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MEMBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
VOLUME XXVII. NUMBER 253.
SEWARD, ALASKA, THURSDAY,
-8, 1931.
PRICE TEN CENTS
EASTERN SOCIETY
MRS. BIDDLE UNDERTAKING A
TRIP CHERISHED SINCE
GIRLHOOD
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 3. (/P) — |
Mrs. Edward M. Biddle, prominent j
society woman, told of a lone trek
she is soon to make into Central1
Alaska to study the customs and
living conditions of native women I
for six months.
She arrived in New York yester
day and expects to leave there next
%veek for Seattle where she will
* board a vessel and go to Seward.
From Seward she will take a train
500 miles into the Interior.
From here she will use dog team
to reach various Alaska environs.!
Mrs. Biddle is being assisted in
plans by Vilsjalmur Stefansson. '
The trip, she said, has been her
cherished ambition since girlhood i
when her interest in Alaska was
aroused in readings of Arctic ex-,
plorations.
Mrs. Biddle leaves two children
at her home in Philadelphia.
She will carry two guns, a sleep- j
mg bag, two suitcases, cameras,
photographic equipment. She is an
experienced hunter and is to wear
4 a hooded fur jacket, trousers and i
mukluks. She never has traveled
m such a wild country.
Upon her return from the Arctic -
she intends to write a book on her
adventures.
Cl TIE PROHIBITION
WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 3. (/P) j
—Confident that the Drys will still
hold control of the Senate and the
House, Congressional leaders agreed
* to the demands of the Wets for a |
vote on the prohibition question at j
this session.
On the Senate side is Senator j
Watson of Indiana, a Republican'
reader, and Senator William E. Bo
rah, of Idaho, prohibition stalwart,
who expressed their willingness for
an early showdown on the question.
^ Representative Henry T. Rainey,
of Illinois, a prospective Democratic j
leader, and Bertrand Snell, speaker J
nominee of the Republicans, said1
that the new house will face the j
issue directly.
Representative J. Charles Linthi
cum, Maryland Democrat, and a:
v leader of the House Wet bloc, claims
> that there will be 150 votes calling
for repeal in the House and that
this is the largest number of votes
calling for such action yet.
It has not been decided as to
what kind of a proposal the Wets
will press Congress to vote upon.
The regular weekly meeting of
:he Seward Chamber of Commerce j
was held today at noon in the'
Electric Bakery.
IS A SPECIAL SESSION OF THE ALASKA
LEGISLATURE REQUIRED ?
It is to be expected that the Territorial officials of
Alaska do not desire to give unpleasant publicity to the
situation which has developed with reference to the school
funds of Alaska.
Recent communications from the Auditor’s office di
lected to Treasurers of the respective school districts and
apparently based upon an opinion of the Attorney Gen
eral would seem to directly raise the question as to whe
ther the Legislature of the Territory or the appointed
and elected officials thereof should do the “calling off.”
The Legislature makes a school year from July 1 to
June 30 a fiscal, and does direct, by duly enacted Legis
lation, the payment, within that period, of certain sums
in support of the schools, payment of teachers and other
incidental expenses connected with the operation of the
schools.
The Wickersham organic act of August 24, 1912,
which gave to the Territory a Legislative organization,
withheld the right from such Legislative body of school
legislation. The first session of the Legislature in a me
morial asked the removal of such Wiekersham-like re
striction and presented to Congress with a memorial in
this regard proposing a form of a law which would re
sult in the establishment of a definite and systematic ad
ministration of such important matter. Congress sub
sequently conceded to the Territory such right as to school
legislation, and our present system came directly from
the laws enacted by duly elected, by the voters of Alaska,
representatives of the people.
The president of the first Alaska Senate, during its
sessions and ever since, has consistently maintained that
no Federal appointive Territorial officer should have
anything to do or say with reference to strictly Terri
torial finances. In other words, Senator Ray has asserted
a first principle of “home rule” government that Federal
appointees should keep their fingers out of Territorial
money; that the elected Representatives in Legislative
assembly should handle the money of the Territory by
making appropriations for its expenditures.
It is asserted many appropriations for constructive
improvements in the Territory have been effectually ve
toed by some indirect and hidden action on the part of
appointive and on the part of some of the elected officials.
Would it not have been more fair to have courageous
ly exercised the right of veto which is vested in the “colon
ial appointee” Governor than to afterward achieve the
same result, when there was no longer a Legislature in
session, which organization might and could over-ride
such veto.
Quoting from the Auditor’s letter, “The Legislature
has by law defined the school year as from July 1 to June
30. The appropriations passed by the last Legislature ex
ceeded the estimated revenues by approximately a quarter
of a million dollars, so it can readily be concluded thafc
the schools and the pioneer pensions are going to be with
out funds if Mr. Rustgard’s opinions were to be followed
by this office. The Governor and the Treasurer have sig
nified that they are going to follow the advice which the
Attorney General has given, but this office is going to be
guided by the wording of the appropriation bill.”
The ruling of the Attorney General seems to be that
there is not cash enough in the Territorial Treasury at
this time to meet the school obligations. As we under
stand the law, it is not how much money have we collected,
but the question is, are the expenditures for which appro
priations have been made, within the actual income which
may be reasonablv expected to accrue, from all sources,
“for the year.”
Every municipality in Alaska, more than once, has
in making expenditures, relied upon the prospective
(Please turn to Page Four)
GUERILLA ACTIVITIES
(By Associated Press)
Undated messages say that Chin
ese guerilla activities in Manchuria
| are the cause of grave anxiety and
i the activities of the small bands
| who terrorize the country may pro
voke Japan into another offensive.
U, S. WAREHOUSES
BEING RELIEVED OF
STOCKS OF MANUFACTURED
' GOODS AT END FISCAL
YEAR AKIN TO 1928
WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 3. (A1)
— President Hoover received the
cheering word that America’s bulg
ing warehouses are being relieved
of the glut of overproduction of
manufactures.
This was shown in Secretary La
mont’s annual report. Stocks of
manufactured goods had dwindled
so at the end of the fiscal year that
the situation was akin to 1928, giv
ing reason to expect increased bus
iness.
As to raw materials, however, the
Secretary of Commerce was unable
to say the same. Surpluses in gen
eral were undiminished.
Mr. Hoover heard again that his
moratorium proposal of last June
I “had a salutary effect on business
! sentiment in this country and
i abroad, which was promptly re
j fleeted in an upturn in commodity
; and security values.”
To measure industrial activity in
this country, the Comerce Depart
ment chief selected the Federal
Reserve Board’s index of produc
tion. It averaged 20 per cent less
! last fiscal year than in the one be
fore, and 25 per cent below the
| unprecedented volume of 1928-29.
j But despite the abnormal busi
; ness situation, Mr. Lamont em
i phasized, industrial production for
the year ended June 30 was of
j greater volume than in 1920 and
1922, “and 31 per cent more than
i «
that of the same month of 1930.
During the past fiscal year the
j Department of Commerce index of
domestic raw material stocks av
eraged 7.4 per cent larger than in
the preceding year, while the index
for June 1931 was 17 per cent above
that otf the same month ofl930.
“The situation with respect to
stocks of manufactured goods is
much more satisfactory,” the re
port said. “After rising above pre
depression levels during the fiscal
year 1929-30 the index has since
turned downward and at the end of
the past fiscal year was about six
per cent below the preceding year
and at the same level as in June
1928.”
The Secretary found foreign
trade not so bad as indicated by
dollars and cents values. Exports
wrere 34 per cent lower in dollar
values and imports 37 per icent
under the previous year on June
30, but studies of the Department
showed that the actual volume of
exports was down only 29 per cent.
Despite the decreases, exports were
two per cent above jthe 1922-26
average. i
FELTES. UPEYRE
BOB ELLIS, A. A. PILOT, CIRCLED
PLACE WHERE PLANE IS
STRANDED
McGRATH, Dec. 3. (JP)— Pilot Bob
Ellis, of the Alaskan Airways, cir
cled over the stranded Missionary
plane at Ganes Creek, between Mc
Grath and Holy Cross, at noon
Wednesday and upon his arrival
here reported that the relief party
with a dog team had arrived at the
place where the two churchmen,
Brothers George J. Feltes and Mar
tial Lapeyre, were marooned.
As Ellis flew over them they mo
tioned for him to land but the dan
ger is too great and Ellis did not
attempt to land.
The entire party seemed all right
and the relief party should return
to Takotna today. Pilot Ellis be
lieved that the churchmen must
have suffered somewhat in the last
few days because of the drop in the
temperature.
CHIEF DF SEA Him
URGES BUILDING MORE
WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 3. (A5)
—More money, more ships and
faster airplanes were bluntly rec
ommended to Secretary of Navy
Adams by Rear Admiral Moffett,
chief of sea aviation in his annual
report.
He warned that the country was
w7ay behind in the construction of
aircraft and urged that the United
States should build aircraft car
rier tonnage up to the limit al
lowed by treaties and that this ad
ditional tonnage be built as soon"
, as possible.
PROPOSALS LEAGUE PLAN
TOKYO, Dec. 3. (JP) — Foreign
Minister Shidehard completed a
draft of Japan’s counter proposals
to the League of Nations’ Manchu
rian peace plan and new instruc
tions are being made out for dis
patch to Japanese Ambassador
Yoshi Zwabe, at Paris, tonight.
It is understood that the new
proposals drafted by Japan meet
the points specified in the League
of Nations’ plan. However, the
League plan has not yet been ac
cepted by Tokyo as Japan is stand
ing firmly on her demand that the
Chinese must entirely evacuate
Manchuria with their military
forces if a neutral zone at Chin
Chow is to be realized.
The Friendly Indians, an organ
ization of Seward boys, will meet
in the Seward gymnasium—Dream
land Hall—at 10 a. m. Saturday.
Basketball Games Tomorrow Nite