IDITAROD PIONEER
1 • L L< 1 IS111'll I.M.ltY SATUUlAY MOHMXC AT 1UITAHOI), ALASKA
VoI 6 Coo. M Arbucklc. Publisher No. 30
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
One year . $10.00 'One Monlli . $1.00
SIX Months . 5.00 ! Simile Copy.
Advertising Rates on Application__
NOTICE.—Persons sending- advertising- copy from a distance are particularly re
P* «•: o 11 to he care ml in preparing- the same. The publisher cannot accept the
responsibility for altering* eopy. t specially in tin* case of forfeiture and other leg-ai
notices, it is, therefore, imperative that such notices be clearly written, particu
larly as reg-ards names and dates.
THE ALASKA FISHERIES
There has been published as a public document a speech of Delegate
James Wickersham of Alaska on the Alaska fisheries which has not been
given the attention of the press of the territory to which its importance
entitles it, and the contents of which should be known to every resident
of Alaska who has the interests of the territory—and, indeed, of the
nation—at heart. It contains a copy of a bill (H. R. 21607) to amend
the laws for the protection and regulation of the fisheries of Alaska.
The delegate says that “for two or three days the deputy commissioner
of fisheries, from Virginia, carried the bill around the capitol attempt
ing to secure its introduction by members of congress from the Pacific
coast, who. to their credit, invariably refused to introduce it for him.”
“In my judgment,” says the delegate, “it is the culmination of the ef
forts of the fish trust to secure a complete monopoly of the Alaska fish
eries, and unless congress shall stop, look and listen and know some
thing about the fisheries situation in Alaska, the Swift meat trust, the
Booth Fisheries Company and the Alaska Packers Association will
own, as well as control, the immense food supply of Alaska under their
trust arrangement and this bill. It is a matter of such serious impor
tance to the people of the United States, and especially to those in
Alaska and on the Pacific coast, that the widest publicity ought to be
given concerning it."
Mr. Wickersham has incorporated his views on the question in a let
ter to the President, which is set forth in full m the document under
discussion, and which constitutes a most amazing expose of the ignor
ance and apparent venality with which the laws governing this most
important of Alaska’s resources have been administered.
The letter gives the details of the organization of the fisheries trust,
its apparent control of United States officials intrusted with the enforce
ment of the fisheries laws; of the rewards meted out by it to former
officials who have been of service to it; of seemingly corrupt transfer
of property, and of the collaboration of United States officials with the
fish trust in lobbying measures favorable to the trust through congress.
These revelations, fortified by extracts from reports of congressional
committee investigations, seem to indicate that the bureau of fisheries
has been used as an adjunct of the fish trust in all matters relating to
Alaska’s fisheries. Speaking of this bureau and its connection with the
trust, Delegate Wickersham proceeds as follows:
“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien
That to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet, seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first, endure, then pity, then embrace,"
“The bureau of fisheries has long ‘endured,’ it is now filled with ‘pity ; if the President
shall refuse to interfere, the ‘embrace’ will soon put the Seattle Alaska fish trust in the
ownership of the Alaska fisheries. They now own fee simple title to all the choice shore
cannery locations and have control by law of prior occupancy of all choice trap sites; and,
but for the recent indictment of the trust by the Seattle grand jury, would be in the way
to the full monopoly of Alaskan fisheries. We need your help, Mr. President, right now."
Probably the most startling portion of Mr. Wickersham’s letter to the
President is that relative to labor conditions. He tells how Alaska’s
fish crop, which last year amounted to $19,565,648, is harvested by
the Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Mexican and other peons recruited in
the coast cities of Washington, Oregon and California. These peons,
at the close of the season, are loaded on vessels, together with the
product of the canneries, and sail away. “Alaska has lost another
crop,” says the delegate, “and not a home, church or school house has
been built; not a child educated in Alaska out of the great fishery.
Suppose Georgia should send such a fleet loaded with such imported
laborers, and take such a crop from the oyster beds of Maryland, what
would happen?” He gives the details of the peonage system, and a
copy of the contract which binds the workmen to the most abject slav
ery during the fishing season, which he gives as official proof, and con
tinues: “It robs the peon and degrades him with abuse and misery;
it also takes away the fair living wages which these enormously wealthy
criminals could and fairly ought to pay the resident fishermen of
Alaska.”
As a remedy Mr. Wickersham makes several recommendations
which, on account of the great familiarity and understanding of the
subject displayed by him, are entitled to the closest study by the Presi
dent and congress. The wisdom of at least one of these recommenda
tions probably will be questioned—turning over the control of the fish
eries to the Alaska territorial government. Under present conditions
it is more than likely that the fish trust would be able to accomplish its
objects as readily through the territorial government as it now does
through the fisheries bureau of the federal government. The recom
mendation that congress send a committee composed of the chairmen
of various senate committees to investigate is a good one; the more
light that congress and the country at large has on this subject, the
sooner the conditions complained of will be remedied. To the com
mittee suggested by the delegate should be added, however, a repre
sentative of labor. That phase of the question is as important as the
conservation of the food supply. These splendid natural resources
should be made to sustain a happy and prosperous resident population.
Otherwise the suggestions of Delegate Wickersham will appeal to the
Alaska public as eminently proper and worthy of immediate attention.
Seward Gold Seal Pacs
ARE THE BEST ON THE MARKET
H. DONNELLEY, discovery, otter
_THE BEST OF EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME_
Caribou Cafe
FIRST AVE.
GOOD MEALS
SHORT ORDERS'
OPEN DAY AND NIGHT
ROBT. SOUTAR
Prop.
Job Printing at Pioneer Print Shop|
The seriousness of the situation is illustrated by the following excerpt
from Delegate Wickersham’s letter to the President:
The Karluk salmon stream was the most productive salmon stream in the world.
The first Russian vessel to reach Kodiak island found the natives in possession of it—
with a food supply for all who wished to eat. Under both native and Russian rule it
continued to furnish a food supply greater than any salmon stream in the world. At once
the Alaska Packers’ Association (the salmon fishery side of the Alaska Commercial Com
pany. which had the first twenty-year lease, and helped destroy the fur-seal herd) estab
lished canneries at Karluk. Other canneries crowded in, and Karluk today is substan
tially deserted! Like the fur-seal herd, it is destroyed. And so it is going with the whole
fishery of Alaska. Years ago the United States was warned by even its so-called “scien
tists” that the limit of safety in fishing had been reached; but the uncontrolled fish trust,
with its stationary and floating traps, its gill nets and power boats, its steamers and sail
ing vessels, is covering the territorial waters of Alaska, and even the extra territorial
waters thereof, in its eagerness to pay huge dividends, well knowing that the fate of Kar
luk awaits all the Alaska fisheries. * * * It is everywhere known on the Pacific coast
that the fishermen are, while actually canning more fish, doing it out of the mass, and
not from the yearly increase. Even the Jones report says: “At all events, it is obvious
that the great industry is on the wane, and radical steps should be taken to protect it
before it is too late.”
Mr. President, you can yet save the Alaska fisheries if you will "but not by piddling
along with a few mollycoddle “scientists,” while the trust does to the salmon what it has
already done to the fur seals! ,
THE GOVERNMENT RAILROAD AND WAGE CONDITIONS
When it became apparent that a system of railroads for Alaska was
assured there were many misgivings on the part of old-time Alaskans
that the coming of transportation facilities meant an eventual reduction
of the rewards for labor in the territory. It was pointed out that
wherever the iron horse had invaded new territory, bringing an influx
of labor, wages took a natural and substantial drop. As a rule Alaskans
took the philosophical view that it were better for many thousands of
men to be employed at fairly remunerative wages than for a few hun
dreds to receive comparatively high compensation. And in this spirit
they worked tooth and nail for the coming of the railroad.
It was not to be expected that the government itself, however, was
to be the one to inaugurate reduced wage scales. It was expected that
as the government was an ideal employer wherever it had work to be
done, it would continue in Alaska the policy of paying the maximum
ruling wage for an eight-hour day. From accounts reaching here
through the territorial press, the action of the government ofFiCials in
this respect has proved to be a disappointment. Instead of paying the
ruling wage, it appears that the railway commission has inaugurated
what appears to be a ridiculously low wage scale for Alaska, and one
that is far below the ruling wage in the district where work has been
commenced. If it be true, as is given out, that labor is being employed
at a remuneration of 'bl/i cents an hour, the laborer furnishing his
own tools, it is a condition which is to be sincerely deplored. That
wage in Alaska is an entirely inadequate one, and is considerably below
that paid by private employers in many sections on the Outside. It is a
wage which will not attract the ambitious American laborer, and will
result in the work on the railroad being done by the ignorant and un
intelligent foreign element which always seems available for such en
terprises.
The actions of the commission in respect to employment of labor
have been inexplicable from the start. Early last year, when the rail
way surveys were organized, the wages offered for common labor were
such as to prove no induement to Alaskans, and men were brought in
from the Outside for this work. Now comes the announcement of
picayunish methods in the employment of laborers on construction
work.
Alaska wants a railroad more than anything else, but it does not
want, and there is no necessity for, the introduction of conditions of
labor comparable only to those of the thickly-settled portions of the
East. _
THE NEW NAVY BUREAU
The creation of a new bureau in the navy department, to be known
as “the bureau of invention,” with Thomas A. Edison at its head, as
announced in The Pioneer’s dispatches last week, is creating a great
deal of interest. It has been hinted frequently in past years that “the
wizard” had definite views on national defense which placed little reli
ance on warships and ordnance, and that he had planned revolutionary
methods of warfare that were looked upon as too destructive to even
contemplate, although the details always have been lacking. There
will be renewed speculation as to the nature of these plans now that
the government has enlisted the services of this wonderful genius. An
article which has been given wide publicity recently, prior to Secretary
Daniels’ announcement, however, will be of peculiar interest at this
time. Ii: is as follows:
Thomas A. Edison says that he knows of still more cruel methods of warfare than
even this war has disclosed. In a talk on science as applied to warfare he said:
“Of course, science can find much more effective ways of destroying life than by artil
lery and rifle fire, or the use of high explosives. The possibilities of chemistry and elec
tricity have hardly yet been touched upon in modern warfare. They can do a lot better.
“How?” he was asked. “I don’t want to say. I won’t say.” “Do you know of anything
better? Could you invent something more deadly than the gas bomb?” “Yes, I could;
but I can’t get myself to work on any such stuff as that. I don’t want to destroy life; I
want to make the world a better place to live in.” “Could electricity be used for de
stroying stores of ammunition and setting off high explosives at a distance by wireless?”
“Yes.” “Then why don't they do it?” “That’s their business, not mine.” “Wouldn’t
you if your country were attacked?” “Yes, if the United States gets into it, and if my
country is attacked, I shall help make it worse, certainly. But it is not essential that we
should get into this war—for us to think of entering this war of actual armed conflict
with Germany—no matter what happens. We are not prepared to fight. The army we
could raise would have no training. It would be just an undisciplined mob. It the worst
came to the worst, we could withdraw our ambassador and shut our consulates. But
there are many ways in which we could make [reprisals for injuries done to us other than
by putting our untrained troops on the battlefields of Europe; and Germany can’t get over
here to attack us. At least it is in no condition to do this now, and will not unless it wins
the war.”
MORE ABOUT SHIPMENT OF WAR MUNITIONS
In view of the fact that pro-German newspapers and German-Ameri
can organizations are talking so loudly about the immorality of ship
ments of arms and ammunition to European belligerents, the following
Associated Press dispatch from Berlin, dated June 18, is of particular
interest. The insincerity of the protests against the action of the United
States government in allowing a strictly neutral function of commerce
to be carried on, merely because one or more of the belligerents cannot
take advantage of it, is apparent when it is known that Germany has
never scrupled to sell war munitions to any belligerent in any previous
war which was able to pay the price. The dispatch reads:
BERLIN, June 18.—The German-American situation continues to occupy the atten
tion of the press and the public. Rear Admiral Kalau von Hofe, retired, in a newspaper
article today, takes up the point made by Eugene Zimmerman, general director of the
Lokal Anzeiger, that the United States made a motion at The Hague conference to pro
hibit shipments of munitions by neutrals to belligerents, but that this was rejected under
Germany’s lead. The admiral alleges that Germany was not responsible for the failure
of the motion, but merely voted against it, along with England and France.
Were Germany now in a position to say that she voted for the pas
sage of this motion at The Hague conference, what a splendid position
she would be in to make a protest against American shipments of arms
to the allies!
The action of the United States supreme court in the case of Diggs
and Caminetti, in which a writ of review is granted the convicted men,:
may mean the nullification of a most meritorious law through the ill-1
advised action of certain enthusiasts. The Mann law was enacted for
the purpose of destroying the infamous traffic in young girls and
women. It has never been contended that Diggs and Caminetti were
guilty of the particular crime covered by the Mann act. There already
were plenty of laws dealing with such acts as they were guilty of. The
act already has been made the means of blackmail in innumerable in
stances, and this is being brought home to the authorities.
The Ruby Record-Citizen calls the boosting of the Tolovana district
“about as conscienceless a piece of business as has ever been carried on
in Interior Alaska.” “For anybody to send broadcast statements that
the Tolovana is a great gold field is a crime,” it continues, and states
that the district has been known to prospectors for more than fifteen
years. A little gold has been recovered on Quail creek, on the Trouble
some, and with persistent prospecting other pay spots may be found,
but it will never become a great gold field, nor anything near it, con
tinues the Ruby paper._
The case of Joe Campbell, convicted in this city three years ago of
the murder of the Nelson brothers, is to receive a thorough investiga
tion by the district attorney’s office. The protestations of innocence
on the part of convicts is not of itself sufficient to arouse comment.
But the fact that confident statements have been made that false testi
mony was given at the trial leads to the belief that he may have been
innocent. The government should leave no stone unturned in its effort
to learn the facts. The condemnation of an innocent man to life im
prisonment is too horrible to contemplate as a possibility.
The Fairbanks Citizen of July 5 emits a long wail because of the fact
that Governor Strong, on his recent visit to the Interior, only spent a
few hours in the Tanana valley town. It suggests that his brief visit
was accounted for on the ground that by missing the particular boat
which carried him down river he might have been compelled to stay in
Fairbanks for a week or ten days. Sometimes complaints are hard to
account for.
One of the interesting statements contained in a recently-published
report of the territorial mining inspector is that there appears to be “a
mania for falling down mining shafts in the Fairbanks district.”
THE PROSPECTOR
My pick is stuck in my belt loop, my pipe is
stuck in my face,
I’m olT for the snowy mountains, I’m mov
ing from place to place,
With the clear, cool air about me and the
chance of a “strike” ahead.
And all of my cares and trouble^ back in
the town I’ve Hed.
Smoking my strong tobacco, humming my
happy song,
I’m off on the search for the gold I’ve hoped,
the gold I've sought for long;
But whether I find it or fail once more,
whatever my fate deems best.
At least I’ll have been on the hike again .
and sated my deep unrest.
By day in the barren gulches, or up on the •
snow field’s sheen,
Or wandering through the valleys, all quiet i
and cool and green,
With an ice-cold torrent tumbling over the !
rocks and sand,
And maybe a cordial trapper to shake me by j
the hand.
With a welcoming “Howdy, stranger?
Would you care for a bite with me?”
Then a supper of spuds and bacon whose j
savor is heavenly.
And night conies over the mountains, and |
the heights and peaks assume
A dim and a vague translucence, like shad- !
ows of stately gloom.
Sometimes with no walls about me, no roof
but the sky above.
I lie in my army blanket and—ponder on
life and love?
Well, no; I pull on my briar—I’m held by
the night in thrall.
And I watch the thin smoke melt away and j
think of nothing at all.
Peace to the wide world’s worries—they are 1
millions of miles afar.
They look as distant and small to me as j
the uttermost tiny star. J
And the night wind brushes my temples and
drowsy visions creep
Into my idle, carefree brain—and then
comes a dreamless sleep.
My pick is stuck in my belt loop, my pipe
is stuck in my face,
I’m off on another prospect, hoping that I
may trace
Some vein of the yellow metal, or even the
red or white.
And never was heart more eager, and never
were hopes more bright.
What if I never strike it? you ask. with a
pitying smile.
Why, friend, the very searching Ls many
times w'orth the while,
For it lifts my troubles from me and I know
from the very start
That one sort of gold I am sure to gain—
the gold of a carefree heart!
—Anonymous.
DISSATISFACTION REPORTED
AMONG RAILROAD LABORERS
(Ruby Record-Citizen, July 10)
Mrs. Charles Stanford has received a let
ter from Miss Elsie Kokrines, niece of Mrs.
Gordon Betties, who resides at Knik. Ac
cording to Miss Kokrines, conditions on the
coast were unsatisfactory at the time of
writing (May 31), and the outlook was
rather gloomy. In part the letter is as fol
lows :
“We are all very much disappointed with
this part of the coast. Money is very scarce, j
for one thing, and wages are very', very low. !
There are over two thousand ‘broke’ men
over at the Anchorage (commonly known
as Ship Creek), and the government rail
road men are only paying 30 cents an hour,
or $11 a week, and $1 a day out of the $11
for board. The government railroad has put
the whole camp ‘on the hog’ with the low
prices. And the poor contractors can’t
make a cent on contracts. I tell you what
things are pretty' tough around here and the
Anchorage. Many claim the railroad men
will have to raise the wages before very long
if they want the railroad work to continue.
Only the Slavonians are working at 36 cents
(m hour, and a few- days ago we heard they
went on strike for higher wages.
,‘Anchorage is the largest ‘canvas city’ :
known in Alaska—over 700 tents there. It
is a government railroad reserve, and no
one was allowed to put up permanent build
ings on it. The first mile of government
owned railroad was laid at Anchorage on
May 6, 1915. That is the first United States
owned railroad.
“John Cronin is one of the proprietors of
the ‘famous’ Woodrow cafe at the Anchor
age. He is doing fine over there—25 to 75
cents for meals.”
Comments on Wage Scale
(Vaidez Commoner i
The people of Alaska who have assembled
at Anchorage all seem to be well pleased
with the way things are progressing except
ing the measly wage scale that has been
established by those in authority. Why
Uncle Sam should be investigating the es
tablishment of wages in Colorado bv Rocke
feller, which are not sufficient to permit a
man to live decently, while doing the same
thing in Alaska himself, is something diffi
cult for the average man to understand.
I The lowering of the wage scale in Alaska
by at least one-quarter is a greater curse
to the people of the territory than the bene
fits derived from a dozen railroads. A few
“successful business men” may prosper and
the country may make wonderful strides
of development, but humanity—the boys in
the trenches—will share no part in the
“wonderful prosperity” other than the privi
lege of killing two moose each year that
they may “winter over” to work some more
next year. If Secretary Lane is sanctioning
the wage scale established by the govern
ment in Alaska by those in local authority
he can never be elected President, even if
he were born in Alaska instead of Canada.
The writer knew Frank when he was a
newspaper scribbler along with himself, and
he cannot believe that after climbing to the
top he will knowingly permit his fellow
man to tod for the mere pittance of an ex
istence. Every man in Alaska doing gov
ernment work should write Mr. Lane every
j Sunday morning informing how the “busi
ness of the people” is progressing on Wood
row creek. Can a man in Alaska working
on “Wodorow creek” at 37 Vj cents per
hour and “furnish his own tools” point with
' pride to the illustrious leader of the Demo
cratic party?
THE CANNY SCOT
In an asylum two worthies named Saudi?
and Tam formed a plan to make escape.
Pandie says to Tam :
“Bend doon and I'll get on your back
and get on the tap o' the wall and haul you
up.”
Pandie gets on the top of the wall and
slides down the other side, saying:
“Tam, 1 think you’ll be better to stay
anither fortnicht, for you’re no near sane
yet ”—Great Divide.
PIONEER CREEK AGENCIES
FLAT CITY.Mrs. C. C. Chittiek
DISCOVERY OTTER-. . .Harry Donnelley
Professi one 1
Michigan, 188 1 Alaska, 1910
Kentucky, 1891
George Woodruff Albrecht
COUNSELOR AND LAWYER
IDITAROD, ALASKA
The Pioneer Attorney of Iditarod
E. M. STANTON,
Attorney at Law
Office: Corner Willow anti Second Sts.
Iditarod Pioneer Building
CM AS. E. TAYLOR,
Attorney at Law
BANK BLOCK
First Avenue Iditarod
DR. SPOORS,
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
DR. H. E. AURINGER,
Physician and Surgeon
Office: Flat City Hospital, Flat City
Consultation Hours in Forenoons and l:y
Appointment
DR. H. BEHLA,
DENTIST
Appointments by Telephone
FLAT CITY
Best of Everything
ALL THE TIME AT THE
Arcade Cafe
FLAT CIT V
Open Dav and Night
OPEN DAY AND NIGHT
CAFE
FLAT CITY HOHBACK & DURAND
Bet. the Grand and Bagoy’s Bars
THE BEST ALL THE TIME
WE ARE HERE TO STAY
First-Class Accommodations
COMMODIOUS LOBBY
LARGE, AIRY ROOMS
YOUR PATRONAGE SOLICITED
MRS. N. P. GILMORE
“KIPLING OF THE NORTH’’
NOW ON BATTLE FRONT
(Skagway Alaskan)
Robert W. Service, the well-known \ ukon
writer, who left the territory three years
ago, since which time he served as a cor
respondent in the Balkan war and then went
to Paris and married a French girl and set
tled down there to write, has given up the
arind of making copy and gone to the front.
Meager information in the subject was
printed in the Toronto Globe on June 5,
which contains the following from Polly
Peele. a writer for the woman’s page in that
paper:
“Robert W. Service, the Canadian poet
and novelist, has left for the front, where
he will drive a motor car. Mr. Service s
friends in Paris thought he was devoting
his months here to the production of an
other novel, to follow “The Pretender, ’ in
stead of which he was studying the habits
and haunts of motor cars and learning to
make the various parts. Mr.-. Service is a
Frenchwoman.”
GROCERIES FOOTWEAR
Tom McMahon,
GENERAL MERCHANDISE
FLAT CITY
MINERS' OUTFITS HARDWARE
g- Gold St., Flat City
Mrs. Geo. Mutchler, Prop.
Nicely Furnished Rooms Barn for Horses and Dogs Baths in Connection
Fresh Meats
se:ondst.IDITAROD IYIEAT CO. phone 13