Manager, 10 Employes Fired
By Native Service; A MC A •
Crippled By Arbitrary Action
(The Alaska Weekly)
By PAUL A. DUMAS
When an agency of the United
States government, arbitrarily and
without court order, steps in and
confiscates the operating funds of
a private business, fires its mana
ger along with 10 of his 11 em
ployees, it is time for the public
to start asking questions.
This is what has happened to
the Alaska Native Industries Co
operative Association’s headquar
ters in Seattle. The Bureau of
Indian Affairs, Department of the
Interior, has moved to take over
the native-owned enterprise lock,
stock and barrel.
What the bureau failed to ac
complish through the courts—it
recently was refused a request for
a temporary injunction against
ANICA’s manager, Louis" C. Pe
ters, by a federal judge in Seattle
—it managed to do by fiat. Today,
not only Peters, but all but one of
his employes are out of a job. The
employees were summarily fired
for writing a bitter letter of pro
test to Secretary of Interior Doug
las McKay.
Meanwhile, the government has
succeeded in confiscating ANICA’s
funds on deposit with a Seattle
ban'-, thus leaving the business
impotent to purchase needed sup
plies for its 55 s:ores in remote
Alaskan villages. And this comes
during the period when most of
the co-op’s buying is transacted.
Whai Goes Here .
How could such a thing come to
pass? By what authority can the
government proceed in such an
arbitrary fashion with perfect im
punity- Why the action—is it the
government's purpose to return
the privately-owned co-op to the
Alaska Native Service, under
whose- auspices it was formed?
To these and other related ques
tions this writer has sought an
swers. I have queried most of the
principals in the- case who could
be reached in Seattle. The one
man who might have been the
most helpful was the least coop
erative—V. R. Farrell, administra
tive assistant in Seattle to the area
director of the Alaska Native Ser
vice. He simply referred me to
legal counsel of the* Interior De
partment for information^
One day last week two of these
attorneys came to my office. Since
they asked not to be identified,
and since an hour’s questioning
produced little- which would throw
light on the really puzzling aspects
of the case, I must use documents
obtained from the ANICA people
as a basis for explaining what has
happened—and why.
Background
To start at the beginning, the
Bureau of Indian Affairs’ action
is against ANICA’s manager,
Louis C. Peters. The bureau wants
him removed—has, in effect, al
ready removed him although he,
along with his entire staff, still
occupy ANICA’s Seattle premises.
The government’s action began
with a letter date-d Nov. 25, 1953,
and signed by Glen L. Emmons,
commissioner of Indian affairs.
The letter was addressed to each
r - -
Modem Laundry & Dry Cleaners
FIRST AVE. & LANES WAY PHONE MAIN 113
EIGHT-HOUR SERVICE
————~ - —
of the 33 directors of ANICA in
| Alaska, and listed a bill of par
I ticulars against Peters.
Representatives of the bureau,
meanwhile, proferred a resolution
j individually to ANICA’s directors
in Alaska for signature, thereby
j enabling the bureau to show it
'had the approval of the director
for removal of Pe-ters. The gov
i eminent, after obtaining a major
ity of the 33 directors’ signatures,
promptly filed action in federal
court in Seattle to obtain a pre
liminary injunction against Petres.
Injunction Denied
Federal Judge William J. Lind
berg Jan. 8 denied the govern
ment's petition, stating it had
failed to show necessity for such
a drastic measure. He did not rule
on the merits of the case.
The hearing produced evidence,
however, that only 18 of the asso
ciation’s directors had signed the
Indian Bureau’s resolution which
supposedly showed it was being
supported in its action against
Peters, by a majority of the direc
tors, freely and willingly. Subse
quent evidence I have seen, such
I as photostats of communications
j to Peters from individual direc
. tors, tends to cast a shadow on the
j methods used by the Interior De
partment’s representatives in ob
taining the signatures.
Also, during the hearing Judge
Lindberg produced and read a
copy of a telegram to Peters from
the president of the ANICA board,
Abraham Lincoln, who died last
week in Juneau. Lincoln, in words*
which left no doubt as to his
meaning, expressed firm support
of Peters.
ANICA Taken Over
Denied its appeal fer an in
junction against Peters, the gov
ernment nevertheless proceeded to j
take over ANICA’s Se-attle head- ;
quarters.
Peters already had been advised !
by letter he no longer was mana
ger of the association. Letters
went out to some 200 business
firms which do busine-ss with
ANICA that henceforth these sup
pliers were to submit their ac
counts to the Alaska Native Ser
vice for payment. ANICA’s Seattle
employes also received a letter no
tifying them their pay checks
would come from the government.
These letters were signed by Far
rell.
The action was being taken,
Farrell wrote the suppliers, “with
the approval of the majority of
the directors of ANICA and under
the legal authority of the United
States to control the affairs of the
natives.”
Employes Draft Letter
Meanwhile, ANICA’s Seattle em
ployes drafted a bitter letter of
protest to Secretary of Interior
McKay for 'the action against Pe
; ters and professed firm loyalty
j to their boss. It was signed by 10
j of the 11 persons which make up
| the Seattle staff of ANICA. This
I letter was dated Jan. 23, 1954.
This week, each of those who
' signed the letter received a letter
from Farrell informing the recip
Student Fugitive
O
I From Reds Glad
To Re Home In N.f.
HILLSIDE, N. J., <M-—J o h n
Hvasta, tight-lipped and emotion
al, came home to the arms of his
family Saturday after five years
as a prisoner and fugitive in Com
munist Czechoslavakia.
His family and Hillside digni
taries met the Czech-born Ameri
can at Idlewild Airport, then
whisked him back to New Jersey
for a family breakfast at a res
taurant in nearby Union.
But first John went to his mod
est two-family home here with his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Michael
Hvasta, and his brother, Stephen,
to change clothes.
The 26-year-old Navy veteran
embraced his mother at the air
port and cried “Thank God! Thank
God!” Ducking a formal press
conference at the airport, he called
tensely to his brother, “Let’s go
home. Let’s get away. Where’s
the exit?”
To reporters he said:
“I’m glad to be home. Anybody
that’s been in the situation I have
been in really knows what it feels
like to be home.”
But he declined to give any
details of his imprisonment on
espionage charges while studying
in Czechoslavakia and his sub
sequent escape, his game of hide
asd seek with the police arid his
refuge in the American embassy.
Reporters asked him if he had
been in touch with his Czech wife,
who has been reported missing.
“No,” he replied softly, his eyes
filling with tears.
ient he or she no longer is an em
ploye of ANICA. Termination of
their services was retroactive to
Jan. 21, Farrell stated.
How come all this?
Obviously, the key to the puzzle
lay in the Bureau of Indian Af
fairs’ complaint against Peters.
The only source I have- been able
to find which might thow light on
this complaint \yas provided me i
by Peters himself. It is a copy of
the letter w’hich was circulated
among the ANICA directors.
Won't Talk
I was able to learn little from
talking to the Department of In
terior employes in Seattle. I even
queried Asst. U.S. Atty. Edward
J. McCormick, the man who han
dled the (Indian Bureau’s peti
tion for a preliminary injunction
against Peters in federal court.
Since he may be the* one to handle
the case if and when it comes to
court again, and since revealing
information might prejudice this
case, he must be absolved of any
blame for asking me not to put
him on the spot.
GLUE POT
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