known the history of the bill in
question and had made it pub
lic, he would have kept the con
fidence of the fishermen voters,
no-withstanding the unfair ac
cusations of - is and other op
ponents. I think the bill gives
peace between trap men in Alas
ka, provents the “jumping” of
trapsites, compels trap owners
to pay license fees therefor
based on the amount of their
catch, and thereby tends to
conservation of salmon and the
better support of the fisheries
and the public treasury.
The Alexander Bill was a plan
to give congressional perpetual
leasehold title to trap sites in
Alaska. Section six of the bill
found in the proceedings of the
House of Representatives of IVc.
13, 191G, provided:
Sec. f». FIXED NET LOCA
TIONS: That any person oc
cupying, or desiring to occupy,
any location where it may be
lawful to construct a pound
net (trap) in the waters of
Alaska, shall have such loca
tion to be accurately surveyed
by a competent surveyor, UN
LESS A SURVEY THEREOF
HAS ALREADY BEEN I V DE,
IN WHICH EVENT SUCH EX
ISTING SURVEY MAY BE
USED, and shall cause three
maps to be made of such lo
cation from actual survey
thereof. * * * From and after
the date of filing in the oflice
of the commissioner of re
cords such map shall consti
tute full and complete notice
that the locator lias complied
with all the provisions of this
Act in regard to such loca
tion and that such location is
owned, held, occupied and
claimed by the person desig
nated thereon as claimant.***
FROM AND AFTER THE FIL
ING OF THE MAP IN THE
CASE OF A FOUND NET
(trap) or from and after the
posting of the number of the
licr-n .,-, as ;i)jove provided in
£V. care of stake net or set net
THE CLAIMANT OF THE
FISHING LOCATION SHOWN
ON SUCH MAP, or marked by
such number, HIS I-IEIRS, AD
MINISTRATOR, EXECUTORS,
SUCCESSORS, OR ASSIGNS,
SHALL HAVE THE EXCLUS
IVE RIGHT TO HOLD, OC
CUPY, AND FISH IN SUCH
LOCATION, TO RENEW THE
LICENSE THEREOF AND TO
MORTGAGE, SELL, LEASE,
OR TRANSFER THE SAME
DURING THE TIME THAT
IIE OR THEY IN OTHER RE
SPECTS SHALL C O M PL Y
WITH THE LAW RELATING
THERETO.”
After carefully reading even
this part of the bill, I think you
must agree with me that the
Alexander Bill WAS a plan to
give a Congressional perpetual
leasehold title to trap sites in
Alaska, and that I only did my
duty in bringing about its de
feat in the House. I call your
special attention to the pro
ceedings in the House of Repre
sentatives on December 13, 1916,
so that you may discover for
yourself the difference between
the Alexander Bill and the bill
under consideration.
The Proposed Substitute for the
Alexander Bill
The bill under consideration
and . which Mr. Paul is said to
have approved, is entitled, “An
Act to amend section 8 of the
Act of Congress of June C,
1924, entitled ‘An Act for the
protection of tie fisheries of
Alaska, and for other purpos
es.’ ” It is substantially identic
al with the one proposed by me
in 1916 in my effort to defeat
the Alexander Bill, which was
only defeated by the happy ac
cident that the Committee on
Merchant Marine and Fisheries
had only a single day in which
to secure its passage, and failed
to do so because of the many
amendmcntsoiT^reiMnwne^Jii
der the House rules if it failed
(as it did) to pass that day, it
could not be called again ttat
session of Congress.
I now call your attention to
the effort made to secure the
adoption of the substitute trap
site leasing bill in 1916, and to
my statement in relation to that
matter on December 13, 191G, as
contained in the House pro
ceedings of that day where the
following colloquy occurred:
“Mr. Reilly. Mr. Chairman,
Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. Wickersham. Certainly.
“Mr. Reilly. You stated a few
moments ago that there are
no laws at the present time
covering the subject matter of
this bill regarding these lo
cations for fishing.
‘Mr. Wickers*am. Yes sir..
“Mr. Reilly. What necessity,
if any, is there for new legis
lation along that line?
“Mr. Wickersham. I think
there is necessity for it, and X
PROPOSED IT TO THE COM
MITTEE. THE COMMITTEE
WANTED TO KNOW WITAT I
WOULD DO, AND I PROPOS
ED A LEASING SYSTEM OP
THESE TRAP SITES, UNDER
SUCH PROTECTION AS
OUGHT TO BE IMPOSrJD, SO
THAT IN FIVE WEARS WE
COULD GO OUT AND RE
CAPTURE THEM IF WE DE
SIRED. AND CONTROL THEM
IN THE MEANTIME, AND
THUS PREVENT THEM
FROM PASSING INTO THE
HANDS OF ONE GREAT FISH
TRUST. (Applause) THAT
CAN BE DONE."
Now, the point I wish to make
in this last quotation is that in
1916 I favored this identical
plan of leasing these trap sites
in Alaskan waters, and the
House of Representatives agreed
with me. I l ave favored that
plan ever since, and do now
FAVOR IT.
Possessory Rights in Trap Sites * / *
The old English poim I net )«'