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THE FARMER’S HANDICAP. |
--
To attempt to operate the govern
ment railway from Anchorage to
Fairbanks, without in some way con
trolling the freight rates between Se
attle and Anchorage, is just as foolish
as to have built the government rail
road to the interior from Chitina and
permitted the Guggenheims to have
eontroled the rates over the C. U. &
N. \Y. railroad. i
It is now announced that there is
to be another raise in the freight rates
from Seattle to Alaska. Where are
the developers of Alaska going to get
off at, if the exploiters of the terri- ]
tory continue to bleed them. We are
becoming more or less like France, !
almost “bled white.”
And yet there are a large number;
of “slackers” in Alaska who say they
do not want a ‘tighter” in congress.;
They are about on par with the
“friends of the kaiser” in this com
munity who say they do not want
lighters sent to France.
The profiteers are now. and for the
last ten or fifteen years, have been
doing the same class of work in Alas- ,
'oa that the kaiser did for forty years
;h fore he attempted to place the iron
reel upon the neck of the world; they
.« securing a foothold here, and in
s*;; 1 ’ io.g hidden batteries there, pre
parato: y to fastening their fangs deep
•it - the liberties and rights of the
- T.-T.n people. And what shall we
■ *o be saved?
Cub Roosevelt says that the big
i fool in the land is the “wise man
h not wise in time.” Alasa may
• wise (someday) but is she going to
t " ise in t. ne to save her resources
'••cm. the mailed fist of her exploiting
kaiser?
Is it not time for Alaska to begin
v • manner of “preparedness”
against the profiteers who seek to
ake her pay tribute?
father one or two remedies can be
invoked that will break the Prussian
gap of the transportation Huns—a
;-< vr i ament line ol steamers from
Frisco to Alaska or the production at
i ome of most all we use here in Alas
ka. There is no other way.
Why continue to pay these trans
portation pirates for shipping eggs,
butter, meat, potatoes, brick, lime,
lumber, furniture and a score of other
necessities of life, while they can be
produced largely here in Alaska as
well as anywhere else? In those
things we cannot produce we can
Hooverize a little, and learn to econ
omize.
V hat Alaska neds is statehood, so
that her citizens can control their own
business. As a territory the people
of Alaska are in the same condition
; : a territorial delegate in congress.
He has no vote. If Alaska in her own
sovereign r pht could tel! these
tva’ -portation companies to build
t. own ‘aird,ome" at this end of
their line or keep on flying, they would
have to concede something for a place
‘o i:ght. Alaska as a Territory, like
h< r delegate in congress, can yell like
tu b but can’t vote. And the Prus
. iar.s operating the steamers shake
their mailed fist at us and command
a- to keep still, and theraten that if
ve do not, they will “Wickersham”
u . There are just two parties in
\k.ska, the fighters and the slackers.
* be .s’acbers are those who do not be
live in fighting for their rights. The
fighters are those who do not believe
in.-lacking when the rights of the peo
ple (democracy) are at stake. Un
less we can secure a more reasonable
Fe;ghi rate, Seward’s Ice box can
never he unlocked.
ONE BY MARK TWAIN.
Mark Twain tolls of a man who,
when he came home drunk, explained
to his wife that he had mixed his
drinks.
“John,” his wife advised, “when
you have drunk all the whisky you
want, you ought to ask for sarsapa-1
rilla.”
“Yes,” retorted her husband, “but
when I have drunk all the whisky I
want I can’t say sarsaparilla.”—Ex. |
Job printing at the Times office.
CM UeU UeU yt-M iiizM Uc=3 UtdJ Udl Uadi B«U ticSi Ucy UctJ U«HJ ucSJ Boil Udi UcrJ Udl UcdJ
MARK YOUR WAR-HOGS NOW.
“The well-known and interesting
truffle-hog, that can detect a truffle
three feet under ground by means of
his nose and proceed to root it out, has
no olfactory powers worth mentioning
when compared with our new genus,
the v.ar-hog,” says The Forum. “Am
erica’s war-hog can ‘smell out’ an
opportunity for unjust profit a thou
sand miles distant, sneak up on the
helpless Ultimate Consumer pnd root
it out of his pocket without so much
as a twinge of remorse filtering
through his thick and ugly poi'cine
hide.”
There are various sorts of war-hogs.
There is the big war-hog. Uncle Sam
has attempted to proclaim an “open
season” on him. But it is still a clos
ed season for these small razor-back
war-hogs doing a business of less than
$100,000 per year.
This little war-hog sits back on his
haunches and grunts his joy at root
:ng the very last penny out of the
Dockets of those who can least afford
to part with pennies. Our govern
ment hasn’t reached down to him yet.
The Hoover machine takes in:
All manufacturers of food supplies,
All jobbers,
All wholesale dealers,
All commission men.
All retailers doing $100,000 business
annually.
This leaves the small hazel-splitter
: n;i razor-hack war-hogs to root the
life out of the poor in every town. The
jobbers and commission men are now
retailing at 100 per cent profit, and
the consumer is still rooted out of
house and home. All that was neces
sary was for the jobber and commis
• '.on man to go fifty-fifty with the re
tailer and his profits were greater
than before. Like a nigger’s rat-trap,
a they can't catch us a cornin’ they
get us a go in’.
Here is a law that will catch these
small war-hogs: Let a close account
he kept of just what profit every re
tail merchant is making during the
war so that after the struggle is
over each of them can be taken into
court, and where it can be proven
that they have charged more than a
reasonable profit, render a judgment
against them for the estimated am
ount of excess profits, and place
them in jail until the same is paid.
Also disfranchise them for a term of
years. In extreme cases, hang them
without ceremony. The world has no
time to curb their piratical natures
now while the foreign enemy is to be
fought, but it would be a greater
crime to let them get by after the war
is over than it will be to let the kai
ser escape.
11 is difficult to describe a war-hog
in language that will not violate our
postal laws. Some have called him a
gambler. But this is an insuit to the
gambler. A real gambler will take a
chance. That is the ethics of gam
bling. Only a piker and a tin-horn
spoil and the boggiest kind of a prof
iteering beast would attempt to rob
the hungry while the country is in
peril.
Uncle Sam is fearfully busy, it is
true, but just a permission to hang on
each war-hog a sign: “I’m a war-hog
—kick me!” might help a whole lot.
There should be a means for spotting
him.
In many countries abroad, not only
in war times, but in peace times as
well, they have a pleasing custom of
confiscating the shop of any man who
has been caught over-charging on as
many as three occasions. Why, t he
federal prison, at McNeil’s island,
contains hundreds of men whose of
fense against his fellow man, is by
no means as atrocious as that of the
profiteering war-hog. They could not
complain were they every one interned
until after the war, when they could
be given a fair trial by ten good men
tried and true. Every person should
keep a diary of what they buy each
day and the price charged by each re
tailer. This could b*. used as evidence
in court before we hang certain war
hogs after the battle with the kaiser
and his American allies, is over. The
first great event on every farm in the
willing” v^y. he fat r hog the
ora si:r. ly he should be “stuck”
first. All these war-hogs should be
marked each day as the bred is de
termined. We cannot, under the law,
give them “slit in the left ear,” or an
“under-bit in the right” as we used to
in Misouri, but you can write their
names down in a book, the amount of
corn meal you bought and the price
you paid for it.
Think of it J Twelve states this year
contributed FIVE HUNDRED MIL
LION EXTRA BUSHELS of corn,
nevertheles corn cakes are selling for
more than before the war! Mr. Hoov
er has expressed the hope that public
sentiment will prevent the retailers
from becoming war-hogs, but it is a
well-known fact that the public never
! misses the water ’till the well runs
!
j dry. The public is so busy selling lib
! erty bonds that the hogs might root
I up the front vard before it was known
| that they were on the place. These
' hogs are thick-skinned. Nothing in
j terests them except the almighty dol
! lar. “The public be demned.” Be
j gin with the new year and keep a
dairy of what you buy, who you buy it
from and what you pay for it. Mark
your hogs NOW.
THE LAND TAX.
Heavy taxes for every acre of till
able land, net put to the production
of food, will be proposed to congress at
the presens session. The bill will be
introduced by Representative Randall,
of California. Mr. Randall in his pro
posed bill asks for the taxation of ev
ery acre of untilled land in the Unit
ed States, the sum of five dollars, and
every unplanted city lot, the sum of
$!. These taxes are to go to the sup
port of the war. The government, he
thinks, would not only gain revenue,
but would increase the food supply.
Now the man who owns ICO acres of
tillable land and is holding it for
speculation, can either pay the $S0O
tax or let some person use the lend
and produce 8800 worth of food. The
price of tillable land has gone, up 50
per cent since the war began in Eur
ope, so, if the increase has been $25
per acre, the owner of the ICO acres I
has gained in wealth, without any of- j
fort on his part, the sum of $4,000. |
On this basis the owner of the ICO
acres can pay the $5 tax per acre for
five years, if the war lasts that long,
and still be even with the world. He
has in fact paid nothing.
But suppose he refuses to pay this
$5 tax per acre, and the soldiers in
the trenches cannot hold out for want
of food and munitions, permitting the
kaiser to win the war, how much tax
w:li the land owner then have to pay
to liquidate the ‘“indemnity” that the
citizens of this country will have to
pay the Huns? What will the land
owner’s title be worth after the kaiser
j wins the war? Probably about the
; same as a land title in Belgium, were
there no hope of winnng the war.
Every land owner in America should
' lemember that a land title in this
; country is worth only as much as the
; kaiser says it’s worth, if he wins the
war. One thing is sure, if the kaiser
wins, it will be worth all of $5 le*s
I per ucie than it is now, and a German
i will cwn it.
(’ortr inly the owner of the land can
not ask other men to go and fight for
the title to his land without helping to
pay the expenses. All such lands
j should be confiscated and if America
wins the war the titles should be given
to the men who went to the front and
defended the country, as soon as they
shall have returned home. Mr. Ran
j dall is on the right track.
HOBOKEN, N. J., Jan. 5. — Fire
men, soldiers, civilians and fireboats
; finally conquered a stubborn blaze
i which destroyed a six story manufact
j ing plant in the heart of the industrial
j section of Hoboken, paralleling the
| water front, now controlled by the
government.
The damage is estimated at
$200,000.
For a while the flames threatened
millions of dollars’ worth of property
on the waterfront.
YEARLY LOSS OF LIVESTOCK ON
NATION’S LINES ESTIMATED
AT $3,680,000.
OWNERS CHIEFLY TO BLAME.
Federal Secretary of Commerce De
clares This Condition Is Serious in
View of Necessity of Conserving
Every Resource.
WASHINGTON, D. C., Jan. 5.—
Through the negligence of live-stock
owners food animals valued at $20,000
were killed on the tracks on the Cen
tral of Georgia railway during the last
nine months of last year. Accord
ing to a statement of the vice-presi
dent and general manager of that
road, 1,862 head of stock were need
lessly wasted in this manner, the av
erage value of which was approxi
mately $10 to $11 per head. Fine dai
ry cows and beef cattle were included,
as well as hogs, sheep, geese, etc.
During those nine months one ani
mal was killed for every mile of track
on the Central of Georgia, and if that
figure can be accepted as a basis for
estimating the loss of the entire coun
try, the destruction of food animals on
the railway tracks of the United
States during the last year can be put
at $3,680,000 for the whole year.
Serious Loss to Country.
“That is a very serious loss to the ;
country and its allies at this time,” j
said Secretary of Commerce William
0. Eedfield in a statement issued by ,
his department today, “and gives j
point to the opinions recently expres- j
sed by L. W. Baldwin, vice-president
and general manager of the Central
of Georgia railway, and published in j
the Savannah Morning News.” Mr.
Baldwin’s opinions are here reprint
ed in part:
“For the nine months there were
killed on our tracks 1,S62 head of!
stock, the average value of which is
approximately $10 to $11 per head.
Some of these are fine damy cows and
beef cattle, and other nead include
hogs, sheep, geese, etc.
“In practically all of these 1,862 in
stances, the owners of the stock have
allowed the animals to roam upon or
near the railroad right of way, and
with the characteristic fright of dumb
animals, they do not know how to i
protect their own lives, but rush pell |
moll in front of our locomotives, and 1
the engineer has little chance to avoid
striking them.
“After it is killed the animal is not
considered fit for food, and even
though the owner received compensa
tion from the railway to cover his in- ;
dividual loss, so much food has been
lost which would benefit the country I
at this time.
“Just now, when there is being con
ducted a nation-wide campaign for the
conservation of food, and when each
of us is being asked to do his bit to
ward saving something to eat, would !
it not be fair and right for the own- |
ers of live stock to keep their cattle
within range and away from the rail
road tracks, where they trespass to
the ultimate cost of everyone? I con
sider this a question serious enough
to merit the instant consideration of
every county and every municipality,
as well as every individual, and if
there are localities where proper laws
do not exist with respect to roaming
live stock, suitable laws ought to be
drafted and passed. Assuming that
other railroads have about the same
experience that we have, the econom
is loss in this state and in the country
every yrear, from this cause, must be
enormous.
CANNING GRAIN AND HAY.
So far as maturing feed for stock
in Alaska is concerned, the silo solves
the whole question. You will soon see
them on every farm in the Matanuska
valley. For many years in Nebraska
and Iowa the farmers attempted to
get along without silos to preserve the
feed for their stock, but not so now.
The silo is very easily constructed
and the work can be done by the farm
er himself. The process of “canning”
grain and hay is just as simple as can
ning fish or berries. If this kind of
food is good enough for man why is
it not sufficient for cattle and sheep?
Down in some of the states they
don’t let the grain ripen, but throw
it into the silo unripened. Up here in
Alaska they claim it is no stock
country because the grain will not
mature. Like the old woman in Iowa
when asked if that was a fruit coun
try replied that it was not for the rea
son that the “rabbits” peeled the
trees.” And in fact in early days that
was a very good reason but in all new
countries the pioneer must overcome
these temporary handicaps by provid
ing some way around or over them.
We would like to have an article
from some farmer informing us WHY
the silo would not solve, to a great
extent, the question of preserving feed
for stock in the Matanuska valley, or
any other valley.
THE GENTLEMAN FROM TEXAS.
That Alaska's resources, other than
its fisheries and mining are in dan
ger of being forgotten is the infor
mation furnished by the Alaska Road
commission in its report just filed
with the government. “The truth
about Alaska is good enough, so that
exaggeration is unnecessary,” says
the report.
But the information furnished the
government is not he truth. It is not
even Richardson’s opinion. The pur
pose is to deceive. And there is meth
od in his deception. Tearing aside
the camouflage curtain the truth ap
pears thusly:
So long as the cannery companies
and mining corporations control the
development of Alaska, there will
never be any “permanent” population
in Alaska. Permanent population in
Alaska is the only thing that the fish
companies and mining corporations
do not want. The fish companies ship
20,000 men to Alaska each year to do
their work and it is very seldom that
any “permanent population” can get a
day’s work from them. The mining
corporations, in a large measure, ship
laborers here to operate their mines.
They are wage workers and do not
remain in Alaska after losing their
job. If one of the corporation’s em
ployes talks too much about the eight
hour law he is registered on the cor
poration’s books as an “alien enemy”
and must either go prospecting or go
outside. If the miners of Alaska at
tempt to enforce the eight-hour law,
they are discarded for the imported
article.
To keep Alaska under the control of
the mining corporations and fish
companies postpones pennanent pop
ulation of Alaska, and, necessarily,
self government for Alaska. It will
be observed that this same element,
the mining corporations and fish com
panies, are afvoring the holding of
Alaska under territorial government
and continually asking for more pow
er. The more power this element has
in Alaska, the longer her people will
be kept under the appointive officers,
largely controlled by the element who
can lavishly spend money in trips to
Washington to tell the administra
tion that there is nothing in Alaska
outside of their business that “is
worth remembering.”
The government has built a rail
road in Alaska for the development
of the country. It was built through
the great Matanuska valley, and the
public domain surveyed, as a’n induce
ment to farmers to settle in the coun
try, and improve the land. It was
built across the mountains into the
great Tanana valley, larger than the
state of New York, that the pioneer
farmers of that country might build
homes on the land. Now comes Uncle
Sam’s military road supervisor, and
tells them to ‘forget it.’
The government maintains in An
chorage, in connection*with the rail
road construction commission a land
and industrial agent, whose business
is to encourage the settlement ot the
country along the line with a “per
manent population” for the cultiva
tion of the soil; but now comes this
military agriculturalist, with epauletts
on his shoulders and says “And, for
get it.” Alaskans might easily for
get “the gentleman from Texas,” and
all his rye-etous acts while among
them did his press agents not persist
in keeping him in the limelight.
And, too, it was extremely unfor
tunate, that on almost the very day
that this “gentleman from Texas,”
who is eternaly and everlasting extol-\
ing his own state for its prolific
was decrying Alaska as a farmihg
country, the drouth-stricen farmers of
Texas were appealing to Uncle Sam
for FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS, to
save them from starvation, on ac
count of ailure of crops. There are
50,000,000 cattle in Texas starving to
death on account of failure of crops,
and yet Texas is called a farming and
stock-raising country! The 50,000,000
caribou in Alaska are rolling fat and
when she has an equal number of
reindeer there will still be an ever
lasting crop for them. The crop is
perenial, no tractor needed, no plant
ing each year, no “failure of crop«”
and yet the gentleman from tne coun
try of starvation asks Uncle Sam to /
“forget us,” in all things which big
capital is not interested. Go to—
Texas, you ex-road supervisor!
SIBERIA COMPARED WITH
ALASKA.
Alaskans think of Siberia as “a
cold barren region” of not much im
portance; nevertheless Siberia is just
EIGHT TIMES the size of Alaska,
and has almost TWO HUNDRED
TIMES as many people. Its value
consists of most excellent timber, rich
mineral resources, and many fertile
valleys and plains.
And this great country is only thir
ty miles from Alaska. By simply
crossing Bering strait there is anoth
er great country whose citizens will
welcome the pioneers of Alaska to
prospect and develop her. So Alaska
is NOT the last great frontier, for
there is still another beyond as large
as the whole of the United States.
What New Russia will be to t he
-4
United States is something wonderful
to contemplate, for Siberia is a
mighty empire of latent wealth lying
on the very threshold of our western
door.
SUNFLOWER SEED
MILITIAMEN IN RUSSIAN CITIES
WEAR NO UNIFORMS AND
JUST BASK IN SUN.
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 5.—Sitting
on sunny porches and steps and chew
ing sunflower seed constitute the prin
cipal duties of the militiamen who
have supplanted inefficient police in
many Russian cities, according to
Eivind Erichsen, manager for a large
European machinery concern in the
newest of republics. These militiamen
are without uniforms, wear anything
from a derby to a six penny cap and
are armed with anything from a rifle
to a rusty sword. Despite this inactiv
ity there is no demand for the return
of the police, he stated. The police are
so hated, according to his information,
that they are called “Pharoons,” be
cause they are considered so far be
hind the times that hey should have
lived in the days of the ancient Pha
raohs of Egypt.
'4
POLICE ARRESTED IN
MISSY CONSPIRACY
SEATTLE, Jan. 5.—Sergeant of Po
lice Comstock and several members of
his police dry squad were arrested
today charged with being involved in
a plot to steal enormous quantities of
liquor fipm Seattle’s Public Safety
building.
In the public safety building are
stored thousands of gallons of liquor
that have been seized from time to
time in the past by members of the
dry squad, and other members of the
police department.
INCREASE IN POTATOES.
DENVER, Colo., Jan. 4.—Colorado
produced 9,150,000 bushels of potatoes
this year, acording to figures compil
ed by W. H. Kerr, chairman of the
markets committee of the state coun
cil of defense. This is 2,250,000 bush
els more than the state produced last
year.
A survey of available seed potatoes
is being made by Prof. Alvin Kezer,
chairman of the council’s seed com
mittee, under the direction of Prof. E. /
T. Sansten, state horticulturist.