en receive the kindly help of a
■‘Big Brother.” Money from cash
rills,, tools, equipment from ma
chinery running into hundreds
of dollars, lifted and peddled and
not even a warning given. Hush
ing crimes is aiding and abetting
| crimes and in violation of the
law of the land. Jimmie pilfers
75 cents because he wanted lit
tle nicknacks dear to the heart
of any boy and he, an orphan.
Justice steps in and sends Jim
mie to reform school for a term
not under six years.
The skeptical citizen says:
‘Justice be damned.. The laws
are crooked, the courts are
crooked; the whole judiciary
system is crooked. To —” with
the whole outfit.”
And not the courts; not the
judicial system or enforcement
officers are to blame. It roots
right back to Mister Good De
cent Citizen who through pull,
power or intrigue, is able to se
cure to himself favors which are
withheld from the lessor for
tunate citizen.
To stop in life is to retrograde
for the world advances.
“POLICIES AND FORESTS”
From Anchorage Times
Replying to E. S. Hungerford, in
The Alaskan.
A contributor to the columns
of The Alaskan, a weekly publi
cation of Petersburg, thinks the;
timber conservation policy of the
government in Alaska is all j
wrong, that “in the eyes of God. i
a land is not fulfilling its des-!
tiny unless His people are living
contentedly upon it; that a set
tler and his family toiling for
their living from the land would
carry more weight before His
Tribunal than a thirty-million
dollar pulp company.” Excep
tion is taken to the withdrawal
of the timber lands of the terri
tory from entry and to the pro
posal to lease large areas with
exclusive privilege of harvesting
pulp timber. The writer says
he fails to see any conservation
in the policy outlined by the for
est service; he fails to see why
it is ncessary to hold the timber
lands of Alaska in immense tax
exempt reserves; he fails to see
“how Alaska is ever going to be
other than a wilderness, a play
thing of politicians, a stench in
the nostrils of any man or,wo
man who understands and real
izes the tradition and principles
upon which our government was
founded, unless people are allow
ed to come here and build their
own homes.” In his opinion, the
people the pulp companies bring
to Alaska to harvest the timber
will never be more than a trans
ient labor, like the present can
nery help.
This writer would permit every
citizen to file on land, timber or
otherwise, and obtain patent to
it. He would let him clear such
of the land as he might need and
the revenue from the sale of
timber taken from the land, un
der direction of the forest ser
vice, would be his, “to sustain
nim while he gets his start. He
would even permit the land
eventually to pass into the hands i
of pulp companies, providing the
cutting of the timber by them is
supervised by the government,
lie sees no great evil in the pulp
companies owning the land, for
the reason “that under the pre
sent policy the companies will
have all the privileges of owner
ship without any of the respons
ibilities, and the immense par
cels of land allotted to them will
be definitely withdrawn from
settlement, at least until the
timber is cut.”
There may be something to
the argument that throwing the
I limber lands open would attract
! settlers to the forest areas, par
j ticularly if there seemed to be
a chance of turning the locations
[ over to the pulp interests within
| a reasonable time for a substan
! tial price. But there would be
! no assurance that the “settlers”
| would remain in the country any
longer than the workers the pulp
interests would need to harvest
the timber crop, or that the
money they obtained from the
sale of timber would be as help
ful to the territory as a whole
as the revenues will be which the
government will collect from the
pulp companies under the leas
ing plan. There are ways, no
doubt, in which the policies of
the forest service can be improv
ed but it is a waste of time to
argue for the restoration of tim
ber lands to entry in the way
suggested for the reason that
the government is hard set on its
policy of federal ownership of
forest areas, with many years of
exploitation and wastage in the
States as a spur to continued
conservation.
A SLAP AT RAILROAD POLICY
-X
The article from the Anchorage
Times, published on another
column is a deliberate slap at
the policy recently instituted by
! Mr. Ohlson manager of the Alas
ka Railroad. That The Anchor
age Time,, a direct beneficiary.
WILLIAM L. PAUL, Republican
Candidate for the Legislat
ure, Republican Pri
maries, April 29
of that road and policy should
rear up on its dignity and op
pose the very idea proposed by
Mr. Ohlson for the successful
settlement of that district is in
excusable.
It is not long since Mr. Ohlson
advocated and secured support
from departmental Washington
to permit settlers to use the tim
ber holdings on the lands in the
Railroad belt; to settle on them;
to carve out homesteads and in
the doing of it they would make
their expenses by the sale of
the timber. And to assist in the
cutting of the timber and its re
moval from the lands, the rail
road is lending its equipment to
the settlers.
The railroad belt is not a bit
richer in timber lands and other
resources than the First Divi
sion. If the withdrawal of tim
ber as is beffig done under the
Ohlson plan in the railroad dis
trict—the Hungerford plan in
the First Division—then every
thing being equal, the plan ad
vocated by Mr. Hungerford is
just as tenable and practical as
that put in force in the Anchor
age district by Mr. Ohlson of the
Alaska Railroad.
-X
EDUCATING THE INDIAN
-x
Until recently, the courses of
fered Indians were all of elemen
tary grades. No complete high
school courses were taught for
them until 1921, and then only
at one school. In 1925, three
such courses were added; one
was added in 1926 and a fifth inj
1927. The increase during the
last three years in the number
of pupils—junior, and senior
grades—has been by 1,178 in the
former and by 526 in the latter.
There are now only six institu
tions maintained by the Federal
Government where Indians may
receive a high school education.!
Elementary and junior high'
school courses are also taught in1
these institutions, the senior
high school grades constituting
only one department. There is
not an Indian school in the
United States that is strictly a
high school.
Contrast these conditions with
the educational advantages of
fered the white population. Dur
ing the last decade high school
enrollment in the United States
has increased from 1,600,000 to
4 000,000. There are enrolled in
colleges, universities, and other
institutions of higher learning
nearly a million young men and
women, and untold thousands
of youths and adults attend
night and continuation schools.
The enrollment in the public
high schools in the United
I States is approximately one to ev
ery six pupils of school age,
[while among Indians it Is only
1 to every 20. The aggregate
number of Indians in institu
tions of higher learning or who
are pursuing extension courses
is negligible.—Report of the Se
cretary of the Interior, Bureau
of Indian Affairs, 1928.
(Editor’s note): The educa
Continued on page 5, column 1
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Pool and Billiard Tables
At
BRENNAN’S
Cigars and Tobaccos of all kinds
aJIllill'iii
illiPl
John R. Ko!strand
General Blacksmith
Pe'eresburg : : : Alaska
H
IMungy’s Cookies
M-m-m M-m m! and- ^ umy Yumy! Oh Boy!
THE STAR BAKERY f
The New yorl(
Pool Billiard And Card Room
Choice Cigars, Tobaccos And Candies
New Tables And Equipment
Dick Kuwata, Prop.
i
“Florsheim” Shoes
donimtans
1 ^mOm^mX*^
Julia’s Pies
At
Club launch
24-Hour Service
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I ALASKA CAFE
Sfin Kcmotsubera, Prcprietor
Best Meals Served at all times.
$eivice: 6 a. m. to 12 p. m.
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|F| Rhubarb, Spinach
ns
Green Peppers
Ripe Tomatoes
bi
Green Peas
| |H| New Spuds, - Yams
CIk Sanitary market