w.
W. F. Thompson is a candidate for
the Senate from the Fourth Division,
and announces that his platform is
that whereas the representatives of
the Fourth during the last legisla
ture did not “get[ all” that they
were “supposed to get” that he
would.
' In the first place, even Mr. Thomp
son must concede that no person
should be elected to public office
merely because of his ability to get
“all the money for his district.” If
Mr. Thompson sets out to merely
“get the money,” he will find that
he will be badly disappointed.
All that the Fairbanks (by which
name the delegation from the Fourth
is known) delegation have a right
to ask for is fair and equitable treat
ment.
,Mr. Thompson makes a big point
that he will get a large appropria
tion for Fairbanks College whereas
others (meaning Mr. Ross, Mr. John
ston and others) failed last year.
In the same breath, Mr. Thompson
makes fun of the First Division, call
ing us inhabitants of fishing shacks,
Indians, Juneauites and other names.
Let Mr. Thompson realize that he wil1
get nothing by antagonizing the
people of the First Division who have
heretofore been friendly to the
Fourth and to Fairbanks College. If
Mr. Thompson keeps on, and the
people of the Fourth want to make
sure that Fairbanks college will have
a real fight on its hands, then send
Mr. Thompson to the senate.
There is a way for the Fourth
Division to get what is justly due
them. First, let that delegation come
to Juneau with the single desire to
serve Alaska, and as a part of this
service, let the delegation ask for
what is justly due Fairbanks College,
and the Fourth Division will find
out that it will be treated fairly.
There is a mistaken notion held
by Mr. Thompson that the Governor
“voted” the members of the Fourth
during the last legislature. That is
not true. The only man who was
controlled by the Governor was the
Hon. E. M. Keys. This man by wor
shipping at the shrine of power an
tagonized his natural friends. Per
haps he does not realize even now
that he it was who threw the “mon
key wrench” into the legislative ma
chinery.
W. F. Thompson talks like a brave
and courageous man, but I must say
that it is the bravery of supreme
ignorance. The play of politics at
Juneau was to “defeat the controliei
bill.” The machine was headed, by
Governor Scott C. Bone, Ivarl Thiele,
Walstein G. Smith, Senators Cham
berlain and Dimond of the Third;
F. THOMPSON OF
FAIRBANKS OPPOSES^
Foster, Murray, Price and Stacer of
the Third; E. M. Keys of the Fourth,
Senator Fred Ayer and Representa
tives Raelson and Daly of the Sec
ond, Representatives Shepard and
Poliey ot the First.
In order to get the support of the
business men, the men of the Third
Division made a play for “lower
appropriations” for the whole argu
ment advanced against the Controller
Bill was that it would cost too much.
Therefore Frank Foster introduced
a bill appropriating $45,000 for the
Fairbanks College. This was a clev
er move and had the . effect of sep
arating tne members of the Fourth
from the First, that is, the strong
political bloc was now the Third.
The Third at this time was soiid
and had also attracted to itself Shep
ard and Poliey of the First, Raelson
and Daly of the Second, and E. M.
Keys of the Fourth, all committed
to a continuation of carpet-bag rule,
and | with policies directed by the
Bone-Thiele machine.
At this time, the fish grab was
being opposed by Grant and Cole ol
the First, Wilson and Decker of tne
Second, Ross and Johnson of the
Fourth—Callahan had gone over be
cause he said the hatchery superin
tendent was a nice man.
The Third felt that they could not
go home without some “bacon” so
they made a play of fish hatcheries
for the Fairbanks College. They had
enough support to defeat any ap
propriation for the College and so
the Fourth had to accept the pro
position.
The alignments here mentioned
were not due to any special ability
of certain men so much as it was due
to the fact that the people of Alas
ka sent men to the legislature who
were of a mind to work together,
some as a matter of principle and
others for rewards which were later
handed out by the Governor.
Foster, Murray, Price and Staser
represented the Solid Third, reac
tionaries to the last man; to them
were joined E. M. Keys, honest, well
intentioned, but a fish out of water,
befuddled, pulled here and there by
the Solid Third and the Governor;
Shepard and Pollev, of the First,
Shepard finding his level among the
solid Third as water seeks its level,
and perhaps influenced by the fact
that his son-in-law is the manager
of the big copper mine in the Third
Division; while Poliey no doubt had
his eye on the fat job which has
since been handed him by the Gover
nor at $250 per month plus expenses;
and Daly and Raelson of the Second,
obeying the commands of Senator
Fred Ayer, personal friend and class
mate of Herbert Hoover, as he told
us, and fitting in with their unnat
ural allies, Foster, Murray, Price
and Staser. There were the solid
and soiled gang who ruled: Foster,
Murray, Price and Staser; Polly anti
Shepard; Keys; Daly and Raelson;
a solid and soiled ten, directed by
our carpet-bagging machine.
The independents who could not
be influenced by the invitation to the
Governor’s table were Grant and
Cole of the First; Ross and John
ston of the Fourth; Decker and Wil
son of the Second. Standing with
this bunch of independents in the
Senate were Aldrich and Hunt of
the First; Brown of the Second;
no one from the Third; and Dunn
and Snodgrass of the Fourth.
W. F. Thompson can continue to
rave about what he will do if he gets
to the legislature, but he may rest
assured that he will get no wnere
unless he works with and supports
the Progressives of his own division
and from the First and Second and
Third.
THE LITERACY
BILL OF 1923
This bill proposed that the judges
of Election might put any or all
voters thru a test—reading a page
of the constitution of the United
States—and permit or withhold the
voting privilege.
Everybody knows that election
judges are selected because they are
strong party men. To prevent the
possibility of fraud in applying the
test, H. H. Ross, of Fairbanks, pro
posed that any citizen might go be
fore the school board of the city or
district or before the teacher and
superintendent of the United States
Bureau of Education any time before
election day, take an examination,
and if successful, receive a certifi
cate which then could be presente l
to the election judges on challenge.
This proposal was defeated by Jo
seph Murray and his friends. He
said in his argument, “We want the
test applied by the election board.’
The truth is easy to see. The test
that Murray wanted was not a lit
erary, but a political test.
In the Senate, Mr. Fred Ayer con
tinued the argument of Joseph Mur
ray. When Mr. Ayer was asked
how he could propose such a law
when our Organic Act says that tne
Alaska Legislature cannot change
the qualification of voters, he made
r.o answer. The truth is that Mr.
Ayer proposed to pass an unlawful
act in order that his gang of re
actionaries might win.
Editor W. F. Thompson thinks
that if the Fourth Division should
elect him their Senator, that he can
make all the other Senators “bend
the knee to him.” IF Mr. Thompson
should be elected Senator, he will
find seven other stiff-kneed persons
in the Senate. It will not help him
one particle to make fun of the
“fishing shacks’ ’or the “Scandinavi
ans” or the “Indians” of the First
Division.