THE iDITARGD PIONEER
•-- -1 -
Puo ishcd Every Saturday IVlorning at Iditarod, Alaska
Vol. 7 CHARLES A. DERRY, Editor and Publisher No. 17
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THE DEATH OF VILLA
If it prove to be true that the bandit Villa has mol
his df ath. the mission of the United States expedi
tion Into Mexico will in a measure have been accom
plished, and with the capture and punishment of the
other members of the gang engaged in the raid on
Columbus, which entailed the death of American cit
izen1. it may reasonably be expected that the men
of F nston’s command will be withdrawn. I his will
no doubt depend to some extent on whether or not
other and more serious complications arise, such as
the tecent firing on the troops by civilians. It is
probable that the desire of President Wilson and his
adv ers is to evacuate the country at the earliest
possible moment.
Put with the death of Villa the Mexican troubles
are Fv no means at an end. It now seems probable
that another revolution is blossoming into ilower,
headed by Felix Diaz, and that he is rapidly acquir
ing a following. Thus will the anarchistic condi
tioi s be prolonged until the United States, in sheer
desperation, may feel called upon to undertake the
task of rehabilitating the republic—a task which
mu i be distasteful to everyone except the foreign
cap itailsts, American and European, who lay claim
to such a large proportion of the rich resources of a
rich but misgoverned land. To these it will seem the
du'y of the United States government to place them
in possession of their holdings, even at the cost of
war.
it is coming to be understood that the trouble in
Mexico never will be settled until the land question
itself is settled, or an attempt made at settling it.
Under the long rule of Diaz the country’s resources
were dissipated in the interest of foreigners, indi
vd.'ual and corporation, until the Mexcans were in a
condition no better than serfdom. It was Villa’s
announced intention to give the land back to the
people that gave him such a popularity with the
messes of the Mexicans in the northern portion of
the republic. Had he been possessed of the neces
sary education, ability and statesmanship to carry
out his plans, as he had the ability to carry on the
sj - es of guerrilla warfare which has devastated
M xico, there is little doubt that the solution of the
‘Mexcan problem” would have been found. The
peons, whose abject condition led them to prefer
th3 irregular life of followers of the several “revo
lu ionists” to that of labor upon the plantations for
the barest necessities of life, will not now be satis
fied until the great estates are broken up and the
rich and productive lands be used for the benefit of
tbs many instead of for the enrichment of the few.
An understanding of the conditions prevailing in
Mexico can be gained from a recent magazine arti
cle, which says in part:
In the United States the farmer is an humble person; in Mexico
1.? is a king of millionaires. You look out across a level plain
and you see a magnificent house of stone, cement and great tim
U-’-s covering sometimes as much as half an acre. Surrounding
il are other houses, hundreds of them, but all small, constructed
of ado1 a•. brush, or even cornstalks. You are not looking at a
town, but at a ranch settlement. In the great house, which costs
many iin.es more than all the little houses put together lives
tin hacendado and his family. In the little houses live the peons.
The typical farm in Mexico is not of 160 acres, but of a million.
In the state of Morelos twenty-eight hacendado own all the agri
cultural land; twelve own nine-tenths of it. The territory of
Quintana Roo, double the size of Massachusetts, is divided among
eight companies. The greater portion of Yucatan is held by thirty
men. kings of sisal hemp. A major fraction of the agricultural
and grazing lands of Chihuahua is owned by one family. Lower
California, equal in size to Alabama, is nearly all held by five cor
porations.
THE VOTE ON PROHIBITION
In view of the fact that the voters of Alaska this
year will be asked to express their approval or dis
approval of the proposition to prohibit the liquor
traffic in this territory, it may be expected that the
“campaign of education” will soon be in evidence.
It seems more than likely that the advocates of pro
hibition will make a serious attempt to place their
propaganda before the people of Alaska, and that
speakers will be sent through the more thickly set
tled portions of the territory. It may also be taken
for granted that the liquor interests will not be idle.
It is known that in certain sections of the territory
there is a decided sentiment in favor of prohibition.
The extent of this sentiment is, of course, an un
known quantity as yet; but judging by the fact that
certain communities in Southeastern Alaska already
are “dry” by virtue of the fact that they have ex
pressed themselves as opposed to the traffic, and
that the district judge, conformably to their wishes,
has refused to issue liquor licenses in those communi
ties, no doubt a strong vote will be polled in its
favor. There is also said to have developed a strong
feeling among the miners and laborers themselves
in favor of the prohibition of the traffic, and alto
gether the vote on the question promises to be one
of the most interesting features of the election.
There is no absolute certainty that even if the
people of Alaska should vote favorably on the prop
osition the saloon would be abolished in the terri
tory. The liquor traffic is one of the matters upon
which the territory of Alaska, by the terms of the
.-nabling act, is barred from taking action. A pro
V w
hibilion law to be effective must be passed by con-1
gress. And while it is likely that congress will re
spect the wishes of the people m case they should
desire such a law, it is not obligatory upon them.
Likewise there is nothing to prevent the federal legis
lature from enacting a prohibition law for Alaska
without the consent of the people of the territory.
Under the present laws liquor licenses are granted
only upon the petition of the residents of the com
munity in which the applicant desires to do business,
and the fact that these licenses are renewed from
year to year indicates that the people are to that ex
tent in favor of the traffic, otherwise they would not
sign the petitions.
♦ -
In cave it should transpire that the story of the death of Villa
he a canard, the United States government need not despair. Gen.
Funston. with his many thousands of troops, thoroughly equipped
and familiar with their trade, may have failed; but there is at the
disposal of Uncle Sam a means ol capturing the Mexican bandit
j which will be infinitely cheaper and quicker than Funston’s meth
| ods. In an interview printed in a Seattle newspaper of March lb
appears the following: “If I had 1.000 Alaskans in the pink of
I condition, >ueh as they are usually when traveling the trails of the
I territory, I would guarantee to catch Senor Pancha Villa and his
! band of bandits in live day..” The statement was made by J. F.
I A. Strong, governor of the territory of Alaska- and commander
( in-chief of all the militia forces of the territory (whenever those
! forces shall be organized). The suggestion is a good one. Gov
' ernor Strong easily can be spared from his none too onerous execu :
| live duties, while General Funston's valuable Services can be used j
I’Fewhere in carrying out the preparedness plans. General Strong.
1 we st lute you.
❖
Rear Admiral Austin M. Knight, commandant at Narragansett
Bay, R. I., who has been studying naval questions, recently made
! the following statement to the naval committee of the house <
representatives: “We must defend the Monroe doctrine, control
the Panama canal, maintain an open door in China and enforce
the Asiatic exclusion law. The fleet of the United States should
be equal to or be greater than the fleet of Great Britain.”
-❖
George Viereck, editor of The Fatherland, says he is ashamed
'of the United Stales. Judging by press comment, there are many
persons in this country who would be willing to spare George any
further mortification, and who would willingly see him granted
j i p sports back to his native land.
❖
If the federal officials in various parts of the country where
! the bomb plots are under investigation would only arrest tho.-e
J “higher-ups” that the dispatches are forever hinting at it would
at least relieve the tension somewhat and give an idea as tu what
: is meant by the term.
- $
AN ALASKA NATIONAL GUARD
(Juneau Empire
Poes Alaska need a National Guard? \ good many Alaskans
i will answer in the affirmative; others will probably be found in
I opposition, if the organization of a territorial militia is seriously
I proposed. The question of the efficiency and desirability of a
i militia of the various states is now under discussion, particularly
| in the national capital. In its place, or rather as an independent
| organization directly under the control of the federal government,
j former Secretary of War Garrison proposed hi- continental army
Man, with which the President apparently did no: agree. It i
probable, therefore, that the National Guard of the respective
j states will receive more consideration as an auxiliary to the regi:
lar army in the national defense i rograin than would otherwise
'■ have been the case.
j Ss me twelve years ago the war department decided that the
organization of a National Guard, or a militia for Alaska, was
I desirable; but it was also decided that, under the existing law. no
j useful organization could be effected without the acton of con
gress. No action has ever been taken, and as a result Alaska re
mains without a militia organization. It is quite likely that con
i gross will take some action at its present se. don looking toward
I the perfection of an organization of an Alaska militia. There ;
probably no doubt that .-uch a step would meet with popular tip
proval in many quarters, and that little difficulty would be ex
| perienced in organizing the nucleus of a strong National Guam
for the territory. There are hundreds of young men who would
view service in the militia with enthusiasm, and there is no doubt
that a splendid military organization of this kind could he per
feeted, composed of as fine material as there is in the nation.
The national campaign now being waged for preparedne.
would seem to indicate that the organization of an Alaska militia
would be viewed with favor by the war department and the ad
ministration. And it is not to be doubted that the people o'.
Alaska ore willing to do their fu 1 share toward supporting at
plan that lias for its object the defense of the common country in
case of war.
IN ANOTHER LIGHT
(Army and Navy Journal!
The German newspaper Der Tag. which during the fir-t month
of the war shouted, “Herr Gott, sind diese Tage schoen” (0 Lord,
how delightful these days are!, has arrived now at a totally dif
ferent state of mind, and declared recently:
“So many of our calculations have deceived us. We expected
that British India would rise when the first shot was fired ii
Europe, but in reality thousands of Indians came to fight with th.
British against us. We anticipated that the whole British enipir
would be torn to pieces, but the colonies appear to be closer that
ever united with the mother country. We expected a triumphant
rebellion in South Africa, yet it turned out nothing but a failure.
We expected trouble in Ireland, but instead she sent her best sol
diers against us. We anticipated that the party of ‘peace at an;
price’ would be dominant in England, but it melted away in the
ardor to fight against Germany. We reckoned that England wa
degenerate and incapable of placing any weight in the scale, yet
she seems to be our principal enemy.
"The same has been the case with France anil Russia. We 1
thought that France was depraved and divided, anil we find that
they are formidable opponents. We believed that the Russian
people were far too discontented to fight for their government, and
we made our plans on the -opposition of a rapid collapse of Russia,
but instead she mobilizes n^r millions quickiv and well, and her
people are full of enthusiasm and their power is crushing. Those
who led us into all these mistakes and miscalculations have laid
upon themselves a heavy responsibility.”
-«
Speaking of a “well-armed and disciplined militia,” it won’t
be long before dissensions in the ranks of peace societies and de
fense organizations will afford us an experienced body of fighters
that will make us invincible against the world.- New York Morn
ing Telegraph.
The thought that if they "should induce Justice Hughes to be
a presidential candidate President Wilson would have another
supreme bench vacancy to fill appears to be chilling the ardor for
Hughes of the stand-pat Republican brigade.—Chicago Herald.
—-♦
The Republican position on the Philippine question is now
clear. The administration of the islands by the Democrats has
been go bad that it proves the natives incapable of self-govern
ment.—The Masses (New York).
-♦
Very few of the Republicans jumped upon the elastic frame of
Mr. Taft because he did not rush into a war with Mexico.—Chi
cago Daily News.
-♦
W ashington, D. C., is talking of going dry. That will be
almost a casus belli for some of the nations there represented dip
lomatically. St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
--♦
Trouble about peace movements is that a soft head always
seems to go with a soft heart.—Columbia State.
-*
“In case of war perhaps I would go,” says T. R. Who stuck
that “perhaps” in there?—Detroit Free Press.
—-«
The pacifists ought to be lucky. They are always knocking
Wood.—Columbia State. 1
DESPONDENCY
I sometimes think when I am
tired of writing dippy verse that
naught to which I have aspired is
worth a tinker’s curse. I look
around wth gloomy eyes, in these,
my woeful moods, and everything
beneath the skies seems bargain
counter goods. "All men are false,
all women fierce," I cry, with scorn
ful jeers, and then proceed to shed a
tierce of effervescent tears. "There’s
nothing permanent but woe, and
that's a cinch,” say I; "there is in
virtue here below, and truth itsclf’s
a lie.” But when I stop to think a
while, this fact comes home to me;
my system is too full of bile I need
some boneeet tea. And when I drink
about six quarts, this life seems a
delight; my liver actively cavorts,
my stomach's working right. And
then all men, and women too, seem
lovely and serene; and thus, per
chance, it i.i with you, 0 specialists
in spleen! Vou roast this good old
merry ' I he. m'* make the swear
words buzz, and think you’re harder
up than Jon, the gentlmean of bz;
you cry aleckad'y! alas! and rend
your tear-wet, garb, when all you
need is sassafras or t’other useful
yarb! Walt Mason.
EDITOR OF SEATTLE TIMES
ON PROHIBITION QUESTION
(Kansas City Times, Feb. 9)
The world is watching Seattle to ser
how prohibition works out in a large city.
Seattle is the largest city that has ever had
prohibition. It and the whole stare i
Washington became dry January 1 of this
year.
1 he strongest single force that worked
against prohibition in the state of Wash
ington was the Times, the leading new
apcr of Beattie. In its campaign again-t
he passage of the prohibitory law it use !
all the familiar old arguments, such as
“prohibition doesn't prohibit," that it would
mrce down rents, and that so much prop
erty nst ■:i for saloons all at once made empty
and in n-productive in one day would have
a bad economic effect, and so on.
The editor of the Seattle Times, Major
C. B. Blethen, the man who made the
fight against prohibition, was at the Coates
house yesterday. He was asked how pro
mbitmn was working and it till his pr.'pne
cies had come true. Me said:
“My paper fought its damnedest against
prohibition. We fought it on economic
rounds a!one. We believed that in a grer
•eaport city with a population of upward
f 300.000 prohibition would be destructive:
: would bring on economic disaster. We
!;. . ed that under our system of liconsin
:1 urns we It ad the liquor traffic about a>
ill coiitrolled as it could be. and we
wanted to let it alone, and so we fought a.
hard as we could right. But* in -pile of
•11 we could do against it. prohibition cur
rival, and it went into effect in Washington
oiii'.ry 1. We have had a month of it
now.”
“And how has it worked out?”
“We already know that it is a great bene
fit. morally and from an economic stand
ing Its moral benefit has been tremen
dous. Seattle had 260 saloons, and we had
an average of 2,600 arrests a month for
crimes and misdemeanors growing out of
liquor drinking. In January we had only
*00 arrests, and sixty of those were made
January 1 and were the results of hang
vers from the < Id year. That in itself is
enough to convince any man with a con
science that prohibition is necessary. There
can he no true economy in anything that
is immoral.
“And on top of that great moral result,
we have these economic fact*: In the fir*t
hreo weeks of January the savings deposits
n the banks of Seattle increased 15 per
nent. There was not a grocery store in
Seattle that did not show an increase of
business in January greater than ever
noun in any month before in all the his
tory of the city, except in holiday time. In
! the large grocery stores the increase was
immense. In addition to this, every dry
• >ds store in Seattle except, one, and that
’ ° f have no figures from, had a wonder
ful increase in business. Each store re
ported the largest business ever done in
one month, except in holiday time.
“I wished to know in what class of goods
he sales increased so greatly, and - • I sent
'it all the grocery and dry goods stores to
find that out. And to me it is a pitiful
thing, and it makes me sorry that we d: ’
not have prohibition long ago—that the in
creased sales in all the dry goods stores
were in wearing apparel for women and chil
dren ; and in the grocery stores the increase
was made up chiefly of fruits and fancy
groceries. This proves that it is the women
and children who suffer most from
the liquor business, and it is the women
and children who benefit greatest from pro
hibition. Money that went formerly over
the bar for whisky is now being spent for
clothing for the women and children, and
in better food for the household.
“It. is just iike this: When you close
the saloons the money that formerly was
spent, there remains in the family of the
wage-earner, and his wife and children buy
shoes and clothing and better food with it.
Yes, sir, we have found in Seattle that it
is better to buy shoes than booze. The
families of wage-earners in Seattle are go
ing to have more food and clothes and
everything else than they had before.”
"And is the prohibition law enforced?”
“Absolutely. Prohibition does prohibit.”
And how about the empty saloons and
he landlords who own them?”
“Many of them have already been made
over and are occupied by other businesses.
will venture the prophecy that in one year
from today you woi t hr* able to find a
I ice in Seattle where there was a saloon.
They will all be occupied by other busi
nesses. And prohibition has not lowered
rents. I know of one big dry goods store
that has already had its rent raised since
prohibition went into effect.
“Oregon also went dry January 1. Cali
forma is the only wet state left on the Pa
cific coast, and it will go dry January 1,
19IS. And those three stales wid remain
dry t the end of time. None of them
would ever have S' loons again. Those who
were honestly onposed, as I was, to prohi
I bition in Washington and Oregon., have
, been converted to it, as I have been, by the
| actual evidence that prohibition i> a tine
i thing from a business standpoint. No city
j md no community, either, can afford to
have saloons. They are too expensive mor
!lv and econ miictdlv. In a very few veers
there will not lie a licenced sal « n in the
whole nation, and that will be a fine thing ”
Frp'h Olympia ami Eastern Oysters. $1.50
r»er can Iditarod Meat Co.
— ^
i Toh Printing at Pioneer nflfiee
:
ALL THE TTMK AT TIIK
Arcade Cafe
flat err A'
Open Dav ; :! NJght
15 r o fe ssion a 1
Michigan, 1381 Alaska, la 1 o
Kentucky, 1S91
George Woodruff Albrecht
COUNSELOR AND LAWYER
IDITAROD, ALASKA
The Pioneer Attorney or Iditarod
E. M. STANTON
Attorney at Law
Office: Corner Willow aud Second Sts.
Iditarod Pioneer Building
CHAS, E. TAYLOR
Attorney at Law
BANK BLOCK
Firs* Avenue Iditarod
Fred Harrison
ATTORNEY AT LAW
Room 1 Over Merchants Cafe
DR. SVSOORE
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON
DR. H. E. AURSNQER
I'insidaii and Siirneini
j Office: Flat City Hospital, Flat City
I Consultation Hours in Fores ons and by
A; iinintment
I
DR. H. 3EHLA
FLAT CITY
Will Arrive in Iditarod by the first boat in
the spring
Second St. [01 I A R CJ O IV1 2 CC5b Phone 1J
Gold St., Flat City
Mrs. Geo. Mutchler, Prop.
N eely Furrvsr.ed Rooms Barn for Horses and Dogs Baths in Connection
HARRY DONNELLEY j
|| 1EEIE GENERAL MERCHANDISE
' ) DISCOVERY, OTTER
THE BEST OF EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME
CAFE
m***"**m*ae GOOD MEALS
5esexx*55S3Ei! SHORT ORDERS fwaii* 11 i'll«*
FIRST AVI. OPEN DAY AND NIGHT
Prop.
We Have a Coni piste Lino of
A~1 Groceries
In Hardware we carry Axes, Saws, Mauls, Wedges, Picks, Shovels, Sluice Forks. Stoves and Stove
pipe, Door Locks, Hinges, Files and other small hardware.
We have a Clothing Department where you can be supplied with Bib and Waist Overalls, Khaki
Suits, Woollen Pants, Overshirts, Underwear, Rubber Boots and Pacs, Socks, Mitts and Gloves.
If you are making the usual spring repairs on your house we can supply you with Building Paper,
Burlap, Oilcloth, Paints, Oil and Varnish.
Mg MM HON
GENERAL MERCHANDISE FLAT CITY