i The Open Forum
4
V CAUSES OF CHANGES IN
^ GOVERNMENTS
v'i -o
^ Petersburg, Alaska
March 17, 1930
^The Alaskan,
Petersburg, Alaska ..
gentlemen:
'■ It Is now over eleven years
since the World War created
such a change in the map of
•‘Europe and it is only very re
cently that our magazines have
not carried an account of the
fall of the Ministry and a
ihange of government of one or
fhe other of the small new States
of Eastern Europe, in every is
'fue. .. ..
. 4 .It happened so often that the
Average American reader, when
. found that he started an ar
ticle dealing with a change of
government in any of the newly
created States of Europe, hasti
ly turned the page with a wish
that the blame fools would only
, tfet together and quit rocking the
boat without taking the trouble
to find out what the row was all
, about. x
Practically all of the rows
were over land. The people of
thdse countries insisted that all
of the large estates and all of
. -he Government held land
should be allotted to the indi
vidual in small holdings when
. this was done, the main source
of trouble was over. All that the
people who were making the
trouble wanted, was a piece of
land to build homes on and own
A very laudable ambition.
Now comes an American farm
expert with an article in The
Country Gentleman who tells us
, that the commercial map o'
Europe is being rapidly changed
on account of this policy.
, Whereas formerly large estates
were used almost exclusively for
the production of flax and grainj
that the new owners were turn-;
iAg to dairying, poultry and j
stock raising with an immense 1
increase in value of production
. and universal betterment of liv
ing conditions.
The point is this, those people i
• had been living under conditions
such as are being foisted upon
Alaska today and when the time
came for them to create a new
government, they would not quit
until the land was returned to
them.
We are not living in the land i
of a Czar, but no proclamation j
prohibiting the mining of gold
or precious metals in Siberia,
without Imperial permit, was
ever more unjust or unfair than
our own government’s ban on
i iic ui cue« ciiiu uu in
Alaska.
No concession to rich mineral
lands in the Ural Mountains or
grants of immense holdings in
Poland were more disrespectful
to the common rights of man
than are the promulgated tim
*ber leases to the pulp mills of
Alaska.
E. S. Hungerford.
* ^
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE
STORY
■From the Progressive, former
ly LaFollette’s Magazine.
*The Empire Had a Quasi-de
. fense of the Lomen Interests
Charged With Bilking
i The Eskimos.
* Tjie following is the Eskimo’s
Side of the Story
* Igloo, Alaska, Jan. 21.
Mi*. D. A. Sutherland,
Washington, D. C.
Dear Sir; ....
.In regards of reindeer, we are
the natives (Eskimos) who are
Jihe owners of the reindeer who
ai*e writing to you and explain
how we Natives are.
cThe Gdv’t put the Reindeer
In Alaska5 so-that the Natives
can becom£H'citizeris and self
supporting.
. .Sheidort. Jackson was sent up
to AlaskaSto find out the condi
tion and Educate them.
, rtfTh© Gotfemment did not give
Reindeer to the Natives hdt one
live deer. * •
. .The Natives had to work for
them or pay cash for them at
the rate of $20 to $25 a female
with a fawn.
When the Reindeer first got
here in Alaska the Natives work
ed hard for them to get their
Reindeer.
. .Those who herded to get their
Reindeer first worked for five
years for their grub and clothes
and five years more for grub
and clothes and with twenty-five
female deer which the Gov’t
ioaned them to be returned.
Later on was to pay two fe
male deer a year each for five
years, and then later on a Mr.
Lopp who was a Chief Supt. of
the Reindeer in Alaska saw that
fhe Natives would never become
self supporting on so small a pay,
so he raised it to six deer for the
first year, eight for the second
year, ten for the third year and
ten for the fourth year, with all
the supplies furnished the first
year, two thirds the second year,
one third the third year and
none the fourth year.
From since then they in
crease fast, and maybe the
white people think the Natives
got their deer free for nothing,
but we worked hard to earn
them, day and night, in winter,
in stormy weather we had to
take care of them even if we lost
on our way.
And finally the Natives got
their ow nreindeer, and the meat
they use for food, and the skins
for their clothing, and they sup
nort their families by using them
and nowadays the games are
scarce, and the Reindeer are
taking the place of games.
The Natives do not raise wheat
ootatces, or any kind of products
that the white people raised in
the States, but the Natives had
to hunt to live by the animals
and fish.
..If the animals and fish are
scarce the Reindeer are the on
7y thing the Natives will have,
.'’or that reason. wTe Natives are
interested in the Reindeer In
dustry, and that’s why we want
to handle our own reindeer ar/I
we don’t want no white man to
handle it.
When Mr. W C. Shields was Su
perintendent of the Reindee'
Industry the Reindeer works
was going on a good business
and every things seems to be on
good business.
He was very interested in
Reindeer Industry. He tried to
get every Native to get his own
Reindeer, and every Reindeer
owner likes him.
Ever since he died during the j
Flu, the Reindeer Industry Starts I
I to raise trouble, after that we
j can't get no other Superintend
| ent so good as he is. -
Under Supt. Shields the Gov t
! teachers has been a good teach
j ers.
Best teacher of all we had at
Igloo was Mr. Harry D. Reese |
under Supt. Shields. He was in
good care of the Reindeer re
ports all through his term, and
after those two men left, the
Reindeer Industry had start ro
change into trouble.
Now it seems to us that these
present Govt, men are helping
the Lomen Reindeer Company.
Lomen Company are trying to
take the reindeer and grazing
grounds from the Natives with •
out permission, for this we don t
want the Lomen Company and
white people to give and handle
our Reindeer and grazirg
grounds.
Lomen Company even drive a
herd from Natives grazing
grounds to their own grazing
grounds even from the herd they
don’t belong to them.
That is the kind of treatment
we Natives got from the Lomen
Co. ever since they got the Rein
deer of their own.
They are trying to make some
money out of Reindeer and mak
ing trouble for us we are telling
you all truth about this. I
Why did the Gov’t let Lapps'
and Missions sell female deer to
Lomen Company, or other white
men, and not let Natives sell fe
male deer to white man?
We could sell female and get
?ood money for them one time,
and now our females as well as
males are being killed by Gov’t
men and we don’t get one cent
from them, and must ask the
Chief herder or School teacher
how much money we have make
from the deer, but we can never
find out.
.. Why did Gov’t let white men
own female deer? When Palm -
er and his boss told Gov’t it
don’t hurt Natives but help
them if white men own deer,
why don’t Gov’t ask natives
something about those things?
We will tell Gov’t no good for
Natives, and now we find-out we
was right.
.. Since Palmer want to mark
fawns by percentage and Lomen
people make laws at Juneau,
Alaska, that deer belongs to
the owner of his mark and then
Lomen Co’, go all over the Na
tive’s grounds drive all deer and
mark all unmark deer to Lomen
Co., Lomen can get money to
pay boys all roundup and mark
their fawn, but Natives can’t, so
lots of unmark Natives deer. Lo
men mark all. Natives herds
near Lomen herd loses lots of
deer this way.
If white man want Reindeer
in Alaska, why don’t they come
up here and work on deer like
Eskimos when they was only a
few deer here?
Only they want deer now after
we make them increase so much,
now they want Gov’t to take our
deer away from us and because
it is no good for the Natives for
white men to own deer we Na
tives like to have some good
Gov’t man tell Gov’t take deer
from white man and let only
Natives have female deer.
White man taken now our fish,
iurs, whale, games and gold and
now they want our Reindeer,
and maybe some day they want
our life. Please try help us what
you can.
Thos. Octuk, Wm. Oquilluk,
Fred Mosquito, Fred Top
kok, Keelick, Peter Octuck,
Kopak, Jim Eyuk, Johnnie
Kuggruk, Dick Kuggruk,
Committee.
-x
FROM EDITORAL PAGE
Of The Progressive, Washing
ton, D. C., is taken the follow
ing with reference to the com
plaint of the Eskimos printed
on another column:
“Is the story of the extermin
ation of the American Indian to
be repeated in Alaska? Are the
natives in the vicinity of the
jircuc circle, iar irom public
scrutiny, to be exploited and
driven to starvation by selfish
interests? Mr. O’Connor, writ
ing to The Progressive about the
letter on this page, says:
“Their story of complaint is
absolutely true, but only explains
a small fraction of the abuse of
these people. Like the Indian
in the States, their case is piti
able. In the September issue of
3 a Follefcte’s Magazine was an
article on the American Indian,
and it looks as if those handling
the Eskimos were taking a leaf
irom the book of the American
Indian agents. Congress should
have the full facts on this mat
ter.”
.. The Progressive hopes that
Dan Sutherland, the Alaskan de
legate in Congress, will be suc
cessful in putting . the unhappy
plight of these natives before
Congress.—The Progressive.
SENATOR STEELS CANNERY
SANITATION BILL
-x
For several sessions past a de
termined fight has been waged
in the Territorial Legislature for
enactment of a Cannery Sani
tation bill. But thus far with
out avail, even tho most of the
Salmon cannery men believe
that such a measure is neces
sary and would resist the indus
try. There always seems to be
enough reactionary members in
one or the other House to de
'eat this much needed measure.
In the last session Senator
Will A. Steel introduced a bill in
the Senate that provided: “An
Act to regulate the operation of
canneries and other establish
ments for preparation of food
from fish and aquatic animals,
so as to insure the cleanliness
and purity of the products to be
packed, as well as to protect me
health of the popnnti n engag
ed in or living oca such indi > ■
tries.”
This was regarded as a valu
aole and reasonable measure
that might be gotten thru both
Houses. Hearings were held in
the Senate and with a few inci
dental amendments the bill
passed on March 15, 1929. It
then went to the House and was
:mmediately referred to the
Fisheries Committee. All ef
forts to secure a hearing or have
the bill reported were futile.
The Legislature adjourned on
May 4 and on April 29, without
even, a hearing on the bill, the
Committee made an adverse re
port. Chairman Frank H. Fos
ter, Alfred J. Lomen, Walter G.
Fisher and E. R. Tarwater sign
ed the report that states: “with
the recommendation that the
bill serves no useful purpose and
should not pass.” Another mem
ber of the committee, A. H.
Ziegler signed the report thus
ly: “I do not concur for the
reason that the bill is too loose
ly drawn and means nothing.”
The only member of the com
mitte that favored the bill was
P. C. McCormack, who did “Not
Concur” in the reports referred
to.
Send 3c to Frye
&Co., Seattle,
for their famous
“Meat Guide"
C ont'an > 187
recipes.
A
A
- -{&r
Here s the “cheer-leader” for every
breakfast—five crispy, flavory strips
of FRYE’S L ELICIOUS BRAND BA
CON. Not too lean, not too fat
sweet and tangy. FRYE’S DELICIOUS
BRAND BACON is preferred by
thousands here in the Northwest be
cause it comes to them from the close
at-hand Frye plant, fresher by days.
SBBRraDfffltmmmninni
But these members who op
posed the bill never submitted
an amendment or sought in any
way to strengthen the bill that
Mr. Ziegler said “Means noth
ing. But of course the bill meant
too much to these opponents
and instead of making it strong
tr, they were content to simply
kill it, and they succeeded. The
following day, April 30, the bill
was put on its final passage in
the House and defeated by a
■vote of 5 to 10. Those favoring
it were Donnelly, McCormack,
McDonald, Nylen and Winn.
Those opposed were Burgh, Fish
er, Foster, Lomen, Murray, Shat
tuck, Tarwater, Woof ter, Zieg
ler, and Speaker Rothenberg.
<♦
Thus again were the efforts of
the progressive Republicans of
the First Division frustrated;
Senators Benjamin and Steel/
md Representatives McCormack
and Winn, worked without avail
in the hope of securing this very
much needed piece of legisla
tion. But when any of these
men run for renomination there
seems to be a few noisy Demy
Republicans who think that leg
islators who try to do anything
j.or their constituents ought to
be thrown into the discard. For
tunately the great majority of
the Republican voters in the
First Diyision think otherwise
and believe in the reward of
merit.
i Alaskan Glacier Sea Food Co. f
Ohmer Will Buy Halibut For The
Fresh Fish Market. See Earl
Before You Sell Your Fare.
I Halibut, Salmon,and Trout
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23
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