Ketchikan City Election
Everyone Must Vote
The terms of the following coun
cilmen expire this year, H. R. Thomp
son, Axel Osberg, John Anderson,
and the school director, J. C. Barber.
Citizens should now ask them
selves what the past council has
done for Ketchikan.
Rather, let the citizens ask them
selves who is the government of
Ketchikan.
J. C. Barber.
Let that name stand alone. It de
serves a paragraph all by itself. Let
the name be turned into the heart
of every citizen for shame for men
and women who call themselves
“good citizens” have turned the con
trol of this city to a single man.
J. C. Barber with Carl Strong are
so rich, and they hold such a posi
tion in this city as controlling in
terests of the Docks over which we
must ship, the water and power com
pany, power over credit in the Bank
by their control of the directors,
that these two men CAN MAKE
AND BREAK any business man in
this town, with two or three excep
tions. The two exceptions that I
know about are Dr. George Dickin
son and William L. Paul.
J. C. Barber has been on the
school board and has dominated that
board for many years. This Board
has only formal meetings. THE DE
CISIONS OF THE SCHOOL BOARD
ARE MADE OVER THE TELE
PHONE. and J. C. BARBER DOES
THE DECIDING.
How long, how long are the citi
zens of Ketchikan going to kiss the
feet of this man- Men call them
selves independent, but the soul of
Ketchikan belongs to J. C. Barber
and Carl Strong. These two men
have made themselves rich by stand
ing on the unfortunates.
The Council never made a move
for the school building until Barber
became willing. Through this man,
this city is now committed to spend
$150,000 of the taxpayers money for
a school building in a place where it
will do the least good.
The penalty for this crime should
be to compel the councilmen who
have bowed to Barber to stand by
Dr. Dickinson’s comer and watch the
small children plodding the last bit
of two miles to school with still a
big hill ahead.
Little children, leg-weary, tired be
fore the day has begun, must con
tinue to travel two miles and eat
cold meat because Barber wants to
sink $150,000 into a pretty building.
The real reason back of this waste
of the public’s money is so that the
city cannot raise money to take over
the light and water monopolies. In
two or three years more, this city
will have to have school buildings at
each end of town. This will cost at
least $50,000 each. Add this $100,
000 to the $150,000 on the hill, and
we have a city indebtedness of
$250,000. When it comes time to
consider renewing the electric and
water franchise, Mr. Barber will say,
“O, you cannot think of bonding the
city more heavily to take over my
business. Just think of what a heavy
tax that will be on the poor pro
perty owner.”
Mr. Barber does not care about
tax payers. He cares about himself
and his bank book. The war-cry for
the city election should be, “Turn
the rascals out.” You can, but you
wont.
How to Judge Candidates
There are two classes of men run
ning for public office; First, those
who are honestly seeking to do a
public service and, seeond, those who
have a secret purpose but who an
nounce a public one. How can you
tell the honest from the dishonest
one ?
The answer is very simple. The
people generally know certain key
men in politics on both sides, For
the People, and Against the People.
“Birds of a feather flock together.”
You will find certain men who are
nearly always Against the People
and serving the big interests, among
these are H. L. Faulkner and R. E.
Robertson, corporation attorneys of
Juneau; also John W. Troy, their
mouthpiece, editor of the Juneau
Empire; J. C. Barber and H. C.
Strong, in Ketchikan; Tom Donohoe,
Frank Foster, Joseph Murray, in the
Third Division. Whenever these
men endorse a man, “There's a rea
son” and you are not in on it.
These men are endorsing certain
men for public office, among whom
are J. H. Davies of Ketchikan, for
Senator; H. R. Shepard and V. A.
Paine, of Juneau; J. E. Gurr, of
Wrangell, and Howard Ashley, of
Skagway, for Representatives.
They are opposing F. J. Hunt of
Ketchikan, for Senator; Perry Hern
of Skagway, Chas. B. Ferguson of
Craig, W. D. Grant of Wrangell,
William L. Paul of Ketchikan, Tre
vor Davis of Juneau, J.. Nolan of
Douglas, for Representatives.
The issues are clear, and you will
find the Key Men opposed to them;
for example, Home Rule to the limit
of the Organic Act; Abolishment of
the Fish Trap by a high license; Fair
Taxation of all industry; Investiga
tion of the Transportation Question;
Territorial Control of Workmen's
Compensation.
■ ■
DEPLETION
In the debate on the trap tax be
fore the last legislature, William L.
Paul argued for a straight tax of one
cent per fish caught in the trap as
the fairest way to tax providing the
legislature wished to maintain the
trap system. The reason is simple.
But this method, the trap which
catches the most fish and hence
which is the most valuable would
pay according to its value.
However, the fish trust had an
able advocate of modem politics at
the legislature. Against the actual
experience of Paul, Mr. Heckman,
vice-chairman of the Alaska Terri
torial Fish Commission, placed his.
He maintained the traps were not
depleting the fish streams. And as
his most telling question, he asked
Paul: “Why was Moira Sound de
pleted before the advent of the
trap?” Because Paul was not given
a chance to answer this question
by the sudden motion to adjourn
made by Senator Ayer, of Nome, we
will make the answer now.
The reason is that Former Sena
tor J. R. Heckman, at the time he
mentions, while Superintendent of
the Alaska Packers cannery at Lor
ing and also of their hatchery,
FENCED THE MOIRA SOUND
CREEKS SO THAT NO SALMON
COULD GET UP THE CREEK.
J. R. is now the Vice-Chairman
of our Territorial Fish Commission,
and owns the Heckman Floating
Trap patent, the greatest extermin
ator of fish yet invented. Our car
pet-bagging governors work that
way, the greater your power to de
stroy fish the more power you will
get to run the business or make the
laws.
-„ . —
WAS IT FAIR?
Carl Strong, who with J. C. Bar
ber, rules Ketchikan, went to the
Postoffice early one Sunday and
called up the Postmaster to come
down and sort out the mail and see
if anything had come for him. The
postmaster said he would come down
after breakfast. But that would not
do, said the other.
The following Wednesday at the
Commercial Club luncheon, Mr.
Strong got up and said to the Pres
ident—J. C. Barber, that he had a
complaint to make against the Post
master, that he was not tending to
business, service was poor, etc., but
made no mention of his own little
tiff, and wanted the commercial club
to take up the complaint with Wash
ington.
President Barber said he thought
that might be left to the Executive
Committee. This committee consists
of Barber, Strong and one other.
Pretty good, eh?
Then this committee without fur
ther authorization or consideration
by the Commercial Club sent a strong
protest to Washington about the
“bad” postmaster and signed the
telegram “Ketchikan Commercial
Club.” Of course this last statement
was untrue, but what is the Ten
Commandments between Friends?