H
HEXEN-kais Ä
tV N. 15. Publishing company,
. Published every Friday by the Alaska Native Brotherhood
Publishing Company, at Petersburg, Alaska.. Entered in the Post
lillice in Petersburg as Second Class Matter. I
Subscribtion Rates:
The Alaskan, six months, $2.50
i lie Alaskan, per year, $4.00 Eouis F. Paul, Editor-Manager.
Let Us Be Consistent
We have been criticised by
persons wliu iiave jumped to
erroneous conclusions because
in a recent issue, in reporting
the arrest and trial of one man
on two charges, this paper stat
ed that the cases “smacked of
persecution.” We hold no brief
for this man except to wish him
and every other accused man a
fair trial and even handed jus
tice according to the statutes,
administered by an open mind
ed court. The prerogatives of
courts and the duties of pro
secutors have been clearly and
sufficiently defined, and they do
not overlap.
This publication has always
stood ready to do battle in the
interest of honesty, sobriety
and decency and it will do so
again as occasion and oppor
tunity arise. It has not sought
and will not seek to condone or
excuse offenses against public
morals, and this defendant in
question has been indiscreet to
say the least. There are certain
lights, however, which the fun
damental laws of our land guar
antee to every man. In the more
than 150 years of our national
existence the United States of
America has evolved a system of
jurisprudence which, although
at times has doubtless proved
■mperfect and inadequate, yet
the tenets upon which it is
founded are perfectly sound
And in practice they are as
nearly just as the personal ele
ment, in our courts will permit
At the head of the list stand as
tried and proven principles: (1)
That every man shall be deemed
innocent before the law until he
is proven guilty. (2) It were bet
ter that many guilty persons
remain unpunished than that
one innocent man suffer penal
ty. (3) That the court must
judge of the guilt or innocence
of an accused man according to
the testimony formally adduced
and not according to any pre
conceived personal notions of
his own in the matter. These are
principles too well established to
require substantiation or justi
fication here. Every statute
touching on procedure is de
signed to afford the fullest mea
sure of protection for the ac
cused. Nor should it be other
wise, although the system may
operate occasionally to permit a
guilty man to go unpunished.
And we must insist that these
are guaranties so precious that
we cannot afford to misinter
pret or misconstrue them or set
them aside in order that a con
viction may be had in any par
ticular case. We believe there is
but one place in the American
judiciary where an accused man
is prejudged—where an accusa
tion is tantamount to a convic
tion. That is in proceedings a
' gainst persons accused of viola
tions of fisheries regulations. We
know of no other place where
such an anomaly occurs and we
contend that this condition is
contrary to American ideals.
And we submit that to advocate
condemnation in any case mere
ly as the result of an accusation,
with out freely granting to the
accused the advantage of every
technical defense is to place
oneself into Czar O'Malley’s
class and a failure to uphold the
American ideal. We can hardly
believe that those who have
criticised us really meant to
take such an untenable position.
Let us be consistent.
No one in Petersburg will deny
that there has been drunken
driving, bootlegging and joy
riding of a questionable sort.
These things are well known.
They are known to theofficers, to
the ministers and to the parents
and no one person is responsible
tor the half of it. When will
these offenders be brought to
trial? Does it make a difference
WHO the transgressor may be?
Must we overlook the deeds of
certain individuals? And if so
why? Any citizen may act as
attorney or prosecutor in a jus
tice court, where then are the
parents and law abiding citizens
of Petersburg that our Commis
sioner must act as both judge
and prosecutor? If we are to
have an era of righteousness,
let it come. Amen, say we. And
let’s make it general.
A Challenge to Grigsby Who Charges
Betrayal of Trust
(Continued from page one)
in thirty days after the last
day of the year in which such
notice was served; (d) that an
annual license fee shall be paid
by the licensee for the use and
occupation of every such trap
site, in addition to his or its
other licenses and taxes, of fifty
dollars for every fifty thousand
salmon caught in said trap;
(e) trap sites shall be consider
ed to be abandoned by the li
censee and shall be open to be
licensed to another person, as
sociation, firm or corporation
upon failure of the licensee or
his assignee to operate or to use
the trap site described in the
license for the season or some
part thereof during the year; or
by failure to pay the annual li-!
cense fee in full during the year1
for which the license was issued
(f) that in issuing trap site li
censes under this Act the Sec
retary of Commerce shall give
any person, association, firm or
corporation who was in the ac
tual and bona fida use and oc-j
cupation of any trap site, opera-1:
ting a trap thereon during the,
season of 1927, the preference^
right to have and receive a li- j
cense thereon and the use and j(
occupation of said trap site un- j -
der this Act; (g) that any li- ]
cense issued and any trap site i
leased to any licensee under i
the provisions of this Act and <
other laws of the United States 1
may be bought,^lold, assigned,
i
mortgaged or otherwise trans
ferred by the holder thereof,
subject always to the provisions
of this Act and other laws of the
United States and the rules and
regulations issued by the Sec
retary of Commerce thereunder,
(h) in event any fish trap cover
ed by a license is prohibited
from Ashing, by regulation of
the Secretary of Commerce and
such area is again open to Ash
ing, the last licensee shall have
the Arst right to reoccupy the
said site subject to the provi
sions of this Act if the said li-(
censee shall apply therefor
within ninety days after the
same shall have been thrown
open; (i) nothing in this Acti
shall be construed to limit, cur- j
tail or restrict the right, power j
ind authority of the Secretary i
of Commerce to change or modi- (
fy any regulation or restriction
low authorized to be imposed
upon the fishing industry byj
law, or to promulgate any rule or
regulation in aid of the protec- j
tion and conservation thereof:
(j) that the Secretary of Com-!
nerce is hereby authorized and'
required to make and enforce!
'ules and regulations to prevent ^
;raps, piles and other structures
irected in the coastal waters of
\laska from becoming or re
naming a menace to navigation,
it the expense of the person, as
sociation, firm or corporation
meeting the same; and (k)
lothing in this Act or in any li
cense issued under its provisions
shall be held to prevent Con
gress from amending , modify
ing or repealing this Act and re
voking all licenses and rights
held or claimed thereunder.”
-x
WICKERSIIAM ON TRAP SITE
-X
“Independent trapmen are dis
appearing just as William L.
Paul predicted in the legislature
for 1927, and the control of all
traps is passing to about five
companies. This result is in
evitable.
“As a result of this tendency
(so long as the trap remains a
legal institution) it would seem
best for the public interest that
fish traps be licensed from year
i o year and that owners be com
pelled to pay the government
for the privilege—A PRIVILEGE
GIVEN'THEM TODAY. SUCH A
i LICENSE SHOULD, ' HOWEVER,
RESERVE IN UNMISTAKABLE
|TERMS THE FULL RIGHT Of'
THE GOVERNMENT TO REGU
LATE, RESTRICT, OR TO PRO
| HIRIT” the use of traps for fish
jing salmon, and also the right
of the Territory to tax the fish
| or fish caught therein should
! remain in full force in effect.
It should also be provided that
i whenever the control of the fish
;dies shall be turned over to the j
| Territory, that the Territory j
should succeed to all the powers
that are now exercised by the
United States.—Editor Alaska J
Fisherman in May 1929 issue, in
troducing a letter relative to the
trap leasehold bill by the Hon.
James Wickersham.
The letter follows:
t<
1<
A
fi
E
Juneau, Alaska
January 14, 1929
“Herewith I enclose for your'
information, a copy of a letter
which I sent to Hon. Dan Suth
erland, Delegate to Congress
from Alaska, on November 27,
1928, in relation to the bill about (
trapsite locations in Alaska.
“Please note that I urged this;
identical plan upon the Commit-;
tee of the House of Representa-;
lives and the House itself, at the
time the cannery interests were:
pushing the Alexander Bill in
1916, but that I could not get it
adopted at that time. Your at-,
tention is called to this for 11
want you to see that it was not;
! the cannerymen’s idea but mine. |
11 send you a copy of the Con- 1
{gressional Record for December.
113, 1916 and call your attention |
!to pages 289 and 321, where,
! there is contained the record of(
| the struggle that day to pass the {
, Alexander Bill over my opposi- (
J tion. Your special attention is «
directed to page 304 , where ij
presented this identical matter
to the House of Representatives i
that I have now put in the bill
which I want Mr. Sutherland to:
present again to Congress. The
Cannery-Trapmen have now
concluded that it is better for
them to have what I wanted
them to accept in 1916 than
nothing, hence their aid now.
I send this letter and copy of
Congressional Record to you for1'
your information, so that you
may understand the bill is not;
a cannery bill, but is one I pre-'
sented in 1916, and which met’
with opposition from the can- 1
ners, and for the further reason \
that after you have carefully {
examined it you will feel encour-!
aged to assist me in presenting
it with approval to the Delegate.
Very truly yours,
(Signed) James Wickersham.
Juneau, Alaska
November 27, 1928
Hon. Dan Sutherland.
Room 167 House Office Building,
Washington D. C.
My dear Sir:
While in recent attendance
upon the November term of court
at Ketchikan, whence I have
just returned, I was given the!
particulars of the charges made
against our mutual friend Wil
liam L. Paul, candidate for the
Territorial Legislature, in re
lation to his support of the bill
which I drew up last summer
providing for leasing salmon •**
trapsites on tide lands in Alaska
to trap owners through the Unit
ed States Bureau of Fisheries.
Purpose of the Alexander Bill
of 1916
I am satisfied that if Paul had
known the history of the bill in
H
question and had made it public, it
he would have kept the confi
dence of the fishermen voters,
notwithstanding the unfair ac
cusations of his and other op
ponents. I think the bill gives
peace between trap men in Alas
ka, prevents the “jumping” of
trapsites, compels trap owners to
pay license fees therefor based
on the amount of their catches,
and thereby tends to conserva
tion of salmon and the better
support of the fisheries and the
public treasury.
The Alexander Bill was a plan
to give congressional perpetual
leasehold title to trap sites in
Alaska. Section six of the bill
found in the proceedings of the
House of Representatives of Dec.
13, 1916, provided:
Sec. 6 FIXED NET LOCA
TIONS: That any person oc
cupying, or desiring to occupy,
any location where it may be
lawful to construct a pound
net (trap) in the waters of
Alaska, shall have such loca
tion to be accurately surveyed
by a competent surveyor, UN
LESS A SURVEY THEREOF
HAS ALREADY BEEN MADE,
IN WHICH EVENT SUCH EX
ISTING SURVEY MAY BE
USED, and shall cause three
maps to be made of such loca
tion from actual survey there
of. * * * From and after the
date of filing in the office of
the commissioner of records,
such map shall constitute full
and complete notice that the
locator has complied with all
the provisions of this Act in
regard to such location and
that such location is owned,
held, occupied and claimed by
the person designated thereon
as claimant.**"FROM and AF
TER THE FILING OF THE
MAP IN THE CASE OF A
POUND NET (trap) or from
and after posting of the num
ber of the license, as above
provided in the case of
stake net or set net , THE
CLAIMANT OF THE FISHING
LOCATION SHOWN ON SUCH
MAP, OR MARKED BY SUCH
NUMBER, HIS HEIR, ADMIN
ISTRATOR, EXECUTORS,
SUCCESSORS, OR ASSIGNS.
SHALL HAVE THE EXCLU
SIVE RIGHT TO HOLD, OC
CUPY, AND FISH IN SUCH
LOCATION, TO RENEW THE
LICENSE THEREOF AND TO
MORTGAGE. SELL, LEASE,
OR TRANSFER THE SAME
DURING THE TIME THAT HE
OR THEY IN OTHER RE
SPECTS SHALL COMPLY
WITH THE LAW RELATING
THERETO.”
After carefully reading even
this part of the bill, I think you ««
must agree with me that the
Alexander Bill WAS a plan to jjj;
give a Congressional perpetual ;;;
leasehold title to trap sites in |i!
Alaska, and that I only did my
duty in bringing about its de- !i|
feat in the House. I call your !|i
special attention to the proceed- [:
ings in th House of Representa- ■
tives on December 13, 1916, so : :
that you may discover for your- :::
self the difference between the :::
Alexander Bill and the bill un- :
der consideration.
Proposed Substitute for the
Alexander Rill >•
The bill under consideration,
and which Mr. Paul is said to j ....
have approved, is entitled, “An %
Act to amend section 8 of ' the X
Act of Congress of June 6, 1924, X
entitled ‘An Act for the protec- X
i V
tion of the fisheries of Alaska, X
and for other purposes.” It is £
substantially identical with the $
one proposed by me in 1916 in
my effort to defeat the Alexan- £
der Bill, which was only defeated !♦!
by the happy accident that the $
Committee on Merchant Marine
and Fisheries had only a single £
day in which to secure its pas- £
sage, and failed to do so because £
of the many amendments offer- , %
ed by me. Under the House rules,1 *£
if it failed (as it did) to pass jj
that day, it could not be called
again that session of Congress. j|
I now call your attention to ff
the efforts made to secure the |j
adoption of the substitute trap Hf
site leasing bill in 1916, and to I
my statement in relation to that
matter on December 13, 1916, as
contained in the House proceed-,
ings of that day where the fol
lowing colloquy occurred:
“Mr. Reilly. Mr. Chairman, Ly
Will the gentleman yield?
“Mr. Wickersham. Certainly. :§
“Mr. Reilly. You stated a
few moments ago that there ^
are no laws at the present j
time covering the subject mat- f
ter of this bill regarding these i
locations for fishing. ; I
“Mr. Wickersham. Yes sir. f
i L
“Mr. Reilly. What necessity, :
if any, is there for new legis- ||
lation along that line?
“Mr. Wickersham. I think
! there is necessity for it, and
I PROPOSED IT TO THE
COMMITTEE . THE COMMIT- j
TEE WANTED TO KNOW;
WHAT I WOULD DO, AND I
PROPOSED A LEASING SYS- ||
TEM OF THESE TRAP SITES, 0
UNDER SUCH PROTECTION |
AS OUGHT TO BE IMPOSED, |
SO THAT IN FIVE YEARS WE 8
COULD GO OUT AND RECAP- i J
TURE THEM IF WE DESIRED I
AND CONTROL THEM IN THE
I solicit your vote on my record which has been con- i
sistently progressive and fair to labor in all legisla- j
five matters in my experience as representative. I j
favor fair workmen s compensation laws If elected I
I will work for a control of the trap system and to <
curb abuses of the herring resources. I favor taxing j
ALL non-resident fishermen. Pioneers pensions; ade- I
quote appropriations for schools to secure greater re- •
turns from investment. I will work for the best inter- i
est of Alaska. A Republican in politics circumstanc- {
es forces me to to appeal to you as an independent j
but regardless of party label, if elected I will vote ;
as my conscience dictates. \
Peter C. McCormack j
Independent candidate for the le
gislature as representative
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