Change of Time
IDITAROD TRACTION COMPANY
ONE ROUND TRIP OF PASSENGER DAILY
Passenger Car Leaves Flat at 8 a.in.
Returning, Leaves Iditarod at 2 p.m.
Freight Trains at 7 a.in. and Noon.
DELEGATE WICKERSHAM'S CRITICISM
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
The following letter, which has caused a great deal of com
ment, is reprinted from the report of hearings before the Commit
tee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives, July 24, 1911:
Personal.
House of Representatives,
Washington, June 24, 1910.
Stuart McNamara, Esq.,
Department of Justice,
Washington, D. C.
My Dear Sir:—When you did me the
honor to call the other day and say that
you were going to Alaska to investigate
conditions there as the representative
of the Department of Justice, T made
some criticisms upon the department
which you wished me to put in writing.
I expressly said to you that I made no
criticism of the motive of any attorney
general who has ever been connected
with the Department of Justice in
Washington; that I believed the head
of that department had always acted
from a high sense of duty, but that the
difficulty arose from the want of infor
mation and incorapetency in the depart
ment to manage affairs in Alaska. I
told you that the first judge of the dis
trict court in Alaska, Judge McAllister,
was removed within eighteen months
of his appointment for political reasons,
and you will discover the facts in rela
tion thereto in the case of McAllister
vs. United States (141 PI. S., 174). The
next judge, his successor, absconded
from Alaska within six months of his
appointment, just ahead of a warrant
for his arrest for embezzlement, and he
has been a fugitive from justice ever
since.
This course of dealing with the judge
ships in Alaska has continued to date,
for no judge in Alaska, except Judge
Moore, was ever reappointed and con
firmed. Incompetent men have been
appointed judges only to be removed
within a year, and, if competent, they
have frequently been removed without
notice because of the honest perform
ance of their duties. I do not know of
but one marshal who ever served out
his [second] term of office: Marshal
Shoup and Marshal Perry both served
out a first term, but the one resigned
before he served out his second term,
because he knew he would not be sup
ported by the department, and the
other was peremptorily removed.
This rotating system of carpet-bag
ging officials in Alaska has all come
from the incompetency of the Depart
ment of Justice. I said to you the other
day that if an official dared to procure
the indictment of a rich man in Alaska,
that man might send his attorney to
Washington and procure the removal
of the official who was doing his duty
fearlessly. As an example, Mr. Grigsby,
the district attorney at Nome, was re
quested to resign some time ago be
cause he had procured the indictment
of Jafet Lindeberg, at Nome, for per
jury. Lindeberg sent his attorney, Mr.
Fink, to Washington, who secured a
demand for Grigsby’s removal, which
was later withdrawn upon a showing
made by Grigsby. Judge Moore was
included in the complaints made by
Fink at Washington, and the good rec
ord which he has built up and main
tained in eight, years’ hard and indus
trious work for the Government on
that frontier was destroyed because it
was known he would do his duty with
respect to prosecuting this wealthy
perjurer.
As another example, Sutherland and
Boyce, respectively marshal and dis
trict attorney at Juneau, were recently
removed without any notice or oppor
tunity to be heard for having dared,
the one to sign his name to indictments
voluntarily found by the grand jury,
and the other because he would not
corruptly pack a trial jury with the
friends of the defendant at the request
of the attorney who came to Washing
ton and secured his removal. I can
give you many instances of this sort of
thing, and the proof so clear and con
vincing that you can not doubt, and
this system has now continued in Alaska
for twenty-six years. I said to you the
other day that the Department of Jus
tice had become a menace to the people '
of Alaska, and that it was a hopeless!
failure by reason of its inability to |
shield the people from dishonest offi
cials on the one hand and to support
and protect honest officials in the dis
I charge of their duty on the other. An
honest official engaged in the perform
. ance of his duty in Alaska is attacked
by hired lobbyists in Washington.
These smooth gentlemen go to the De
partment of Justice and file charges
against him; they discover that they
have aroused some prejudice, and they
renew and supplement these charges
from other quarters, until, finally, the
Department of Justice is convinced by
this secret method that the official is
guilty of some wrongdoing and ought
to be removed. The charges may be
ridiculous and the evidence false, but
the whole thing is maintained in the
secret file until there is such an array
as to prejudice the department against
! the official, who is, in the meantime,
! performing his duty in Alaska without
i any knowledge of the conspiracy to
1 effect his ruin between his enemies and
' the Department of Justice.
You may ask, Why does not the ac
| cused official explain the charges
| against him? The answer is very sim
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pie. Ilia charges are made in secret
and the accused official does not know
of their existence until he has been re
moved. He then comes forward, like
Mr. Sutherland and Mr. Boyce did, and
demands a hearing, only to be told by
the Senate subcommittee: “Why, we
can’t hear you; you must talk to the
President.” The President declines to
hear them because it is a reflection
upon his fairness in removing them
without notice, so they get no satisfac
tion. In a dozen cases of this kind
honest, competent officials in Alaska
were removed without notice or a
hearing, upon the active effort of men
whom they have been compelled to
prosecute by their oath of office.
In 1900, Judge Noyes was appointed
Judge through the influence of a pow
erful lobby and sent to Nome, Alaska,
with a deliberate and premeditated
purpose of robbing a certain class of
miners there of their claims. ( See 106
Fed., 775; 109 Fed., 97.) It is believed
in Alaska that a deliberate attempt is
now being made by the attorneys and
lobbyists of the Guggenheims to get
control of the public offices in Alaska
for an equally nefarious purpose—that
oi securing a monopoly or mining,
transportation, and other interests in
Alaska, and of protecting the Guggen
heims against charges which are being
made against them of corrupting the
ballot box, corrupting the grand jury,
bribing a deputy district attorney, and
corruptly bribing and controlling wit
nesses and jurors in the Hasey case.
You may say in answer to this rather
lengthy statement: What do you sug
gest?
This: That the Department of Jus
tice know, before it appoints a man to
office in Alaska, that his appointment
is not being secured for the purpose of
shielding some perjurer from prose
cution or for the purpose of serving any
other master than the United States.
Second: That the Department of Jus
tice protect its officials in the per
formance of their duty, instead of being
a party to a conspiracy to punish them
for acting bravely and independently.
Somebody ought to be responsib'e for
appointments in Alaska to the extent
that an accusation against an official
ought not to be acted upon until after
notice to him and an opportunity to
defend. No petty criminal, not even a
tramp, can be found guilty and fined
one dollar until after notice and an op
portunity to defend. It is remarkable
that the one department in the whole
government which ought to stand for
an orderly administration of American
priciples should be the very worst to
violate them. Go back to Sutherland
and Boyce’s case again for a moment.
The attorneys and agents of the Gug
genheims knew that Rustgard was a
great friend of Senator Nelson’s. They
brought Rustgard down from Nome
and kept him at Governor Hogatt's
house. Senator Nelson recommended
Rustgard’s appointment—he had pre
vieusly filed charges against Boyce.
He secured his own appointment as
chairman of the sub-committee to de
termine whether or not Rustgard ought
to be confirmed. He was the accuser
of Boyce and the judge of his rights.
No possible charge against Rustgard
could have any force or effect to pre
vent his confirmation. It is this sort
of jury-packing in the Senate com
mittee and the connivance therein of
the Department of Justice which has
made the people of Alaska feel that
the department is unfair and incom
petent in the matter of Alaskan ap
pointments.
l regret to nave taken up so mucn oi
your time in this matter, for I am
satisfied that it can hare no effect.
A consistent, though vicious course of
action in the department of 25 years
standing will probably not be
abandoned now. I have no doubt that if
you shall look into this matter you will
discover that there is a wrong without
a remedy. The wrong is doubly so be
cause it is connected with the Depart
ment of Justice. It is a wrong which
could easily be remedied through the
department and the remedy would
make better officials in Alaska, and
create greater loyalty to the depart
ment. It would, however, render less
forceful the pull of the politician, and
Alaska appointments have ever been
the sport of these gentlemen.
Is it not possible, however, to so ar
range matters in the Department of
Justice that officials may be protected
when right and punished and removed
when wrong, by some fair and system
atic coarse of action similar to a trial
of an issue in court? Such a system
would give confidence to tlio people
and would enable an honest man to de
fend himself. If the people knew that
a man had that sort of a hearing, and
his removal followed, the presumption
would be in favor of the judgment,
whereas now it is tlie other way.
Tf you have any interest in this mat
ter I should be glad to talk to you per
sonally about it and give you more
specific facts and details.
Respect fully,
JAMES WICKERSHAM,
Delegate from Alaska.
Pool, solo, and the best clear Havana
cigars at Johnstone’s.
I
The federal court of appeals will hear the case appealed
from Alaska in which it is claimed that the act of 1887 admits
Indians to citizenship.
Attorney John W. Arctander of Ketchikan has presented an
astounding array of authority to show that an Alaska Indian may,
whenever he gets ready, become a citizen of the United States,
with all the rights of the white man.
On the judgment of the court of appeals hangs the question
of whether Thomas Nagle, a Wrangell saloon man, shall serve
fifteen months on McNeil’s Island, but more than that, the
political status of thousands of potential voters.
Arctander maintains his claim for citizenship for the Alaska
Indians on the act of February 9, 1887, and the subsequent amend
ments which have been made to this act. The act made citizens
of three classes of Indians. First, those who took allotments
from the United States under that act; second, Indians who have
taken allotments under other law’s and treaties; and third, and
this class appears to include the Alaska Indians, all other Indians
who have been born within the territorial limits of the United
States, w’ho have abandoned their tribal relations, and who have
adopted the habits of civilized life.
Courts have abundantly construed the law and its amendments
and in every case as related to the Indians of the United States,
the decisions have been in favor of the Indians. The law, if it
applies to Alaska Indians, will, or at least may, be more sweeping
in its effect here than in any other corner of the United States’
domains, for here, at least in Southeastern Alaska, the Indians
have almost universally abandoned their tribal relations, have
emasculated the authority of the chief, and have come to dwell in
the white man’s towns. The question has been raised as to
whether the natives of Alaska are Indians, but Congress has re
ferred to them as Indians in more than half a dozen instances.
And in any case Arctander clinches that argument by a quotation
from the treaty of session of Alaska, which provides that: “The
uncivilized tribes will be subject to such laws and regulations as
the United States may from time to time adopt in regard to the
aboriginal tribes of that country.”
When these civilized and to quite a degree intelligent natives
appear before officials to secure licenses as pilots or engineers, or
to run their own motor boats, they are denied these privileges
under the pretext that they are not and cannot be citizens of the
United States.
When these Indians attempt to locate homesteads and mining
claims, they are informed that these rights are for citizens of the
United States only.
When some of them who are running general stores, res
taurants, pool rooms, halls and industrial plants for which they
are paying their annual license fee to the government, undertake
Dike man
Iditarod
to offer their ballots at elections for delegate, or even a local elec
tion for officers, they are practically kicked out of the polling
stations.—Cordova Alaskan.
Upon his return to Fairbanks from Ruby Jimmy Hatnil did
not appear to be very optimistic regarding the new camp. He
spent a week on the creeks, and while the general formation of the
country is favorable, the supply of wood necessary for extensive
operations is not available, and furnishes a most important draw
back to the development of the camp.
Most of the work has been done on Long creek, in the neigh
borhood of Discovery; but nothing more than prospects found.
Gil Edgar’s reported pay on Glen has turned out to be only a spot.
Crosscutting failed to show up a body of gold-bearing gravel.
On other parts of Glen good prospects have been found and the
same may be said of Birch creek, where Chas. Bechtold has been
working. Otherwise there is nothing in the camp so far.
When pay is found, says Hamit, the country will be developed
rapidly, for road-building, the prime necessity, will be an easy
matter, there being no high divides, and better conditions
generally than prevailed in the early days of other camps.
When Ed. Suskey, the teamster, was at Diskaket on his way
Outside, he met the men who are reported to have discovered pay
on Mud river, a stream heading into the Kaiyuh range and enter
ing the Innoko about 20 miles below Diskaket.
The returning prospectors were very reticent about what they
had found until they had had time to record their claims. They
admitted, however, that the discovery had been made about 160
miles up Mud river and that the prospects had been picked up on
three creeks.
The creeks are said to be opencut propositions, the gravel
being only from 8 to 12 feet in depth; and that others than the
discoverers believe in the region is evident by the number going
in. The gasoline scow handled by Max Nelson took in eight men,
and several parties have poled up the river.
Max Simel and Griffis & Haley, the Diskaket merchants have
both laid in large stocks, in anticipation of a rush into the new
district this winter.
HENRY WEIR’S PDP FOUND
PORCUPINE FIXED FOR WAR
Henry Weir, manager of the Iditarod
Telephone Company, is the owner of a
bunch of pups which is expected to
develop into a crack team this winter.
They are bird dogs, and their hunt
ing instinct is strong. Last Sunday
Mr. Weir was surprised to see one of
them wearing what looked to be a fine
new set ot whiskers, and a closer in
spection showed that the pup had come
in contact with its first porcupine.
The pup must have put up a game
fight, for its shoulders, head, ears,
mouth and throat seemed to have col
lected as many quills as a prudent por
cupine could well spare in a single
engagement. Most of the quills were |
pulled out, but there were hundreds of
them and it was a big job.
They have indicted a man in Los
Angeles for stealing a wireless mes
sage. And what is that? A ripple in
the air; something no more tangible
than a sneeze and not half so loud.
Why, it’s the next thing for arresting
a man for embezzling an unspoken
thought.
Save the pieces 1 broken lenses re
placed at Simpson’s.
Big Game Hunter
Rode White Rhino
Quentin Grogan, the big game hunter
who acted as guide for Col. Roosevelt
in Uganda and led him to the spot
where he bagged his white rhinos, re
turned to London the first of September
from a trip to the Congo.
Grogan went out in search of a pair
of live white rhinos, no specimen of
which is in captivity. He had tough
luck right through. Hippo Bay, where
Roosevelt got his rhinos, was empty,
and Grogan wandered up to Regaf.
Here he got in touch with a youngster,
but missed getting a rope about its leg.
In a mad endeavor to capture the
brute Grogan flung himself at it,
grabbed it by the ears and mounted its
back. He is probably the only man
who has ever ridden a live white rhino.
The beast screamed with terror and
dashed at a wonderful gait across coun
try. Frightened though the rhino was,
it didn’t forget its native sense, but
made straight for a clump of thorn
bushes, into which it dashed. Grogan
was literally torn off its back. His face
and body were lacerated and his feel
ings also at losing the object of his
trip. Now he is in a philosophic mood
and says: “Never mind, I had a darned
fine ride.”
The Pioneer for Job Printing.
SUMMIT
ROADHOUSE
At Junction of Tramway and Other
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Meals at All Honrs.
Liquors and Cijjais
Tel: “Summit Roadhouse.”
NOTICK OF FORFEITURE.
To SAM RISTILUOMA and ALEX JOHNSON.
YOU and each of you, your heirs and assigns,
are hereby notified that the undersigned has
expended in labor and improvements the sum
of one hundred dollars—$100—for each of the
years of 1909. 1910 and 1911 upon placer mining
claims known as aud called Violet Bench, Ida
Bench and Number One Finn Gulch, situated
on Finn Gulch, a tributary of Gane creek, and
on Gane creek, a tributary of Innoko river in
the Innoko mining and recording district, dis
trict of Alaska.
Notices cf location therefor being of record in
Vol. 2 at page 41. Vol. 7 at page 2, Vol. 2 at page
36 of the records of lunoko miiiir district, dis
trict of Alaska.
You are further notified that if at the ex
piration of ninety—90— days after tlie last pub
lication of this notice, you fail or refuse to con
tribute your proportion of such expenditure
your interest in said claims will become the
property of the undersigned, your co-owner,
under section 2324 of the revised statutes of the
United States.
OLIVER La DUKE, Co-Owner,
First publication Sept 2. 1911.
Last publication Dec. 2, 1911
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