NATIVES OF US TERRITORY
ARE ENTITLED TO FRANCHISE
Decision in Wickersham-Sulzer Contest Recog
nizes Right of Aborigines to Vote, While
Denying That Privilege to Soldiers
If appears from the report in the
Congressional Record of the debate
on the Wlekersham Sulzer election
contest, the determination of which
declared .lames Wickersham to have
been elected delegate to congress in
INK, over Charles A. Sulzer. that the
finding was based upon three essen
tial points that the Alaska natives
are citizens of the United States and
entitled to vote at all elections; that
soldiers of the United States, enlisted
in the States and transferred to
Alaska, can not while in the service
of the government acquire a residence
in the territory for the purpose of
voting, and that the Australian ballot
law passed by tin* territorial legisla
ture i non effective.
While the committee did not find
that the tentorial election law was in
valid, yet if did (ind that the disputed
returns from the precincts when* tie
law was not complied with could not
be thrown out for that reason, stating
that the failure ot election officials to
comply with tie- law should not be
held to disfranchise tie- voters of such
precincts.
Chairman Wilson «»f ejections Com
mittec No. 1. which brought in tie
report. said that !e believed tie* ter
ritory had a right to pass such an
election law in spite of Wickersham's
contention that tie territory was
without authority in the matter. Rut
the offer? of the action of the house
of representatives is tantamount to de
claring the act invalid so far as it
relates to the election of a congres
mortal delegate.
Delegate Wickersham’s speech as it
relate to the rights of the natives
to voti will he found of great interest,
lie go*- into the matter very thor
oughly and brings to light many facts
hitherto but little known, and gives
a conception of tile status of the na
tives which will In* a reveelation to
many Alaskans Incidentaally it will
raife the question us to why there
has over boon any disposition to deny
the franchise to these “Russian-Aleut
people.” of whom Mr Wickersham
says “a better class of people does
not live anywhere in Alaska.”
The speech can not lx- quoted in
full, lut the following excerpts are
among the most important statements
made hv tie- delegate
Natives Are Excellent Citizens
Now I want to call your attention
to their (the Alaska natives’) civil
status and to the people themselves.
1 get the testimony with respect to
them from the fact that I have been
with them and know them. While I
was never at Afognak. I have been
a’ Seldovia. Kodiak and Unulaska I
iave been at all these places, except
Afognak I know these people and
ha\e been acquainted with them foi
twenty years. 1 know their minis
t» rs, and a better class of people does
n t live anyuliere in Alaska than these
Russian-Aleut people. They are each
a id all citizens of the United States
1 ade so by the solemn treaty con
tract between the United States and
Russia. They have the right to vote,
and merely because some were un
able to reail and write, merely lie
cause some of them said "No.” and
passed over the questions easily and
got out of the situation without giv
ing any particular information, does
I not show that they are not entitled
I to vote It merely shows that they
are a quiet, inoffensive people. Nine
tenths of them can read and write
either Knglish or Russian. Churches
j were established among these people
more than a century ago. Schools
were established about the same time
in Seldovia, Afognak and Unalaska.
They have bet'll educated in their lo
cal schools and. as a class, they are
well educated, as good a class of
people as you will liiul in any agri
cultural population throughout the
I 'niied States. It i true that you
can pick out here and there one who
is illiterate, and a harp and shrewd
lawyer getting them on the witness
stand and finding that the witness is
deficient ill some way. asking ques
tions and permitting him to say "No"
to everything, can get evidence
against him which, if applied to the
whole community, would make a very
bail showing and special argument, ns
tile gentleman from Alaska did Hut
, when you take them as a whole, they
are an educated, civilized body, quiet,
’law-abiding, and almost without ex
ception members of the Russian Greek
orthodox church. * * *
Those Horrid Attorneys
I have gone over the record very
carefully, and I lintl that there are.
seventeen persons pointed out In the
testimony in Afognak and Seldovia
about whose voting there is some evi
dence in the record. Right of these
persons admitted that they voted for
' me One said he voted for the "new
, mail, which meant my opponent. The
| other seven said they did not know
| who they voted for
If you knew these people - the quiet.
[ inoffensive, gentle Aleuts you would
> understand w hy they say they do not
j know They just let it go at that. A
cunning attorney encouraged them to
I do that, so as to make the record as
had against them as possible
The Kussinn-Alcut voters, seventeen
in number, which have been shown
to have voted at Afognak and Soldo
via. who were examined, said that
eight voted for me. one for my oppo
nent. and seven said they did not
know. That is all there is to it. My
opponent gave notice that he would
take the testimony of a large number,
I but they did not examine all of them
| They had the records in their posses
sion and knew their names, and they
could interrogate them all. but they
did not. That is the recoril with re
spect to these people.
Some Historical Data
Afognak was settled by the Kus
sians in 1780, nearly 140 years ago
and ever since it has been inhabited
by the Russians and their children
A fog nak and Kodiak were called the
garden spots of Alaska. Koliak was (
the llrst capital of Alaska, made the
capital about 1776, about the time of
the beglnnilng of the Revolutionary
war. Churches and schools were
built there soon after that, and these
people have been living quietly and
peaceably from that time to this.
In Bancroft's History of Alaska,
1890, which is the standard history
with respect to Alaska, It Is said about
these localities:
"The islands of Kodiak and Afog ,
nak. 'the garden spots of Alaska.' as j
they are termed, enjoy more sunshine ;
and fair weather than any portion of
the territory, with the exception, per
haps, of some favored spots of Cook ;
Inlet.
"The village of St, Paul, or Kodiak, I
contained in 18S0 about 40U inhabit
ants, a large proportion of whom were
Creoles."
A Creole is half Aleut and half Bus
sian, or quarter blood, as the case
may be. He is a mixture of Russian
and Aleut. The Aleuts live along the
coast from the mouth of the Copper
river to the westward, out to tie end
of the Aleutian islands Bancrot' fur
ther says:
"The village of Afognak, on the
island of the same name, sepuruh I by
a narrow channel from the northern
shore of Kodiak Island, is one ot tie
most thrivinig settlement , in Alaska,
Though mountainous, and, in some
parts, thbkly wooded, the cut tine of
timber and firewood being one nl tie
chief industries, it contains many
spots suitable for pasture and ngri
culture. Boat building is also a profit
able occupation .Many of the inhabit
ants, who now muster about 3,i" live
in substantial frame houses, thi- bo
ing one of the few places in tie terri
tory where any considerable number
of dwellings other than log huts are
to be found."
mil ri t veils tile (I esori tit i< VTI of \foC
Dak and here people in 1890. about
thirty years ago, as contained in the
standard history of the territory of
Alaska. I could go on and give you
more historical information about
them, but it is all In this record The
record in this case is very full with
respect to their being church mem
bers. with respect to Father Kasim
varof and parochial schools and tie
parochial residence there, and the fact
that they all belong to his church. All
of them were asked if they belonged
to his church, and all of them an
swered In the affirmative. With that |
admission, and it is an adrgjgrtym, be- |
cause it is not denied anywhere, I want
to call your attention to their civil
status.
Great Men Among "Creoles"
In l.stiV we purchased Alaska At
that time there were probable three
or four thousand Creoles living along j
that coast from the mouth of the Cop |
per river westward (o Fnalaska. They !
were Creoles, mind you. They were
half breeds, they were quarter breeds,
three-quarter breeds, and one of them
became the governor of Alaska One
of these quarter-breed Aleuts became
the governor of Alaska and another
one engraved the great coast and geo
detic charts of Alaska He was a
cartographer, skillful in the use of
the pen. and made wonderful maps of
Alaska, and you will find them all in
Tebenkof's atlas of Alaska, consist
ing of thirty-nine great charts, made
in 1854. They were an educated peo
ple, a fishing and fur-producing pop
ulation. Some arrangements had to
be made by the Russian minister who
(Continued on I’age Fight)
Mr. Business
Man
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