THE ID3TARG52 PIONEER
—r*-*
Published Every Saturday Morning at Iditarod, Alaska
Vol. 7 CHARLES A. DERRV, Editor and Publisher No. 11
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WHY HE DISAGREES WITH THE PIONEER
To tin' I editor of The lditarod Pioneer.
As one American who, at least as far as American affairs are
concerned, tries to be fair-minded and impartial, who did not
resent or become indignant over Colonel Harveys editorial in the
North American Review, 1 will a-k you to allow me to say "h\
I disagree with your editorial. "\ icwed Through foreign Rye-.
In the first place, 1 quite agree that it the official acts ot the
President of the United States redound to this country's welfare
i! is quite irrelevant and immaterial what may be thought ot
them by expatriated Americans, or by foreigners, whether they
belong to the "upper five” or the “lower ten." That is. so far as
such opinions shall lie allowed by a President to control his acts,
a- a general rule. There may be and have been times when such
opinions should be and have been taken into consideration; tor
instance, by President Wilson in urging the repeal of the canal
tolls. And 1 believe that at the present time it is of high impor
tance that we Americans should stop, look and listen to what
other nations think of us.
C( lonel Harvey’s editorial reflects the views of one class of
Englishmen ; but, to say the least, n is far from being unintiuen
tiai. And that it may be composed of aristocrats, whose comfort -
able state of being has been disturbed by war. does nut belittle
the weigh:t of its opinions. >.o class of Englishmen has •mffered
and will continue such property losses, and no other class has
I cen more lavish in their willing sacrifice of their lives fur their
r cal.-. And, i venture to say. their lasses in weal:!i and persona!
v.i'lfare have been farthest from their thoughts, brom 1 SO 1 to
IMio the Southern army, rank and file, was filled with the blood
kin of these English autocrats. The Southern aristocracy ^ for
five years carried on a light which they knew must end in tneir
financial ruin. Win < r 1 ’se. slavery was done for. Were their
motives purely selfish .; l take it the Southern aristocrat of ISO!
what the old slaves remembered as “the blood and the lvnimsh
aristocrat of today are on a par when it comes to a question of
impelling force. So, though Colonel Harvey's Englishmen are
aristocrats, and though caste is not to be dreamed of in this coun
try. in considering their opinions Americans should remember that
from their ranks are drawn a majority of the members of the
house of commons, and that of their government President Wilson
has said. “Great Britain is the strongest government in the world.
Not only that; it is the most direct democracy in the world. ' 1
cannot see that Colonel Harvey tries to persuade his readers that
these people with whom he talked represented all England. Quite
to the contrary, his article tends to show that all classes felt as
they did, even the “Tommy who told the nurse to I k k. after his
wounded battery commander, an American, with the words. “Tike
good care of ini, miss; ’e ain’t too proud to tight. Why should
Harvey tell his friends that phrase had been misapplied, when
they admitted it themselves?
As for the authors motive 'the visitor remarked mat He mat
rome to ask, not to answer, questions.” The foreword of the
December number of the magazine says that "the editor will re
sume his editorials, embodying in them his observations on con
ditions as he finds them.” What Colonel Harvey has undertaken
to do is nothing more nor less than to report what he has seen
and heard. And to me the most amazing thing about the article
is the things that he has reported. The value to Americans of
his observations is not affected by his ‘'repudiation’’ by Wilson.
Rather, I should say. by “Europe at Armegeddon.’ “Uphold the
President.” “America Eir.-t." Nor did Colonel Harvey need to
make plain his position on past, present or future relations be
tween his country and Great Britain. Already he had served
written notice in his “Open Letter to Lord Northcliffe.” In his
magazine he already had refuted Roosevelt’s fallacies about Bel
gium, the United btates and The Hague conferences, and from
his present article the inference is fair that he did it again in
England. Whether he agrees in all things with our present ad
ministration does not detract from the merit of his report. Is
every reporter pusillanimous who does not become an ardent de
bater when his country or the administration is criticized, at home
01 abroad'!
So much for the interviewer and interviewed. Ut what 1:11
p- rtance are such interviews to Americans? Well, would it af
fect the attitude of any Americans toward the present war if
there had been a more general understanding over here of what
was said and thought in 177b by the best statesmen and most
liberal of the Englishmen? Would it make any difference to any
Americans today if they had been impressed with the opinions of
a majority of Englishmen in 1SG1 about "the late unpleasant
ness”? flow did the English fed in 1S9S ? When we stop lmg
enough to realize that out of this war there may come another
war between Great Britain and the United States, is it not im
t riant that on both sides of the Atlantic there should be a full
knowledge of each other’s opinions, so that all avoidable misun
derstandings may be avoided?
Granted Harvey’s people are aristocrats. They are not without
honor in their own country; their class has furnished no small
number of the ablest English statesmen, who have decided the
foreign policies of their country Don’t you : oppose that the gos
dp of some of the Cecil trbie about Venezuela might have been
of interest to Bayard or Phelps, or Gresham or Olney? If these
pc pE think we are too proud or too supine to fight, we ought to
know about it. Remember, if Colonel Harvey was correctly in
formed. their opinions are held and their feelings shared in by
Americans-—unhyphenated and not expatriated - who are fighting
for a cause for which, as Americans pure and simple, they think
it well worth while to risk their lives. If these English are mis
taken .they should be put right. If the official words or acts of
the administration have got the people in wrong, well, we .-hall
have a chance to speak for our.-elv..- next November.
The important thing for Americans to think over is this; Has
ii ever paid any nation to allow its rivals or its enemies to think
it cannot or will not tight? If China had Germany’s army or Great
Britain's navy, where would the exclusion acts be? Majuba Hill
die not rightly measure the relative strength of the Boer repub
lic,- and the British empire. The Boers thought it did. The Vir
ginius episode did not gauge our ability to take Cuba from Spain.
Buchanan’s hesitancy, vacillation and pusillanimity did not mean
that the North would not fight;-but the South thought so. In
the long run, how much would have been saved if what had to
be done at last had been done in the first instance! “Watchful
waiting” and “too proud to fight” would have saved many an j
American life if they bad been left unsaid. And finally, would |
the present war have started in August, 1914, if the German gov
ernment had not misjudged the temper of the British people and
the British empire?
For these reasons I consider Mr. Whelpley’s article in The
Outlook for January 12 and Colonel Harvey’s article worth read
ing and thinking about. And I only wish that the latter could
interview some of the aristocrats living on Filter den Linden or
near Potsdam. E. M. STANTON.
Mr. Stanton's letter presents a view of the pres
ent crisis in national affairs which we believe will not
be generally held. Moreover, in spite of his claim
that he “tries to be fair-minded and impartial,” the
conclusions arrived at by him give at least a suspi
cion of partisanship. Probably our correspondent
finds it comparatively easy to disagree with a man
with whose policies he is not in sympathy and in
whose administration he has no confidence. With the
instinctive respect for precedent of the lawyer, he
cites the repeal of the Panama canal tolls exemption
law in support of the proposition that consideration
should be given to the views of foreigners on Ameri
can policies. But as sometimes happens with the
gentlemen of the law, the citation is inapt. In that
instance President Wilson was actuated by the belief
that the honor of the nation demanded the repeal of j
the obnoxious law as being in contravention of his
interpretation of an existing treaty, and not by what j
was thought abroad of the privileges granted to
American shipping.
The spectacle of the dignified Colonel Harvey as
a reporter, notebook m hand, listening in silence to
views reflecting on his country and its chief execu
tie is rather too much for the imagination. A re
porter would not, of course, debate with the inter
viewed the subject-matter of the interview. And as
proving that Harvey was not acting in the capacity
merely of a reporter, he relates how his own views
were accepted by the host on one of the subjects dis
cussed, and the matter was dropped. “In his mag
azine he already had refuted Roosevelt’s fallacies,
•Y- y v ancj from his present article the inference
is fair that he did il again in England,” says Mr.
Stanton.
The reasoning involved in the suggestion that
many an American bfe would have been saved had
(certain utterances of President Wilson not been
made is difficult to follow. It would not have saved
“many an American life,” for instance, if, instead
of adopting the policy of “watchful waiting,” Presi
dent Wilson had followed the advice cf the Ameri
can nrili’onaire holders of .Mexican mines red od
lands and brought about war upon the ravaged re
public in order to protect their investments, i he
President was right when he intimated that tire
United States was “too proud to fight” the battles
of the mine-owners and oil magnates who, as is
quite well known—or at least such belief is gener
ally accepted—fomented and financed the different
revolutions in Mexico for their own selfish ends.
As to the value of the opinions quoted by Colonel
Harvey, they are at least doubtful. The md gnation
of the American commander of a British battery who
admitted reprisals against the Teutons of the most
revolting nature, for instance, would not be given
much weight. Probably Colonel Harvey would have
us attach more importance to his observations than
they merit.
A —
EFFECT CF PROHIBITION LAW IN SEATTLE
It is rather early to begin drawing deduct’ons as
to the operation of the prohibition law in the state
of Washington, which went into effect the first of
the present year. Reports of the number of arrests
for drunkenness for the first twenty-nine days that
the law was effective show, however, a decided fall
ing off. It must be remembered that while the saloon
has been legislated out of business, it is possible still
to procure liquor in that state. The Seattle Post
Intelligencer of January 29 says:
Drunkenness in Seattle during the first month under the oper
ation of the new dry law fell off approximately 82 per cent com
pared with the corresponding month a year ago. Statistics emu
\ iicd from the records of the police department up to and in
cluding Saturday, January 29. give a total of eighty-nine arrests
for drunkenness. These figures include that class of delinquency
coming under the head of “sober drunks” booked on New Year’s
eve. and disorderly conduct. The number of arrests in January.
1615, for similar off noses was 482. The records of the county
auditor’s office up to 5 o’clock Saturday show a total of 1,955
liquor permits issued. These permits cost 25 cents each, so the
total brought the county a revenue of £488.75.
-1- * —
It appears that the condition of the natives in the neighbor
hood of Sleimut. on the Kuskokwim. frequently has been ca led
to the attention of the federal authorities, but no means have been
provided for alleviating their sufferings. The natives of other sec
tions (T the United States have been lavishly provided for. and
there is not the least excuse for allowing these poor people to
continue in ignorance, squalor and destitution without at least
an attempt being made to save them. The governor of Alaska
in a general way calls attention to the destitution of the natives
of the Interior of Alaska. But the horrible conditions should be
brought home to the authorities in specific form, The handling
Oi the. native problem in remote sections of Alaska constitutes a
disgrace to our government.
-4— - -
There is great distress in Poland because of the ravages of
v ar, and President WiUon by proclamation set aside New Year’s
clay as a day “upon which the people of the United States may
make such contributions as they feel disposed for the aid of the
stricken Polish people.” There has been, as there should be. a
generous response, just as there was in the case of Belgium. The
plan of relief evidently had Germany’s approval. It is to be
Imped, however, that the plan carried out in Belgium will not
be resorted to in Poland. While the United States was pouring
millions of dollars into the Belgian relief fund. Germany was
extracting from the war-ridden country other millions as war in
demnify.
Some of the territorial neswpapers have found a mare’s nest
in the fact that Delegate Wickersham’s bill providing for an
.Alaska administrative board provides that only two of its mem
bers must be bona fide residents of the territory, and that this
may mean that the governor and surveyor general may be the
only Alaskans on the commission which is “to govern the terri
tory.” If these newspapers will forget about the commission’s
“governing the territory” it may help in the sensible discussion
of this important an i beneficial measure. Most of the activities
oi the proposed com lesion will relate to matters which, even in
sovereign states, are h/ndled entirely by the national government,
end none of them has reference to civil government of the terri
tory.
-■*
Delegate Wickersham has introduced in congerss a bill which
provides that on and after July 1, 1917, all moneys derived from
and collected for liquor licenses, occupation or trade licenses,
outside of incorporated towns in the territory of Alaska, and now
Paid into the “Alaska fund” in the treasury department of the
t niteu States, in pursuance of the act of congress of January 27,
1905, and the several acts amendatory thereof, shall be paid to
the territorial treasurer of Alaska by the clerks of the district
courts in Alaska, and the legislature of the territory of Alaska is
authorized and empowered to appropriate and expend the said
fund for territorial uses.”
The Nome Industrial Worker prints a letter from a man who
e-caped from the Morningside sanitarium, where Alaska’s insane
s-e cared for, which gives a revolting picture of conditions there.
The Nome paper says: ‘While the facts may be overstated and
there may be exaggeration in detail which does not do exact jus
tice, yet distinctly in the interests of humanity it demands space
in this paper and attention from its readers. If there is even a
scintilla of foundation for the remarks contained in this letter,
then Alaskans should leave no stone unturned to secure redress
cf a most damnable and most scandalous condition ”
-*
Seward, in anticipation of the completion of the government
railroad, desires that it shall not be taken from it by some Jim
Crow power that may go to war with the United States, and
therefore has advised President Wilson to make it a naval base.
Go to it, neighbor; we’re with you.
•-♦
Alaska, at least, will benefit from the enforcement of the
Lafollette seamen’s act. No more will arapacious steamship com
pany be allowed to stow passengers away like sardines, and trav
eling to and from Alaska will be made more comfortable.
-♦
By reversing all the protests that Great Britain made to the
l nited States during the civil war it is possible to obtain a fairly
correct notion of contemporary British theory of international law.
- New York World.
TOMORROV/
I always say, “Tomorrow morn
please sound upon the bugle horn,
and rouse me early; for, by jings,
I've got to do a peck of things! To
morrow 1 have planned to start to
tear the universe apart. Tomorrow,
by the isles of Greece! my lazy days
have got to cease! Then I will tote
a bigger load, then 11! not rest beside
the road, then I’ll not lie abed till
late. I'll tumble out and pull my
freight, when I have had uiy Irish
stew, to where there are some things
to do; and I will do them, onc-two
throe! No one shall ever say of me,
“He was a lazy sort of guy; he used
to let the days drift by the while he
lay beneath the trees and watched the
butterflies and bees.” No, sir ! They 11
say when I am gone, when I’ve my
trailing garment on, and got my harp
from off the hook, “It’s too bad that
guy was took! Nobody in this teary
vale has toiled so hard or earned
such kale." And so I say “Tomorrow
morn sound load upon the bugle horn,
or come and drag me from the hay,
for I have got to get away and start
things going with a jump. Days past
I've been a lazy chump; but now I'll
wadi the orphans’ ears, and I will dry
th.- widow'.' tears, and I’ll go out and
get the goat of that there guy who
rocks the boat. And I have got to
slop the pigs, and pail the cows, and
greats the tigs. And I mean to wake
ere it is light ami hump myself till
it is night.” That is the thing I al
ways say before I go to hit the hay;
that’s always my night-timely spiel.
But when the morning dawns I feel
like tearing off a few yards more of
healing deep and rhythmic shore, aim
1 suppose I will do that until Fate
kicks me in the slat. But no! I shall
not, will not be a lazy guy eternally!
Tomorrow I'll get up, and then -great
heavens! There I go again! -Judd
Mortimer Lewis in Houston Post.
; WILL WICKERSHAM BE
THE REPUBLICAN NOMINEE?
(Seward Gateway!
Will Hon. James Wickershani be the
candidate of the Republican party for dele
gate this year?
Has the postponement of the meeting of
the territorial committee here had anything
to do with a desire to learn what is to be
done before the territorial convention has
| been decided upon ?
This paper has stated before that a .- r m
| body of opinion is that Wickershani will
j seek the nomination of the regular Re
| publicans. He has already abandoned the
Bull Moose, and appears in the Congres
sional Directory as a Republican, and we
i have hoard lots of rumors about the pos-u
{ blny of his appearing as the candidate for
! the nomination by the regulars of the ter
! ritory.
I William li. l-opppnuiii nas hern queued
! in the Juneau Dispatch of January 23 as
' saying practically that Wickersham will be
l an aspirant for the nomination at the ter
! ntorial convention. Mr. Coppernoll’s opin
1 inn is chiefly worthy of notice, remeber.
because he has just returned from Wash
! ington and has met the delegate there. But
; Mr. Conperneli is quoted as going further
and telling that Seward Republicans will
! send a solid delegation to the convention
■ for Wick. He is not quoted as saying how
he found this out, when no one in Seward
: know of it before. The following is what
i the Juneau paper says:
“William D. Coppernoll. a well-known at
* ♦orney of Seward, who is in the city, a
I guest of the Alaskan, says Seward will send
a solid delegation to the Republican con
vention for Wickersham.”
The Dispatch is a Wickershcm paper but
it could hardly be mistaken about what
Coppernoll said, and Mr. Coppern- 11 has just
been speaking with Wickersham himself,
of course. Mr. Coppernoll is now attorney
under pent la who suck political strength
, from Wickersham’s popularity. Be that as
it may, it really locks as though Wick
will go forward for that regular no min a
lion, and it will be interesting to learn what
the men who posed as Wickersham Demo
crats during a Democratic administration
will do.
*
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per can. Idilarod Meat Co.
VISITING CARDS-:;:":,,
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If You Are Interested in
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Matckler Bros.
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Michigan, 1881 Alaska, 1910
Kentucky, 1891
George Woodruff Albrecht
COUNSELOR AND LAWYER
IDITAROD, ALASKA
The rioneer Attorney of Iditarod
E. M. STANTON
Attorney at Law
Office: Corner Willow and Second fct9.
Iditarod Pioneer Building
CM AS. E. TAYLOR
Attorney at Law
BANK BLOCK
First Averuis Iditarod
Fred Harrison
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Room i Over Merchants Cafe
DR. raUOORE
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
DR. H. E. AURJ^GER
Physician and Surgeon
Office: Fiat City Hospital, Flat City
Conciliation Iluurs in Forenoons and by
Appointment
DR. H. I3EHLA
i
FLAT CITY
___
Will Arrive in Iditarod by the first boat in
the spring
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EZZC1 GENERAL MERCHANDISE
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