presents the views and the ideals
of the people of his Territory
but in his charming and attract
ive personality typifies the rug
ged, honest manhood which set
tled that great country. (Ap
plause). I appreciate the pre
dicament and the embarrass
ment of our colleague from
Alaska. He took this floor some
time ago, and in one of the
ablest appeals ever made in the
House of Representatives de
feated, decisively and over
whelmingly, under suspension of
the rules, a bill which embodied
the very principal contained in
the bill now before the House for
consideration. But. gentlemen,
we must go to his rescue. He is
in exactly the same position as
many of us are when through
personal appeals, friendship, and
contact, we introduce a private
bill that we are absolutely
ashamed of; we bring it on the
floor of the House and make
feeble attempt to support it,
knowing it should be defeated
and hoping for a miracle to hap
pen. Of course, gentlemen, you
cannot eliminate entirely the
personal equation. The gentle
man from Alaska knows the se
cretary of the Territory. The
Secretary of the Territory says
to him, “Now look here; you de
feated the bill which would have
permitted these other fellows to
get their extra pay; but I will
tell you what I want you to do
for me; introduce a bill so that
I will get mine.” Why, gentle
men, what are we doing here?
After having stated by an ov
erwhelming vote that we would
not permit the practice of hav
ing Federal job holders to re
receive pay from the Territory,
thereby serving in a dual capa
Tool Hall—Cigars and Tobaccos
Furnished Rooms
L. A. Olsen Proprietor
Wrangell,
Alaska
city and receive two pays, we
are now asked to pass upon a
L-iu. w ncli wnl give tms privilege
oO one individual wno has been
^elected and singled out. Why,
the very bill itself is stultifying.
After providing lor the payment
of the dual salary for this man,
we say, “Oh, this bill is only good
up to March 31, 1929, and if you
come back hereafter we are not
going to permit it any more.”
Mr. TAYLOR of Tennessee.
Will the gentleman yield?
Mr. LAGUARDIA. Yes.
Mr. TAYLOR of Tennesee.
Does the gentleman think that
if the Secretary of the Interior
took into consideration the fact
when he fixed this man’s salary,
that he was being paid this ad
ditional salary that would add
some merit to this proposition?
Mr. LAGUARDIA. But it was
unlawful.
Mr. TAYLOR of Tennesee. The
Delegate from Alaska stated that
the Secretary of the Interior, in
fixing the salary, had taken this
into consideration.
Mr. LAGUARDIA. But any
such consideration is unlawful,
just as if we were to fix the sal
ary of a Federal judge or United
States marshal at so much and
then say “We will fix the salary
of the United States marshal in
the next county at so much be
cause as sheriff of that county
he receives an additional salary.”
We cannot take an unlawful
proposition into consideration.
Mr. SCHAFER. Will the gen
tleman yield?
Mr. LaGUARDIA. Yes.
Mr. SCHAFER. In taking the
last census for Alaska, Federal
employees were placed upon two
pay rolls for the same period of
time and this Congress passed a
bill approving the disbursement
for their salaries. I think the
last paragraph of this bill will
serve notice on the officials that
they cannot expect any such re
lief from Congress in the future.
Mr. LaGUARDIA.. If that is
the purpose of this bill it is
something new in legislation, the
act that we have to serve no
ice of an existing law, because
ill this bill does is to reiterate
existing law. I have never heard
of anything in legislation which
served notice on officials of ex
isting law and that such a law is
on the statute books.
Mr. UNDERHILL. Will the
gentleman yield?
Mr. LaGUARDIA. Yes.
Mr. UNDERHILL. Does this
bill provide for anything worse
than the usual practice of go
ing ahead and doing something
that is wrong and then coming
to Congress for the validation of
something that has already been
done?
Mr. LaGUARDIA. That is what
we are doing here.
Mr. UNDERHILL. That is
what they do in the matter of
presenting claims.
Mr. LaGUARDIA. And that
is what we are doing here and
I say it is wrong. This bill ought
not to pass.
The SPEAKER. The time of
the gentleman from New York
has expired.
Mr. DOWELL. Mr. Speaker,, I
yield myself five minutes.
Mr. PERKINS. Will the gen
tleman yield for a question?
Mr. DOWELL. Yes.
Mr. PERKINS. Under the pre
sent law two salaries can not be
paid to one individual perform
ing two functions?
Mr. DOWELL. The court has
so held. The Legislature of
Alaska, however, when they
made this arrangement of con
solidating the Federal office
with the Territorial office, did
not have the information. The
court has made that determina
tion since that time.
Mr. PERKINS. What effect
has the bill other than to say
that hereafter they will have to
obey the law which was enacted
August 24, 1912?
Mr. DOWELL. The exception