SERVILE SYCOPHANTS
That Juneau, the capital of tic Territory, is
the hotbed of the bureaucrats in Alaska there is
none to deny. The real Alaskans residing there
have been so long under the iron heel of Federal
officials who swarm around there that the Alas
icans not imported have become servile condoners
of all the conspiracies concocted by the bureau
crats to rob tic Territory.
Whenever the imported stock ask for a little
additional salary to be paid by the Territory in
violation of law, these Juneau people smile ser
enely and say “Thank you.”
They have peddled out Territorial offices to
legislators for a surrender of our personal rights
as American citizens until there is nothing but
the shell left to the Organic Act, our Territorial
Constitution. So familiar have voters of the First
Division become with this deplorable condition
of political affairs in the capital city, a resident of
."uneau, nominated for public office, is heavily
handicapped as a candidate, for the people of the
First Division well know that the Alaskans resid
ing in Juneau long ago became the servile sycho
phants of the imported Federal Bureaucrats and
offer no resistance to their conspiracies to bleed
the Territorial Treasury and domineer over our
legislative officials.—The Petersburg ALASKAN.
DECLAMATION CONTESTS
Contests in public speaking in our public
schools deserve the place of greatest import
ance.
Athletic contests have their place. But we
would remind you that the place of such is limit
ed almost entirely by the period of school life
wliiie the usefulness of public speaking begin >
there and ends only with death itself.
We wish to congratulate the Juneau repre
sentative on his victory in the recent contest and
do not wish to detract from his achievement by
what we say. However, since that contest is ov
er, we suggest that there is need for a revision of
the rules. The reasons are obvious.
In the rules, there is no notice whatever taken
of memory. The “declamation” could be read (so
far as the rules are concerned, and if done suffi
ciently well, tile “reader” would be entitled to first
place.
In the Juneau contest, the winner of the first
prize forgot his piece twice and was twice prompt
ed. In any other contest or examination, the ac
ceptance of outside help would have disquali
fied the contestant forthwith, and it should have
had that effect at Juneau.
It was at the London Olympics, was it not,
that an automobile picked up one of the exhaust
ed Marathon runners, carried him several miles
and thus permitted him to come in first. But
w \m the facts became known, the prize was giv
en to that contestant who came in first without
as~i .uance.
Suppose the prompter at Juneau had not been
there, the Juneau candidate would have stood for
a minute or more 0:1 both occasions and would
have shown clearly that he had not even memor
ized the speech on which l.e hoped to win the
prize.
Memory should rate fifty per cent.
If lyffp is offered, that should promptly dis
qualify the contestant. The Juneau prompter of
fered to assist in that way each of the other con
testants, but each declined except the Juneau
candidate.
A second change in the rules should be this.
Elecution should be a second point. Under
this heading, we would enumerate enunciation,
poise, and delivery.
Under the Juneau rules, poise was given a
place and ease was given another place, whereas
poise certainly covers both points.
The third point should be “effect on the aud
ience” to which no attention is now given. After
all, the end of all speaking is its “effect on the
audience.” You might have the most perfect ele
cution, and faultless memory, and yet the audi
ence might be unmoved and respond in no way
to the efforts of the speaker. That was the pbint
of the debate beyond the river Styx between Cice
ro and Demosthenes as to who was the greater
speaker. Cicero said that he was the greater and
proved it by the general praise given him by his
hearers. But Demosthenes brushed all that aside
when he said “But when I spoke, all of Greece
went to war with Alexander.”
Ths Legislature in the future could very well
appropriate money to permit a Divisional Con
test, and then perhaps a Territorial contest.
in **********M*^H*H*H*^H#H*H^H****H****H»H*H«H*M'**
Every great and commanding
movement in the annals of the
world is the triumph of enthus
iasm.—Emerson.
The great thing in this world
is not so much where we stand
as .in what direction we are'
moving.—Oliver Wendell Holmes
If you have knowledge, let oth
ers light their candles at it