You Should Worry.
When you have a binful of Nanaimocoal,
why should you worry when the cold weath
er hits the Narrows?
Call ’Phone 15 and place your or
der tor coal to bring that cheer.
Chris Tveten, Dealer
Job Printing Department
Prompt attention given
Large or Small Orders
Now is the time to
get your supply
of first class
JOB PRINTING
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DAHL and SKEI, Owners
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»♦♦♦♦» •»»»»»» 00
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Alaskan Glacier Sea Food Co*
“BIGGEST PACKERS OF SHRIMP MEAT IN THE WORLD"
Petersburg, Alaska
Packers of Shrimp Meat and Crab Meat
Buyers of
Halibut, Salmon, and Trout |
I
Petersburg Cabinet Works
H. F. ERWIN, Proprietor
TREGONNING OUTBOARD MOTOR BOATS and SKIFFS
Race boats and 18-foot outboard cruisers.
For Sale by
“The Hovse That Quality Built”
Our money back Guarantee if cur woik isfnot up to standard.
FRYER MACHINE WORKS
Petersburg, Alaska
Dealers In
V
i
?
i
* WILLIAMS, ipi
niLOMATir)
HEATING 4Vy
PBYEB BROS. |
WICKERSHAM ON TRAP SITES
From The Alaska Fisherman
-x
The Alexander Bill Still
Threatens
It is generally assumed, and
possibly the courts will hold,
that no legislation has yet been
enacted by Congress to control
the location and licensing of
fish trap sites in Alaska—that
this most important of all Alas
kan fishing gear is yet an “out
law” to be constructed catch-as
can by the first canneryman
who can “grab’ the site in the
spring. Conceding that is the sit
uation, how long will it be be
fore another effort will be made
to put over another Alexander
Bill? Who will be the Delegate
to Congress from Alaska at that
time, and will the Act be bet
ter or worse than the one now
submitted to your considera
tion? Certainly every import
ant element of salmon canning
in Alaska is now admittedly
controlled by the Bureau of
Fisheries, under the Acts of
1924 and 1926 excepting only
traps and trap sites. Some
bill will pass Congress soon for
their control. Why not pass a
bill which will fully protect the
public interest when it can be
done without danger to those
interests
Trap sites are now owned and
controlled under the law of pri
or possession and occupancy by
trap fishermen, who acknowl
edge no right to the Bureau of
Fisheries to control or license
them, except the right to pre
vent them from catching fish.
If the bill presented to you
should be enacted into law, the
situation will be far better than
it is now, for then, while the
same trap fishermen may be in
possession of the same trap
sites, that possession will be
limited and controlled by the
provisions of this bill, and the
trap site will no longer be an
outlaw. The possession will be
limited by a short term lease
with such limitations as will en
able the Bureau of Fisheries to
control its use. The owner al
so will pay a reasonable fee for
the fish the trap takes, and
there will also be peace in re
spect to possession. There can
be no loss to the United States
or to the Territory, but a de
cided gain both in control and
in license fees.
Trap men have owned and
controlled these trap sites for.
fifty years, without themselves
being limited or controlled in
their possessory rights. The bill
under discussion will change all
that, in the interest of the pub
lic, and permit public owner
ship and control of 'these im
portant adjuncts to the public
fisheries.
Trap Sites Under the Acts of
1924 and 1926
After a careful examination
of the language giving power to
the Secretary of Commerce to
control the fisheries of Alaska,
contained in Section One of the
Acts of June 6, 1924, and June
18, 1926, it is my judgment that
if the Secretary should, by rules
I and regulations, provide for
giving trap fishermen an exclus
ive license to construct and
maintain fish traps on then long
used sites, the courts might sus
tain his power and authority to
do so.
Such a trap and trap site
would not constitute the grant
of an “exclusive or several right
of fishery,” for the law recog
nizes them as legal fishing gear,
and if it should be so held, all
traps would now be barred from
fishing, for they constitute an
exclusive right in the area oc
cupied by them. No court has
yet held the Secretary may thus
control trap sites, and no at
tempt has yet been made by the
Secretary to exercise that power,
but conditions may reach the
point where he will do so. In
my judgment the bill under
consideration is much mQre fa
vorable to the public interest
land to the private interests of
Alaskans than the exercise of
such unlimited power by the Se
cretary of Commerce.
President’s Power to Create
Fish Reservations
In the case of Alaska Pacific
Fisheries, et al, v. United States,
240 Fed. 274, the United States
Circuit Court of Appeals, Ninth
Circuit, laid down the rule that
“The United States, as to
the Territory of Alaska, exercis
es all soverignty, national and
municipal, and hence, in view of
the powers of the King over
lands flowed by the tide, United
States has complete control over
Alaska waters flowed by the tide
which are within its maritime
jurisdiction. CONSEQUENTLY
THE PRESIDENT, IN VIEW OF
HIS POWERS TO RESERVE
PUBLIC LANDS, MAY, TO CAR
RY OUT THE PURPOSE OF AN
ACT OF CONGRESS RESERVE
SUCH WATERS.” In other words
if it seems necessary to carry
out the purposes of the Acts of
Congress June 6, 1925 and June
18, 1926, the President may re
serve all the trap sites in Alaska,
and place them under the man
agement and control of the Se
cretary of Commerce. And if
the President should reserve
such sites and the traps and fish
caught thereon would not be
subject to taxation or any levy
of license tax or other control
by the Territory of Alaska.
Territory v. Annette Island
Packing Company, 6 Alaska, 585.
Territory v. Annette Packing
Co., 289 Fed. 671.
Certiorari denied: 263, U. S.
708, 68, L. Ed. 517.
In short, it will be dangerous
to the public interests and to
Alaska fishermen, if the trap
sites shall be reserved by the
Rules and Regulations of the
Secretary of Commerce under
Acts of 1924 and 1926 or by an
executive order by the President
of the United States. If reserv
ed in either way they may be
come, thereby, instrumentalities
of the United States, and not
subject to taxation in any form
by the Territory. The only safe
and certain way for the Terri
tory or its people to have any
interest in them, subject to tax
ation, is by the enactment of the
bill under consideration in some
form.
In conclusion, I earnestly re
quest you to carefully examine
the proposed bill, and submit it
to every fair test; determine
whether it will not leave the
trap question in better shape
for the public interest, as well
as the private interest; submit
this letter, if you like, to some
attorney, in or out of any De
partment, and discover if the
conclusions which occur to me
are the fair ones to draw from
the present laws and the propos
ed Act; and, finally, if you
reach the conclusion which I
have, that it is in the interest of
the public good, and the pro
tection and conservation of the
Alaska Fisheries, then intro
duce the bill, or permit someone
else to do so, and let it become
a law. If that shall occurr the
whole scope of the Alaska fish
eries will then be where they
ought to be, under the control
and management of one execu
tive head.
Very Truly yours,
(signed) JAMES WICKERSHAM
A NOTE TO TEACHER
-X
“Dear Teacher :—Kindly ex
cuse Johnnie’s absence yester
day. He fell in the mud. By do
ing the same you will greatly
oblige his mother.”
DOMESTIC CALENDAR
-x
Wat—“When was your new
| baby born?”
Knott—“Between the second
payment on the radio and the
eighth on the auto.
j-.j* .,
Ft
Sam Nakamota, Proprietor
Best Meals Served at all times.
Service: 6 a. m. to 12 p. m.
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Y GO TO
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FOR CHOICE MEAT
“Delicious” Hams and Bacon
, i And WILD ROSE LA HD
Petersburg, - - Alaska
A few of the 1300 items to choose your
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4 oz. tin 27c
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FI ATRRFA1 TZ °Jigi™
i Ln U LnU lb. pkg. 30c
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AH kinds
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