Pub .shed every Friday by the A N B. Publishing Co., Petersburg
Enter'd in the Post Cilice in Petersburg as Second Class Matter
St. O0CRIPTION RATES
The AlaskPu, six mouths.. 12.50
The Alaskan, oer year. $4.00
A. N. B PUBMSHLNG COMPANY
Louis F. Paul. Editor and Manager.
SOUND ECONOMICS
It is a demonstrated fact that
payment of high wages is sound
economics. Henry Ford marks
the greatest progress in his busi- i
ness of manufacturing automo-j
biles from the time he raised the
standard of wages in his plants.
Not only his own business pros
pered thereby, but every other
business in contact with his pay
roll, direct and indirect, bene
fitted. Throughout the entire j
labor movement the benefits be- j
gan to be seen as this policy was
carried out.
FISH AND COAL INDUSTRIES
The fish industry of Alaska!
is not unlike the coal industry of]
the States. The Coal Barons'
selfishly and greedily look only,
for profit at any cost and the la-1
bor employed are mere serfs for;
the overlords. j
The fisherman of Alaska is on-^
ly a poor slave given just enough
earnings to starve along, being |
made to abide by the wishes and
whims of the fishery lords. And
each year the fishermen, espe
cially the white fishermen, are
becoming more servile and sub
servient to the commands of the
Fish Barons and their Federal
hirelings in the Bureau of Fish
eries. The Indian fisherman
still owns his own soul; he alone
of the laboring class is protest
ing the elimination of all fisher
man from that field.
ALASKANS FOOT THE BILL
-x
As we sat cogitating on Who
foots the bill of economic losses
in Alaska, because of the misrule
and abuse of power in the ad
ministration of our fisheries, we
at first said “Alaskans.”
But, shortly after publication
of “Facing Bankruptcy” in The
ALASKA FISHERMAN, we were
told that business concerns in
Ketchikan (The City That Cans
The Most Salmon In The World)
were forced to suspend business
and close their doors. That this
move was not voluntary but was
forced by the Seattle wholesale
houses.
So not ONLY Alaska must
stand the financial losses, but
Seattle concerns also will learn
that they also must^stand some
of the troubles and tribulations
of bad debts, poor collections
and lack of earning and spend
ing power.
WITHOUT THE LAW
The bureau which concerns
itself with the care of Alaska
fisheries is a wonderful institu
tion—including its bullheaded
representative of the Canning
Trust.
While the governmental agen
cies under Col. Ohlson, manager
of the Alaska Railroad,, is trying
to induce settlers to come to
Alaska, the Bureau of Fisheries
under Henry O’Malley is trying
to drive out settlers.
Labor, when it finds that it
cannot earn sufficient to clothe
itself, feed itself and get a little
joy out of life, moves to other
climes. Which is what is hap
pening in Alaska
Regulations the Cause
O’Malley’s regulations are the
cause. No “shore-hooks” may
be made by the seiner. No fish
ing in virtually every bay where
a seiner may operate. Length
and size of gear cut down. Time
for fishing limited.
Traps may continue to run
their leads back into the woods
and hills so that not even a bull
head or flounder can get past it;
they may fish 24 hours every
day, and in many cases, includ
ing Sunday. Certain bays closed
to all commercial fishing, but
traps permitted to operate im
mediately outside of those clos
ed areas. Areas previously clos
ed to commercial fishing are op
ened up to allow traps to operate
in those areas.
Ninety per cent of all seine fish
caught by residents are caught
illegally and with the consent
of the canner.
STRICT ENFORCEMENT OF
THE LAW”
Henry O’Malley and his sub
lords, have intimidated resi
dent fishermen by declaring that
they will make “a strict inter
pretation” and enforcement of
the law. To befool the public
they declare that they will make
such interpretation regardless of
whom it may hit.
A regulation promulgated this
year was one which forebade a
crooked lead for traps. Early in
the season fishermen reported
the P. A. F. trap at Point Col
poys as having an “S” lead. No
action taken by the bureau. But
a couple of days before the sea
son closed, Mr. O’Malley stated
“that the season is now so late
that we won’t do anything about
it this year, but you will have to
make a change next year.”
Had that been a seine operat
or the bear would have been
confiscated forthwith.
HERRING FISHING
-x
Herring fishermen do not fish
only for herring—there is a lot
of money to be made catching
cohoes and king salmon. And
the salmon that they cannot sell
all goes into fertilizer.
-x-:—
A BRAVE WOMAN
-o
She was not a big woman, but
she was a real Alaskan—with a
bit of iron that her men folk are
wofully short of. Trolling off
shore a little ways, she was pull
ing in the salmon right and left
for they were feeding. A big
herring fisherman lay near by
by watching her. Other schools
of herring could be gotten, but
it was salmon they wanted—ev
en if they had to take it from a
woman. They made their set
around her so when the purse
was being completed, she pulled
up her line, went to the corkline
of the fisherman and with one
slash of her butcherknife she
cut the line. She went along the
corkline and did the same thing
in other places. When the lines
are stretched tight, a break in
the cork line means a rip from
salvage thread to salvage thread.
The brave imported herring
fishermen who would make a bit
of money by depriving a woman
of her opportunity to make a bit
herself, had to pull up their
busted net and go in for repairs.
Alaska needs more “women.”
O’MALLEY CAN DO NOTHING
-x
When residents protest the
destruction of the herring fish
eries by herring seiners and the
illegal fishing of commercial
food salmon by these non-resi
dent fishermen, he hides behind
the statement that there is no
law governing which will permit
him to regulate that fishery.
The fact remains that herring
fishermen made as much if not
more money from salmon caught
in their nets than from herring.
What salmon they did not or
could not sell, went into tile
reduction plants for fertilizer.
When O’Malley says “I can’t”
he means ‘‘he doesn’t want to.’
“THE SEINERS”
; “The value of a prosperous
seining fleet to a community was
demonstrated to local merchant
Thursday when seiners for Pet
ersburg Packing Co., and can
neries in the outlying districts
were paid off. Some local stores
did as much business in three
hours after the seiners had re
ceived their checks, as they or
dinarily do in a week.”
What They Got
..If the local .businessmen .did
as much business in three hours
a they .ordinarily do in a week,
what would they have done had
the fishermen really made wag
es this summer?
One man told us he cleared
ninety cents from fishing since
the 5th of July; a man with a
family of four besides himself
cleared $40. since the 5th of
July. High boat at Kake earned
about $300 gross since the first
of July. Deducting summer ex
pense of $100 for clothing and
food, does not leave much for
the winter. Taking a general
average of the earnings of the
men will not exceed $150.
The earnings of the Peters
burg Packing Company’s fisher
men went up as high as $600 and
is exceptional throughout the
entire Division.
From the quoted section from
the pen of a pro-trap man, the
businessman and the writer of
that article must admit that the
ALASKAN and The ALASKA
FISHERMAN are right in their
position on the trap question;
that the abolishment of the trap
will be a benefit to the Terri
tory because of the employment
of more seiners, who by earning
more, spend more in the Terri
tory than the entire trap system.
JUST BOLONEY
“IF Henry O’Malley, commis
iSioner of fisheries carries plans
| he is believed to be contemplat
ing in regard to traps, this and
other canneries in the vicinity
| are going to depend more and
;more on seine fish to get their
| (packs up).”
Henry O’Malley declared re
cently in Juneau that he was
satisfied with the fisheries situ
ation and contemplated no se
'rious changes next year. Which
'means that any alleged contem
plated or believed to be contem
| plated plans by Lord “Crisco”, is
j nothing but the vapid imagina
tions of one of those “scientific”
! fishermen who think the bunt of
■a net is a banner.
|
I '
; POOREST PAID LABORER
_
j “Seineirs for the local can
nery earned $500 for six week’s
■work, these figures are approxi
mate.”
| We can beat that statement
Iment by saying that the fisher
imen of Petersburg earned ap
proximately $500 for 140 hours
of labor. “Approximately.”
| The fisherman must go to the
cannery to get his boats and
gear ready the last part of June
When he fishes he must figure
in running time so that from the
time the fisherman begins his
summer’s operations he must
figure on a sixteen-hour day
That man who earned $40 this
summer was paid off at the rate
of $1.10 a 16-hour day for the
|summer; and the fellow who re
ceived the munificent sum of 9C
| cents was paid off at the rate ol
two and a half cents a day and
board. WAGES!’ Approximate!
The poorest paid laborer in the
Territory today is the fisher
men. Were it not for the wo
men working in the canneries
much of the money now being
spent in Petersburg by “fisher
m.en”’ would never come here. II
hr a ;known .fact that in most ol
the canneries the women folk!
working at 35, 4u ana eu cents
tlie hour, earn more than do the
fishermen. • i
AMONG OUR NfiiGlIBO’ilS
Fui it up to the People
From the Seattle Daily Times
•x
Congress after an unwarranted
delay nn'ally found the pressure
of public opinion so strong that
,;i had to provide for reappor
tionihent of the. country into
congressional districts, so that,
the people might be represented
with some degree of fairness in
the principal iaw making body
of the country.
For twenty-five, years nothing
has been done by the legisla
ture of the State of Washington
toward reapportioning the legis
lative districts, and if. we know
anything about the general dis
position of the minority crowd
which is in control nothing will
be done for another twenty-five
years by the constitution as it
was first drawn.
At this time, due to the shift
of population since the last re
apprtionment, more than one
half of this state is without fair
representation in the Legislature
and the the rest has twice the
representation it ought to have.
There being no hope that the
Legislature will ever act, The
Republic suggests that the peo
ple of those counties which are
being robbed of their rights of
representation should get to
gether and agree on some kind
of initiative measure ana sub
mit it to the popular vote in the
due course of public undertak
ings.
This is a matter that should
be taken up without delay. Some
little time should be taken to
thresh out any points of differ
ence that may arise. The main
question is whether the great
majority of people of this state
shall take away from a small
minority a privilege which they
have no right to enjoy but which
they will not give up because
the constitution which com
manmanded them, does not pro
vide a penalty of any kind fer
failure to obey.
This newspaper, speaking for
a county which does not have
one-half the representation in
the state Legislature to which it
is fairly entitled by reason of
its population, favors a general
meeting at an early date of re
presentatives of that part of the
state’s population which is get
ting the worst of the set-up we
now have.—From The Yakima
Republic.
-Y
CHANGE NEEDED IN ALASKA
-X
The situation in which Yaki
ma County. Washington finds
itself as to fair representation
is not unlike the proportional
representation of the four Divi
sions of the Territory. A case
in point is the “Lomen” Division
of Cape Nome, having less than
700 qualified voters yet having
the same legislative representa
tion as the First Division which
has more than five times the
vote and considerable mere pop
ulation. Yet in legislative mat
ters the Nome Division can pre
vent beneficial legislation for
the First Division. Nome has
its reindeer and knov/s no more
about fish and fish legislation
than a dogfish knows about
'heaven. Still by virtue of their
^position the representatives o
the Nome Division have bee*
instrumental in defea mg th»
wishes ■'* the larger Division,
j A reapportionment of the Ter
ritory i, necessary' m o^er th,J
ic'ch Division may have its fail
l.i^portionment of legislators.
!l -x
i .Rebellion to tyrants is obedi
! ence to God.—Dr. Franklin,
ij ’Tis a wise saying, Drive on
: | your own track.—Plutarch.
What is not good for the
; swarm is not good for the bee.—
: Marcus Aurelius.
SB
Petersburg
Leave Seattle
Northwestern
Petersburg, Alaska
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Pool Billiard And Card Room
l Choice Cigars, Tobaccos And Candies
| New Tables And Equipment
| Dick Kuwata, Prop. • '
Satisiacll■>a Always
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A complete line of men’s
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Goods "or women
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For Durability Insist On “TONCAN
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and all the blacksmith work on any boat up to 100 feet m
length at ' * '
Petersburg Marine Ways
J. C. Holtosi & Ed. Walwick
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