The Chitina Leader
CHITIXA, ALASKA.
Entered as second-class matter, November 12, 1910, at the postoffice at
Chitina, Alaska, under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1ST9.
ONLY NEWSPAPER IN CHITINA
Published every Saturday by
WILL A. STEEL—Editors, Managers and Proprietors—HARRY O. STEEL
Office: Hotel Chitina Building. Cordova Office: Daily Alaskan
Seattle Office: 651 Colman Building.
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Made known upon application. They will be found reasonable for the service
given. Official publication for legal advertisements pertaining to mineral lands
of the Copper River district.
CHITINA, ALASKA, TUESDAY, AUGUST 13, 1912.
SELF-GOVERNMENT FOR ALASKA
There is every likelihood that before the adjournment of
Congress a measure giving Alaska a form of territorial gov
ernment will have been passed. So many amendments have
been made to the original bill offered that Delegate Wicker
sham and the men who assisted him in framing it have diffi
culty now in recognizing the measure. If passed, the powers
given to an Alaska legislature will be of a very limited char
acter, but it will be a step forward, and can do very little
harm even though it be not very helpful. The Senate elimin
ated the upper house, but it is believed that this will be re
stored in conference, as originally passed by the House, thus
creating an assembly of 16 members and a Senate of 8 mem
bers. Speaking on the subject the Post-Intelligencer says:
“There is now every probability that Alaska will be cre
ated a full territory, with local self-government, by action of
congress at the present session. Home rule bills have passed
both houses, the senate acting affirmatively on the Jones-Wick
ersham bill on Wednesday without any opposition developing.
If the house excepts the senate measure, as an amendment to tht
house bill, a simple vote to that effect in the house will pass
the bill and send it up to the president. If the house does not
immediately accept, a bill satisfactory to both houses will xin
doubtedly pass confei-ence. There is no reason to doubt tlial
Pi-esident Taft will sign the bill at once when it reaches him.
“The granting of home rule to Alaska is a measure of de
laved justice. There has not been any sound l'eason why Alaskf
should not have had a full territorial government for the pasl
fifteen or sixteen years at least. That territoiy has been fully
prepared to sustain territorial government for at least tlial
long. Instead, the people of Alaska have been denied up to this
time every substantial right of American citizenship and havt
had not the slightest voice in the matter of their own govern
rnent. The ti'eatment accorded them has violated every' prin
ciple upon which American institutions ai’e founded.
“Home nxle is not going to solve all of Alaska’s many
troubles by' any means. Her resources will continue to be tied
up beyond the possibility of utilization, and for many y'ears tht
new territory’ will have to contend against that element which
insists on administering Alaska’s affaii-s as far as possiblt
through bureau officials at Washington City. But home rult
will help somewhat and give the territory a chance to make and
administer laws applicable to local conditions.”
--oooo
ROOSEVELTISM BECOMES A BLIGHT
It is now a tiling of the past. We refer to the Bull Moosi
or National Progressive convention. It was a one-man gather
ing, called to ratify the self-nomination of Col. Roosevelt foi
the Presidency of the United States. The attendance at Chicago
was so meagre as to denominate the gathering as a sorry fiasco,
were it to be viewed from the standpoint of the birth of a great
national organization. Mr. Roosevelt may loudly declare his
nomination yesterday as the greatest honor of his life, but who
will believe that he thinks so?
As a matter of fact, the third term enthusiasm has petered
out. The new party is a stillbirth. Nobody knows it better than
Dixon. In his call it was impossible for him to get even one
signature of a republican of any prominence in eight states.
And the list of signatures to the call consisted of names of men
of no national importance at all. Those who are at all well
known are without exception disgruntled politicians out of a
job, with the exception of not more than half a dozen. The rest
have never been heard of outside their own bailiwicks. And ot
the seven governors the names of four—Glasscock, Stubbs, Had
ley and Osborn—were conspicuous by absence. And at the
convention what men of any importance, consequence or influ
ence were in attendance ? Of course excepting our own delegate
to Congress, the Hon. James Wickersham.
And even he must pay a severe penalty for allowing himself
to get tied up with the one man who, more than any other, is
responsible for the unhappy, discontented and impoverished
condition of the people of this northland. For it was President
Roosevelt, swayed by the narrow and unfair policy of Gifford
Pinchot, who tied up the resources of Alaska and discouraged
capital from seeking investment and undertaking development
in this territory. Many of Delegate Wickersham’s former sup
porters have cut loose from him since he insisted upon his
.henchmen giving an endorsement to Roosevelt. This is notably
true in Valdez, where men like Mayor Ritchie are openly op
posing Candidate Wickersham and predict his overthrow in a
community that was formerly his greatest stronghold in Alaska.
There will be nothing to fear from this new party. Senator
Dixon admits that it has no hope of winning. He cautiously
sa^s that he hopesjt,'jyill inn second in New York. But it wil
tfo h&ifiing of-tm^in^fend Dixon knows it.
.yTlie new party has a dm'e in only two states of any im
portance—California and toRTus—and in both these states the
insurgents confessed thejffrear of a fair vote by planning to
steal the electoral vot^ through manipulation of the state poli
tical machinery—a ildpthof^ftkimy to which the meanest parti
san crookedness has nbvferiefore stooped in all the history of
American politics.
The new party has not a tenth of the enthusiasm or strength
of either the liberal republican, the populist or the free silver
republican revolts of other years. None of those insurrections
' ';'v {
threatening and powerful as they were at inception, ever crys
tallized into permanent organization. Nqr will this insurrec
tion. Those insurrections were based on principle. This is
based only upon the disappointment and anger of one individ"
ual. Its only platform and its sole purpose is to elect Mr. Roose
velt to a third term and then, probably, to a fourth term and
still another term. That is not a broad enough foundation upon
which to build a permanent political edifice.
The fight in November is between Mr. Taft and Mr. Wilson.
The third term party will be as dead as a door nail before
October winds begin to blow.
-oooo
JAMES WICKERSHAM
AGAIN ELECTED
The election for delegate to Congress from Alaska passed
off yesterday quietly and without any particular disturbing in
cidents. A light vote was recorded in every division, indicating
either a lack of interest upon the part of voters or that the
population has largely decreased since the election two years
ago. By eight o’clock last evening the returns began to ar
rive and by midnight it was known that James Wickersham
had been re-elected by a plurality of 500 or more. Returns have
been received from all the large precincts, with the exception
of Ruby City. Nothing has been heard from many of the can
nery precincts to the westward. It is expected that in these
localities Mr. Gilmore will have a good lead. lie is the only
candidate who has made a personal visit to this section of
Alaska, and it is thought that his recent campaign there will
result largely to his advantage. In addition there are a few
outlying precincts in each division that have not been heard I
from. But it is not expected that the result will be changed to
any material extent. The following are the returns received by
the Daily Alaskan up to this afternoon, which are substantially
correct so far as they go.
First Division Cilmore Wicker- JrnnihEs Manias Krau- Totals
sham czunas
Ketchikan. 27 68 26 2 54 — 167
Ketchikan Suburban. 4 16 3 48 — 71
Juneau. 52 140 118 1 21 — 332
Silver Bow. 1 21 6 2 — 30
Douglas. 15 36 40 11 30 — 132
Skagway.r.10 95 20 1 7 — 133
| Wrangell.7.. 4 19 44 5 — 72
! Haines. 9 42 6 — 57
Sitka. 5 +2 6 1 1 — 55
Mendenhall.' 1 5 7 1 6 — 20
Loring.14 4 1 — 19
Total.142 478 270 18 180 — 1088
second Division
Candle.% 10 28 9 1 — 48
Council City. 20 8 10 3 — 41
Solomon. 8 5 11 8 — 32
East Forks. 8 3 1 — 12
Bluff. 5 8 8 3 — 24
Shovel Creek. 28 8 9 33 — 78
Big Hurrah.10 2 1 — 13
Creeks, tributary to Nome. 57 26 IS 47 — 148
Nome.346 98 96 117 — 657
Teller.16 3 1 — 20
St. Michael.15 15 31 4 16 — 81
Total.523 198 199 4 230 — 1154
Third Division
Cordova. 92 41 18 5 15 — 171
Chitina. 40 43 16 2 7 — 108
Kennecott. 16 42 2 1 2 — 63
Camp 55. 1 3 — 4
Miles Glacier. 3 — 3
Katalla. 7 16 34 3 — 60
Eyak. 13 18 2 2 9 — 44
Seward. 96 12 41 9 — 158
Kanai Lake. 3 3 3 1 — 10
Valdez. 47 98 27 32 21 — 225
Reservation (Valdez).56 48 14 15 12 — 145
! Glacier (Seward).10 3 — 13
Copper Mountain.. .. 2 5 4 — 11
- - - - - -
Total.386 332 161 57 79 — 1015
' Fourth Division
Iditarod, Flat and other precincts.. 28 312 43 26 76 — 485
Fairbanks.107 318 80 37 127 — 669
Graehl. 5 50 2 5 42 — 104
Cleary. 8 59 11 9 68 — 155
Upper Cleary. 5 22 1 5 34 — 67
Lower Fairbanks. 1 13 2 1 19 — 36
Pedro. 10 6 3 19 — 38
Gilmore. 1 34 5 1 8 — 4 9
Upper Gold Stream. 2 44 7 1 25 — 79
Lower Gold Stream. 1 22 1 1 16 — 41
Little Elderado. 8 5 16 — 29
Upper Dome. 27 5 3 10 — 45
Lower Dome. 2 27 6 1 64 — 100
Ester. 10 39 16 2 70 — 137
Chena.'. 1 4 23 3 — 35
■Vault. 2 6 25 — 33
Fort Gibbon. 14 63 1 52 — 130
Total.190 1080 189 127 698 — 2284
SUMMARY OF VOTE BY DIVISIONS
1 2 3 4 Total
Gilmore. 142 523 386 190—1241
Wickersham. 478 198 332 1080—2088
Jennings. 270 199 161 189— 819
Harrais. 18 4 57 127— 206
Krauczunas. 180 230 79 698—1187
Total.1088 1154 1015 2284—5541
Apropos of the nomination for the Presidency of Theodore Roose
velt. by the National Progressive or ‘‘Bull Moose” party. It may be inter
esting to know what William Jennings Bryan thinks of the self-consti
tuted leader of "the people.’’ Throughout the states the admiration for
Teddy and his methods has dwindled and almost completely faded away.
He may still have a few followers in Alaska, but they will not be in a
position to aid very materially in recording a false endorsement of a man
whose fallacies are no longer so alluring to the American people as to
prove very deceptive to many. The great Democratic leader. Mr. Bryan, in
a recent issue of the The Commoner, had the following editorial on the
first page:
"On another page will be found Mr. Roosevelt’s editorial attack on the
Democratic platform. It is fortunate that his objections are stated now and
stated plainly so that they can be considered carefully by progressives in
both parties. Mr. Roosevelt does not believe in the fundamental principles
upon which our government is founded. He does not believe in the declar
ation of independence or in the division of powers provided for in the
constitution.
“In the Outlook editorial he criticises the Democratic position on the
Philippine question, saying:
“ ‘The Democratic party denies to this nation the right to hold Island
possessions. It would treat the Philippine problem, not on a basis of na
tional soverignty, exercised for constructive and humane purposes, but on
a basis of individualism and separation.’
‘‘In his London speech he emphasized his repudiation of the doctrine
of government by the consent of the governed and indorsed Great Britain’s
colonial policy in Egypt.
"There are but two ideas of government; the first, that a government
is an organization entirely independent of the people and resting on force—
an organization that can be thrown over a weaker people as a net is thrown
over a bird. This is the old and dying idea.
"The second theory is ours—the one set forth in our Declaration of
Independence and growing throughout the world, namely, that govern
ments are organizations framed by the people for themselves and derive
their just powers from the consent of the governed
"Mr. Roosevelt is a believer in the old theory—a theory that chal
lenges the Christian civilization of the world. He would abandon the doc
trines that have made us the leader of the nations in their progress toward
more popular government; he would put our nation at the rear of the
monarchial procession and make it a defender of the policy of force and
hypocrisy that has put commercial expansion above the inalienable rights
of man.
“He criticises our tariff plank; of course, he does this because he
stands for the doctrine of taxation of the many for the benefit of the few,
and he has done nothing to relieve the people of the extortion now being
practiced upon them through high tariff schedules.
“His references to state bank circulation, income taxes and inheritance
taxes are aside from the issue and only introduced to befog the subject.
Income and inheritance taxes can be levied for revenue only. Swollen
fortunes can be reached in other ways and can be prevented by the with
drawal of the privileges which Mr. Roosevelt defends. State bank circula
tion can be prevented by other forms of legislation, and besides the taxation
of all the people for the benefit of a few of the people does the public
infinitely more injury than a state bank circulation ever did.
•*On the trust question his position is radically wrong and probably
accounts for the support which he is receiving from some of the trusts.
“Corporations engaged in legitimate business can and should be regu
lated, but a private monopoly is different—it should not be permitted to
exist. Regulation was tried under Mr. Roosevelt himself and trusts grew
and fattened under him.
‘‘One trust, the steel trust—the worst of all—secured from him per
mission to swallow up its largest rival, and his most conspicuous supporter,
Mr. Perkins, is connected with several trusts. Mr. Roosevelt has recom
mended federal incorporation—the very thing that the trusts desire.
“The trusts want relief from state laws and Mr. Rcosevelt is the first
president to joint them in advocating this legislation. On the trust ques
tion Mr. Roosevelt is hand-in-hand with predatory wealth. His policy on
this subject is not only not progressive, but is reactionary and dangerous.
“But Mr. Roosevelt’s errors are not to be wondered at. His whole
bias is wrong. He is more Hamiltonian than Hamilton himself. No public
man since the government was formed has treated constitutional limitations
so contemptuously. He concludes his Outlook editorial with the following
significant words:
“ ‘The progressives would discard those limitations surviving from the
past that hamper and interfere with the progress of the people, and turning
forward, would insist that ninety million people of the nation should be
permitted to do whatever is necessary for the welfare of the nation and for
securing social justice.'
"Away with the constitution and let us decide what the people need
and then do it for them! That is the Roosevelt program. He has a passion
for power—such a passion as no other president ever had. No ther presi
dent ever felt so rebellious against the restrictions which our forefathers
thought it wise to throw about the executive office.
“In his Ossawattamie speech, as interpreted afterwards in the Out
look, he outlined his policy, first, the absorption by the general govern
ment of much of the power now exercised by the states; second, the absorp
tion by the federal executive of much power now exercised by other depart
ments, and, third, a president who will be looked to as the steward* of
the people.
‘‘This is not popular government; it is despotism. Add to this cen
tralization of government a man of Mr. Roosevelt’s temperament and you
have the man on horseback. He repudiates the traditions against a third
term and sets no limit to his ambition.
“Can he lead the progressive Republicans to the extreme that he repre
sents? Did he not show by his conduct at Chicago that he is more interested
in obtaining the office for himself than in advancing reforms? He could
have nominated any one of a number of progressives—why did he refuse
to stand aside?
‘‘Is there no other person big enough for such a swollen presidency as
he would create? If so, does not this show the danger of enlarging the
powers of the executive as he desires to enlarge them?
“The Democratic platform contains all the progressiveness that the
people are ready to accept and Governor Wilson can be trusted to carry
out the platform.
“Mr. Roosevelt stands for a number of progressive policies, popular
election of senators, income tax, regulation of railroads and publicity, for
instance, but these things are practically secured, and the Demorrats have
done much more than Mr. Roosevelt to secure them.
‘‘Mr. Roosevelt is in favor of the initiative and referendum but no
more than the Democrats are, and they are state issues anyhow.
“On questions now before the national government, such as tariff,
trusts, national incorporation, imperialism and the third term Mr. Roose
velt is wrong. On these subjects he is reactionary and can not secure a
following among Democrats—he can hardly hope to hold progressive
Republicans.”
Transcripts have been received at
Valdez by the clerk of court from
Fairbuuks in the bank cases aga'nst
W. H. Parsons, F. E. Barber, Faicon
Joslin, E. Webster, who are charged
in the complaints with having "pub
lished false statements of the liabili
ties of a private corporation.” whilj
its officers. These cases, along with
the rest, will be heard during the
December term of court, either at
Valdez or Cordova.
-o—b—o———
NEW YORK, Aug. 14.—The stork
safely delivered a boy baby to the
home of the recent bereaved young
widow of Col. John Jacob Astor. The
young heir was given his father's
name, and has already demonstrated
that he has lusty lungs.
You will find most of your friends
at the Chitina Hotel.
Chitina j
4 ► 4
4 ► 4
Pharmacy f
4
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4 ► X
Drugs ♦
Stationery t
Magazines X
:: Candy J
Fruit X
Cigars x
4» ——————.. III l—— 4
I A. G. MOREY, Prop, j
:: GROCERIES, HARDWARE i:
•» ' « *
:: ---and .—
II MEAT MARKET !!
■ > ■ >
i > _ <»
..
' ’ We have a big line of Sec- ‘ |
1 > ond-Hand Goods, and can j j
< • save you money on your out- •1
! . fit. Bunk House, with free «■
, , Cook House, in connection. ■ ■
■ •
« » _ I I
CHITINA HEIGHTS
' » Cordes & Simons « *
PUBLIC LAND AND MINING
CASES.
If you are interested in any contest
or any matter before the Interior De
partment, write to Clark & Wright,
registered land lawyers, 902 F Street
N. W. (opposite Gen’l Land Office),
Washington, D. C. Free information
about contests and where to obtain
scrip, locatable upon public lands,
without residence or cultivation.
Feed, Fuel
and
Lumber
HAY, BRAN, OATS, CHOPS,
ROLLED BARLEY
We can make prompt ship
ments to points on the rail
road. Our feed Is the very
best quality.
0. A. Nelson & Co.
| CHITINA