ALASKA FORUM
(OFFICIAL PAPER)
^Toruiv^
James B. Wingate, Editor and Manager
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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1905.
THE COMINC SESSION
OF CONGRESS
IMPORTANT TO ALASKA
The coming session of congress prom
ises to be quite interesting with respect
to Alaskan affairs. A number of im
portant legislative measures pertaining
to the district, are being extensively
agitated; principal among which is the
movement for a territorial form of gov
ernment, the delegate bill, and the ju
dicial division bill. While the general
demand is for self-government, the peo
ple seem to be undecided as to the form
best suited to existing conditions. A
territorial form of government similar
to that accorded New Mexico, Arizona
and other western districts is favored
by some, while others advance argu
ment to support original ideas of their
own.
A great many, who are not familiar
with the subject, and do not understand
the conditions surrounding self-govern
ment, are willing to accept any form
for a change. Notwithstanding this
divided opinion as to the proper form
of self-government, all Alaskans are
united in the demand for an elective
delegate to congress. The people want
an authorized representative at Wash
ington chosen by the majority through
the ballot. A delegate, to properly
represent the district must be of the
people, for the people and by the peo
ple. Such a delegate could not, under
the protection of an appointive power,
sacrifice the people’s interests in behalf
of his own “personal desires,” as did
Judge Wickersham, and then expect a
re-election.
A delegate chosen by the people must
cater to the wishes, and attend to the
needs and demands of his constituents;
while an appointed one will necessarily
be subject to the dictations of the ap
pointive power, which is invariably con
trolled by political manipulators and
monopolists. The judicial division bill
is a measure of vast importance to the
people of the Yukon, as well as those
living on the coast from Bristol bay to
Mt. St. Elias. That bill would have
passed congress in the spring of 1904,
and creating a fourth judicial division,
had not Judge Wickersham’s treacher
ous manipulations blocked its • passage
through the lower house.
The people of the great Yukon basin
realize the necessity of a resident judge
—especially during the long winters,
when travel is so inconvenient, and le
gal complications arise, the adjudica
tion of which requires personal attend
ance before the District judge who is
then somewhere on the coast hundreds
of miles away. Still, Wickersham be
came offended at Governor Brady for
reporting the court facilities of the
Third division inadequate. The “little
grand duke” becomes a roaring lion as
soon as the question is raised of dividing
his “duchy” in order to give the people
thereof more convenience and better
government.
Judge Wickersham will no doubt se
cret ly oppose the granting of self-gov
ernment and an elective delegate to
congress, the same as he did the pas
sage of the judicial division bill—if the
measures in question interfere with his
‘ ‘personal desires. ’ ’ He would sacrifice
the wishes and best interests of the
people of the entire District of Alaska
as quickly as he did those of the Third
division—were it to his personal inter
ests to do so.
The creation of a fourth division will
necessitate the appointment of an ad
ditional set of Federal Alaskan officials
and no doubt the Wickersham lobby at
Wnshington will execute some brilliant
manipulations in their efforts to secure
important official positions. The an
noyance and “weariness” which Presi
dent Roosevelt has experienced in the
Wickersham controversy should cause
him, be he striving for good govern
ment, to select Federal officials for the
district whose environment is of a 1 ss
i
corruptible character than that of the
Wickersham aggregation of grafting
henchmen. Should this not be done
more “weariness” will follow, and the
inevitable merely postponed.
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Alaska Forum
Established 1900.
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per Miners’
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*
Mrs. mcnaught, elected by the citi
zens of Nome as one of the delegates
from that place to the Alaskan Cor” n
tion at Seattle, is a pioneer oi 3
Northern country. She is the wife"of
John McNaught, the well known editor
of the San Francisco Call. Since her
first trip to Alaska in ’97, she has in
vested thousands of dollars in develop
ing northern mining properties.