| THE fDITAROD PIONEER
PuDfiatikd Every Saturday Morning at Jdllarod, Alaska
VoL 8 CHARLES A. DERRY, Editor No. 10
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WHY IS AN ELECTION LAW?
The derision of the territorial canvassing board to
condone election irregularities in various precincts
throughout the territory does not altogether take the
people by surprise. It seems to have become cus
tomary in Alaska to regard the provisions of law en
acted for the purpose of safeguarding elections as
dead letters, and the trend of court decisions appar
ently has been to give little force to them.
Take the registration provision, for instance. In
municipal elections it is provided that a voter must
register within a given period previous to the elec
tion, and time is given for municipal clerks to make
up the register for the use of the election officials.
Although we have not seen the decision, a certain
district judge is said to have ruled at some more or
less remote period that a citizen could not be de
prived of his franchise for failure to comply with
the law, and as a result cantankerous voters may
fail to register at the prescribed time and create con
fusion at the polls on election day by insisting on
the "light" to register after the polls have opened.
By reason of this decision election boards have been
prevailed upon to hold, contrary to the statute, that
registration in the time prescribed was unnecessary.
The fact that registration is almost essential to pre
vent fraudulent voting is thrust aside as of no mo
ment, and the edict of the legislature is ignored.
The query arises, If one provision of the law can be
ignored, w’hy cannot any or all?
In the recent election the registration of voters is
said to have been entirely dispensed with in one of
the divisions. Because the law made provision that
voters may cast their ballots in any precinct of the
division, this omission would seem to be an invita
tion to fraudulent voting. Under the circumstances
there is no safeguard against a voter casting a bal
lot in more than one precinct, as there will be no
record of his illegal act. Yet the canvassing board
allowed such ballots to be counted.
Tire provision for the use of the Australian ballot
also seems to have been ignored by the board. Why
enact such a provision if it is to be nullified by elec
tion officials? To say that a ballot containing but
one name for a given office, with no space to indi
cate a preference of candidates, is legal, is to admit
the old practice of handing a voter a ballot and see
ing that he “votes it straight" as perfectly proper.
We can but believe that the canvassing board
The action of the canvassing board in this maiter
is at least suggestive of cowardice. The law directs
the board as to its duty, and its failure to follow the
advice of the attorney general is inexplicable. The
board is not a judicial body, and its action in holding
that the election law does not mean what it says is
impudent.
it is not at all likely that tne courts will go behind
the returns of the canvassing board in the absence
of direct proof of fraud, and in all probability the
certificate of election will be awarded to Wicker
sham.
-#
QUEER GERMAN DIPLOMACY
In view of the frequently reiterated outbursts of
pro-German indignation in this country against al
leged violations of American neutrality on the part
of the administration in favor of the entente allies,
the efforts that have been boldly made to commit
this government, through congress, to unneutra! acts
which would be in Germany’s interest, and the in
difference of the pro-Germans to the many outrages
committed against American industries engaged in
lawful enterprises, it is of interest to learn that for
mer Consul General Bopp of San Francisco, recently
convicted of conspiracy to violate American neu
trality, is slated for promotion upon his return to
Germany. Such is the declaration of Dr. Zoeppfel
Quellenstein, acting consul general at the California
metropolis.
Bopp was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment
and a fine of $10,000. F. H. Van Schack, former
consul general, similarly convicted, was given a like
sentence, as were Lieutenant George Wilhelm von
Brincken of the German army, a consulate attache,
and Charles Carlos Crowley, secret consulate war
agent. Mrs. Margaret Cornell, Crowley’s secretary,
was sentenced to a year and a day. The crimes for
which they will suffer included the explosion of a
barge load of dynamite in Seattle harbor about two
years ago and an attempt to set afoot a military
enterprise against Canada.
It is a remarkable fact, in view of the present
crisis in the affairs of Germany and the United States,
that in each instance where diplomats of the central
powers have incurred the displeasure of this govern
ment, the acts complained of have been rewarded
by the government of the kaiser and his ally, Aus
tria. Thus, when the German naval and military
attaches, Captain Boy-Ed and Captain Von Papen,
were dismissed by President Wilson for engaging in
acts in violation of American neutrality, and per
haps even of the criminal laws, under cover of the
German embassy at Washington, signal honors were
bestowed upon them by the kaiser. When Dr.
Dumba, the Austrian ambassador, was dismissed un
der similar circumstances, Emperor Franz Josef im
mediately conferred upon him an order of nobility.
It is difficult to reconcile these apparently studied
affronts to the American people with German pro
fessions of friendliness, both before and during the
war. It would seem that the proper course for a
friendly nation to pursue under the circumstances
would be to disavow these acts of their agents, in
stead of applauding and rewarding them.
Til at is rather poor consolation, ami seemingly out of place in
a magazine such as the North American Review, which Colonel
Harvey bestows upon the poor skeptic who is troubled about the
| question, "Why is there a God?” The Colonel refers him to a
quotation from a “modern philosopher,’ as follows: “There are
in man many regions more fertile and more profound than his rea
son or his intelligence.”
—-•
If the legislature cannot pass an election law with safeguards
that voters must comply with, we are, indeed, in a sorry plight. —
Juneau Empire.
---—4-—
Undoubtedly the cloture rule should be adopted in the United
States senate, after hist week’s exhibition of fanaticism. The
senate of the United States always has been considered too digni
fied a body to be circumscribed by ordinary parliamentary rules,
and unlimited debate has been allowed. When the interests of
the country are jeopardized in a crisis such as the present it is
time to sweep away tradition and put into effect common-sense
rules which will prevent a crank or zealot from clogging the ma
chinery of government by an egotistical display of oratory.
CORNELIA WAS THERE
(Washington dispatch)
To Mrs. Robert Hatcher of Knik, Alaska, goes the credit
of being the most successful promoter of legislation who has come
to the capital in years. She claimed to have brought about the
passage of the “bone dry” law for Alaska by the house without the
formality of a roil call.
Mrs. Hatcher represented the Women’s Christian Temperance
Union of Alaska, and has been the busiest person in and about the
halls of congress since the prohibition bill was taken up in com
mittee.
_a
WHERE DO THEY BELONG?
(Douglas Island News)
While schools ate provided here for both white and Indian
children, a peculiar condition of affairs arose this week, when four
half-breed children were refused admission both at the Indian and
white public schools. The teacher of the Indian school declined
i to take them for two reasons—first, the children are what might
j be termed civilized, and the teacher thought it would be an in
justice to take them in with full-blooded Indian pupils; and sec
ond, that school is already full to its capacity. The children then
appeared at thp white school and were denied admission on thp
ground that they are Indians, and that few parents desire to have
their children associate with either full or half Indian children.
It appears that, while the children in question are both white and
Indian, they are neither so far as the schools are concerned. The
father of the children (they are all of one family) is a white mail,
while the mother is a full-blood Indian. The family lives in the
Beach neighborhood but their home fronts on a white settlement,
and it is claimed for the children that they do not associate with
the Indians. While no right-minded person would desire to see
these half-breed children deprived of the privileges of schools and
of education, the question of properly classifying them is a some
what intricate one. If they actually have been reared to associate
with white children, it is unjust that they should be sent to an
Indian school. On the other hand, if they have not- associated
with white children, it would be unjust to the latter to have to as
sociate with them, and thus far, at least, no provision has been
made for exclusive half-breed schools. In the meantime the chil
dren are not in school, and those who have any knowledge of In
dians need not be told of what happens to half-breed children,
especially girls, who run the streets The question of where these
children belong should be settled and their position defined, and
they should be placed where they do belong.
-*
Europe’s war is making living more expensive in America—-but
worth it.—Chicago Daily News.
Ball Band Rubber Boots and Pacs
Bail Band Rubber Boots and Pacs
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GOOD GOODS /TT GOOD PRICES
COLD STORAGE HAM AND BACON
Glass “A” Potatoes, Golden State Butter, Etc., Etc., Etc.
N. C. Co. Sole Agents for Alaska
N. C. Co. Sole Agents for Alaska
PRESIDENT’S GREAT SPEECH
ON PEACE ENFORCEMENT
DELIVERED BEFORE SENATE
On Monday, January President Wilson l
appeared before the United States senate and
delivered his much-commented-upon speech
in behalf of a league to enforce world peace.
The following is the full text of that speech,
which has been variously commented upon
by public men as one of the most important
utterances ever delivered by an American
statesman:
Gentlemen of the senate: On the 18th
of December last l addressed an Identical
note to the governments of the nations now
at war requesting them to stale more deh
nitely than had yet been stated b.v cither
group or belligerents the terms upon which
they Would deem II possible, to make peace.
I spoke on behalf or humanity and or the
rights of all neutral nations like our own,
many of whose most viiai interests the war
puts in constant Jeopardy.
The renlra! powers united in a reply
whieh slated merely that they were ready
to meet their antagonists in eoiil'erence to
discuss terms of peace.
The entente powers have replied much
more definitely and have stated in general
terms, indeed, hut with suflieient deilnite
ness to imply details, the arrangements,
guarantees and acts or reparation which
they deem to he the indispensable condi
tions of a satisfactory settlement.
We are that much nearer a dellnite
discussion of the peace which shall end the
present war. We are that much nearer
the discussion or the international concert
which must thereafter hold the world at
peace. In every discussion of the peace
I hat must end tins war il Is taken for
granted that that peace most be given some
dellnite concert of power which will make
it virtually impossible that any such catas
trophe should ever overwhelm us again.
Kvery lover of mankind, every sane and
thoughtful man, must take that for granted.
To Lay the Foundations of Peacs
i have sought this opportunity to ad
dress you because you thought dial I owed
it to vou, as the council associated with
nie in The final determination of our inter
national obligations, to disclose to you.
I without reserve, the thought and purpose
that have been taking form in rny mind in
regard to the duty of our government in
these days to come, when it will he neces
sary to fay afresh and upon a new plan the
foundations of peace among the nations.
It is inconceivable that the people of the
United States should play no par! In that
great enterprise. To take part in such a
service will he the opportunity for which
they have sought to prepare themselves b.v
tlie' very principles and purposes or their
policy and fire approved practices of their
government, ever since the (lays when they
set up a new nation in the high and honor
able hope that It might in all that it was
and did show mankind the way to liberty.
They can not. in honor, withhold the serv
ice for which they are now about to he
challenged. They do not wish to withhold
It. hut they owe i( to themselves and to
the other tuitions or the world to state the
conditions under whieh they will feel free
to render It.
League to Guarantee Future peace
That service is nothing less than this—
to adit tltoir authority and their power to
the authority and force of other nations to
guarantee peace and justice throughout the
world Stii'ii a settlement cannot now he
long postponed, it Is right that before It
comes this government should frankly for
mulate the eondittons upon which it would
feel justified in asking our people to ap
prove its format and solemn adherence to
a league for peace. I am here to attempt
to state these conditions.
Tite present war must first be ended;
tint we owe It to candor and to a Just v
| yard for the opinion or mankind to say that,
so far as our participation in guarantees
of future peace is concerned, it makes a
great deal or difference In what way and
upon what terms it is ended. The treaties
and agreements which bring lf to an end
musr cml'"dy terms which will create a
peace that is worth guaranteeing and pre
serving. a peace that wilt win the approval
Of mankind: not merely a peace that will
sorve the several Interest? and Immediate
aims or the nations engaged. We shall
have no voice In determining what those
terms shall be. hut v.-e shall. T feel sure,
have a voice In determining whether they
shall he made lasting or not by the guar
antees of a universal covenant, and our
iurigment upon what is fundamental and
essential a? a rendition precedent to per
manency should be spoken now. not after
ward, when It may be too late.
Must Incorporate American Ideals
Ml eovuiaul or e:.i-up*'tat:ve peace that
dues nut include tile peoples of the new
world van sulllee to keep the future sale
against war, and yet there is otuy one sort
of peace that the peoples of America could
join in guaranteeing.
idle elements of mat peace must he ele
ments that engage the cuiilldeiu'e and sat
isfy tile principles of the American govern
ment, elements consistent with Their politi- j
eat t'aiili and the political convictions witUh 1
tile, people of America have once for ad
embraced and undertaken to defend.
I do nut mean to say that any American
government would throw any obstacle in
the, way of any terms of peace the govern
ments now at war might agree upon or seek
to upset them when made, whatever they
might he. I only take it for granted that
mere terms of peace between the belliger
ents will not satisfy evert the belligerents
themselves. Mere agreements may not
make peace sure. It will be absolutely nec
essary that a force be created as a guar
antor' of the permanency of the force of
any nation now engaged or any alliance
hitherto formed or projected, that no na
tion. no probable combination of nations,
could face or withstand it. tr the peace
presently to be made is to endure it must
be a peace made secure by the organized
forces of mankind. The terms of the im
mediate peace agreed upon will determine
whether there is a peace where such guar
antees can be secured. The question upon
which the whole future peace and policy of
the world depends is this:
What Are fney Fighting About?
is tile present war a suuggic tor a just
and secure pence or only for a new balance
of power .' 11 it be only a struggle for a
new balance of power, who will guarantee,
who can guarantee, the stable equilibrium
of the new arrangement'.' only a tranquil
Europe can he a stable Europe. There must
uc, not a balance or power, but a com
munity of power, not organized rivalries,
but an organized common peace,
i Fortunately, we have received very ex
plicit assurances on this point. The states
men of both of the groups of nations now
I arrayed against one another have said, in
terms that could not be misinterpreted,
that it was no part of the purpose they had
m mind to crush their antagonists. But
the implication of these assurances may
not lie the same on both sides of the water.
I think it will be serviceable if I attempt
to set forth what we understand them to be.
Peace Founded Upon Equality
They imply first of ail that it must be
a peace without victory, it is not pleasant
to say tins. 1 beg that I may be permitted
to put my own interpretation upon it and
that it may he understood that no other
interpretation was in my thought. 1 am
seeking only to face realities, and to face
them without soft concealments. Victory
would mean peace forced upon the loser, a
victor's terms imposed upon the van
quished. it would he made in humiliation,
under duress, at an intolerable sacrifice,
and would leave a strong resentment, a bit
ter memory, upon which terms of peace
would rest, not permanently, but only as
upon quicksand. Only a peace between
equals can last; only a peace the very prin
ciples of which are equality and a common
participation in a common beneiit. The
right state of mind, the right reeling be
tween nations, is as necessary for a la img
peace as is the just settlement of vexed
questions of territory or of racial and na
tional allegiance.
The equality of nations upon which peace
must be rounded, if it is to last, must be
an equality or rights; the guarantees ex
changed must neither recognize nor imply
a difference between big nations and small,
between those that are powerful and those
that are weak. Right must be based upon
the common strength, not upon the indi
thdual strength of the nations upon whose
concert peace will depend. Equality of
territory or of resources there of course
cannot be; nor any other sort of equality
not gained in the ordinary peaceful and
legitimate development or the peoples
themselves. But no one asks or expects
anything more than an equality or rights.
Mankind is looking now for freedom of life,
for equipoise or power.
For Polish independence
And there is a deeper thing Involved than
even equality of rights among organized
nations. Ao peace can last, or ought to
last, widen does not recognize and accept
tin- principle that governments derive their
jusi powers from the consent of tin- gov
erned, and that no right anywhere exists
to hand peoples about from sovereignty
to sovereignty as If they were property,
l take it for granted, for Instance, if 1 may.
venture upon a single example, that states
men everywhere are agreed that there
should be a united, independent and au
tonomous Poland; that henceforth an In- |
violabie security of life, of worship and of j
Industrial and social development should ,
he guaranteed to all people who have lived
hitherto under the power of governments
devoted to faith and purpose hostile to
their own.
“Consent of the Governed” Essential
1 speak of tills not because of any desire
to exalt an abstract political principle
which lias always been held very dear by |
those who have sought lo build up liberty |
m America, but for tile same reason that 1
have spoken of the other conditions of
peace which seem to tne clearly indispen
sable because I wish frankly to uncover
realities. Any peace which does not rec
ognize and accept this principle will in -
eviiably he upset, li will not rest upon
the affections or the convictions of man
kind. The ferment of spirit of whole pop
ulations will light subtly and constantly
against it, and all the world will sympa
thize. The world can be at peace only if
its life is stable, and there can he no sta
bility where the will is In rebellion, wnere
there is not tranquillity of spirit and a
sense of justice ami freedom and right.
Nation* Should Bo Given Outlet to Sea
far a.- practicable, moreover, every
great people imw struggling toward si full
development of its resources and d id
powers should he assured a direct outlet
to the great highways or the sens. Where
this cannot be done by the cession of terri
tory, II can be done, no d< ubi, through tin*
neutralization of direct rights oi way under
the general guarantee which will assure the
peace itself. With a right comity or ar
rangement no nation need be shut away
from free accos to the open paths of the
world's commerce.
And tile paths of th-* sea rmi<t alike in
law and tact he free. The freedom or the
.seas is tin* sine qua noil of peace, equality
and co-operation. Mo doubt a somewhat
radical reconsideration of many or the
rules or International practice hitherto
sought i" be established may be necessary
m « rdrr to make the seas indeed free and
common in practically all circumstances
for the use of mankind, but tin* motive fur
<ueh changes u convincing and compelling
There can be no trust or intimacy between
the peoples or the world without them.
Tin* free, constant, uathreatened niter
course of nations is an essential part of tin*
process of peace and of development. It
need not be difficult to dt line or t » secure
the freedom of the seas it the governments
or the world sincerely desire to come to
an agreement concerning if
Concession and Sacrifice
It is a problem closely connected with
the limitation of naval armaim-nts and the
co-op -ration of th** navies of the world in
keeping the seas at once free and sale.
And the question of limiting naval arma
ments t.pens the wider and perhaps more
difficult question or the limitation of armies
and of all programs of military prepara
tion Difficult and delicate as these ques
tions are. they must be faced with the ut
most candor and decided in a spirit of real
accommodation If peace is to come with
healing i" its wings and come to .-lay.
ivaoc cannot be had without concession and
sacrifice. There can in* no sell'*- T safety
-•lid equality among the nations if greaf
preponderating armaments are henceforth
to eon'Mine her*- and there to be built up
and maintained. The statesmen of the
world mus.f plan for pear** and nations mu si
adjust and accommodate their policies
it as fit y have planned for war an I made
ready for pitiless content and rivalry. The
question of armament', whether <n land
(,f a. Is the most immediately and in
tensely practical question connected with
the future fortunes of nations and of man
kind.
Voices World's Yearning Desire
I have spoken upon these great matters
without reserve and with the utmost ex
plicitness because it lia< seemed to me to
be necessary if the world1' yearning desire
for peace was anywhere to find free voice
and utterance. Perhaps 1 am the only per
son in high authority amongst all th*- peo
ples of the world who is at liberty fn_speak
and lin'd nothing hack. I am speaking as
an individual, and yet I am speaking also,
of course, as the responsible head of a
great government, and 1 feel that I have
said what the people of the t'nlfed Stab-s
w* "Id wish me to sav. May I not add that
1 hope and believe that 1 am in effect speak
ing for libera's and friends of humanity
>n everv nation and of every program nr
liberty? I would Tain believe that I am
speaking for the silent mass of mankind
everywhere who have as yet had no place
or opportunity to speak their real hearts
out concerning the death and ruin they see
to have come already upon the persons and
tin* homes they held most dear.
A World-Wide Monroe ooctrlne
And in holding out the expectation that
the people and government of the United
States will join the other* civilized nations
or the world in guaranteeing the perform
ance ( f peace upon such tenn< as I have
named. T speak with the greater boldness
and confidence because it is clear to every
man who ran think that there is in this
promise no breach In either nnr traditions
or our policy as a nation, hut a fulfillment
rather < r all That we have professed or
striven for.
1 am proposing, as it were, that the na
tions should with one accord adont the
doctrine of President Monroe as the doc
trine of the world; that no nation should
seek to extend if> policy over any other
nation nr people, hut that every people he
left free to determine its own policy, its
own way of development, unthreatened, un
afraid. the little along with the great and
powerful.
I am proposing that all nations henceforth
avoid an entangling alliance which would
draw them into competitions of power,
catch them in a net of Intrigue and selfNh
rivalry and disturb their own nITairs with
influences intruded from without. There
is no entangling alliance in a concert of
powers. When all unite to act m the >amo
sense and with the «nmc purpose, all act
m the '*ommon interest and are free to
live their own lives under a common pro
tection.
Our Principles the Principles of Mankind
I am proposing government by ihe con
sent of the governed: that freedom of the
seas which in international conf, renee after
conference representatives of the United
States have urged with the eloquence of
those who are the convinced disciples of
liberty; and that moderation of armaments
which makes of armies and navies a power
for order merely, not an instrument of ag
gression or of selfish violence.
Those are American principles, American
policies. We stand Tor no others. And
they are also the principles and policies of
forward-looking men and women every
where. of every modern nation, of every
enlightened community. They are the prin
ciples of mankind arid must prevail.
STAVING OFF BANKRUPTCY
According to the correspondent of the
Paris Petit Journal in Geneva a decree is
about to be submitted to the emperor of
Austria whereby a fourh part of the real
and personal property of all the subjects
and inhabitants of the empire is to become
the property of the sttte in exchange for
a kind of mortgage binds. According to
the correspondent, the bonds will be re
deemed by the state when the financial sit
uation permits. The act is necessary to
stave off imminent bankruptcy.
P r o fcssional
Michigan, 188 1 Alaska, i*t«
Kentucky, 1891
George Woodruff Albrecht
COUNSELOR AND LAWYER
IDITAROD ALASKA
The Pioneer Attorney of Idlurod
E. M, STANTON
Attorney at Law
Office: Corner Wilkw and Second Ssa.
Iditarod Pionier Building
CHAS. E. TAYLOR
Attorney at Law
8ANK BLOCK
First Avenue Iditarod
DR. MOORE
PHYSICIAN AND SURQEON
DRUG STORE
DR. H. E. AURINQER
Physician and Surgeon
Office: Flit City Hospital, Flat Cftji
Consultation Flours in Forenoon* and fcy
Appointment
FLAT DRUG STORE
Best of Everything
ALL THE TIME AT THE
Arcade Cafe
FLA'l' C IT V
Open Dov and Night
FINE WATCH REPAIRING
NUGGET JEWELRY TO ORDER
J. L. SALE, Flat City
Pf APARFT^ bl? and small, printed on
* f-.rt v rt.t\UJ pap,,r. cardboard or rlotb,
on short notice, at Iditarorl Pioneer office.
OPEN DAY AND NIGHT
DISCOVERY
CAFE
FLAT CITY HOHBACK A DURAND
Bat. the Grand and Bagsy'i Bar*
THE BEST ALL THE TIME
WE ARE HERE TO STAY
French Joe's Roadhoust
SOUTH FORK KUSKOKWIM
DOC BACON AND FISH
FOR SALE
Big Stocks of Fresh Goods
Everything for the Miner and
Prospector
MAX SfWEL rs
Stores at Cripple City and Mouth of Tolstoi
FINNEGAN & CAMERON
FLAT CITY
Agency for Edison Diamond Disc Phonographs and Records
TOBACCO CIGARS STATIONERY
CONFECTIONERY AND BILLIARDS
C. R. Camoron Jas. F. Finnegan
THOS. McMAHON
DEALER IN
General Merchandise
FLAT, ALASKA