A Letter Regarding Herring
Craig, Alaska,
August 1, 1925.
His Excellency, Geo. R. Parks,
Governor of Alaska,
Juneau, Alaska.
My Dear Governor:
1 want to take this late oppor
tunity to congratulate you on assum
ing the Governor’s chair, and to give
you our attitude on some of the
problems you will be compelled to
face.
I wonder if you realize the fate
of Alaskans, for generations to
come, will be, must be, settled dur
ing your administration. We may
as well look the situation squarely
in the face, get down to basic facts,
and shake off the roseate bunk we
have been stupefied with, and in
cidentally, rolled.
A brief comprehensive survey of
the wide domain you are appointed
to govern reveals these outstanding
facts. First: That outside the coastal
area, there is little to encourage per
manent settlement, both from scat
tered natural resources, and climatic
and geographic conditions. No such
permanent development from pioneer
conditions such as prevailed in the
States can be hoped for or expected.
But a small per cent of the wealth
produced from the mines and placers
of this area remains in Alaska, but
goes to upbuilding outside commu?
nities, and will continue to do so,
for reasons we cannot control. Ag
riculture and manufacturing will
never assume any economic propor
tions for a long time to come.
Second: That the coastal area pro
duces 75 per cent of wealth and
revenue, and supports the larger
part of our population, for the most
part entirely dependent on our fish
eries that have in the past been
our main dependence, and if further
depleted must cause a wholesale
exodus of the most of our popula
tion.
It is clearly apparent to anyone
who has lived in Alaska for any
length of time we have got to as
sert ourselves, and take a hand in
this game or get out. Of the vast
wealth produced by our fisheries,
what are WE getting out of it?
About 80 per cent of the fish canned
this year in this Division will be
caught by traps owned by a few cor
porations, and seiners from the
Sound. In normal years this would
amount to between two and three
million dollars per year at current
rates, that should be left here for
our support and advancement. Aside
from the little fur caught, and the
wages paid by a few mines and mills
and canneries, all that is supporting
us today is the money brought in by
the trollers and halibut fishermen,
and the 20 per cent the canners al
low us when their traps fail to sup
ply them. Figure it out yourself.
Herring Fisheries
If you will make a visit to Port
Walter and vicinity, you will get an
illuminating insight into the way
our supposedly inexhaustible fisher
ies have been plundered, and what
WE get out of it. There are 46 out
side seine boats and crews, each boat
with a capacity of from 350 to 850
bbls., are sweeping our waters, night
and day, of herring to supply the 10
fertilizer plants operating there. The
plants are under contract to take
all the herring the boats bring in,
at the time of my visit amounting
to about 1,400 bbls. per day each.
Their fertilizer capacity is 750 bbls
per day each. Some of them salt a
few, and what they can not handle
for fertilizer they dump overboard.
So far as I was able to determine,
not a man on the 46 boats or an
employee of the plants was a resi
dent of Alaska.
In making their hauls in most in
stances a great many more fish are
taken than the boat can carry. By
the time the boat is loaded a large
pei1 cent are smothered and sink Co
the bottom, the rest turned loose.
As an instance the boat “Newport”
estimated they had 2,000 bbls. in
seine. They dipped out 515 bbls.,
400 bbls. more were smothered and
sank to the bottom, and 1,000 bbls.
turned loose, and so it goes all over
Alaska. At New Port Walter on
July 26-7 even the floor of the plant
was covered with herring, and a
thousand bbls. were dumped in one
lot. The bird who superintends this
dump states these herring are “as
large and fine as any in Europe.”
Imagine what they would do to him
and his plant in any country in Eu
rope, yet he is encouraged and pro
tected here by our “scientific” guard
ians.
When you consider that aside of
the potential possibilities of creating
an invaluable and permanent herring
industry that would encourage and
support local settlement, these fish
were placed here by a provident na
ture for the growth and feed of our
salmon of all species, and are the
dependence of our trollers and hale
but fishermen, the crime of then
waton destruction by a few rapa
cious outside hogs, aided and en
couraged by our constituted trustees,
is an econimic crime without paral
lel in all the shameful history of
the looting of our heritage.
If a private estate had been plun
dered in this way by consent of our
trustees, the whole bunch of them
would be in the penitentiary. Our
Attorney General will tell you that
legally and morally they are just
as responsible. We may not be able
to put them in the pen, but we can
convince the common sense and com
mon decency of the country they
should be there, and compel relief
from conditions that are bleeding us
white, and must depopulate the
country unless there is an immediate
revision of the whole idiotic sys
tem. We haven’t even a reputation
left. Anyone who protests is a “radi
cal,” and the whole country has been
taught to believe we are a lawless
bunch of “Fish Pirates.”
I he shortage on the salmon pack
indicates the beginning of the end
of our salmon fisheries, notwith
standing Mr. Hoover’s recent com
plaisant assurance that the perpetu
ation of the salmon has been solved.
Nothing could be more absurd or
disquieting than this statement, for
if allowed to stand it will only
hasten the end, and prevent any real
constructive effort to save them. The
parent stream” fact is sufficient
answer to his “reserves,” that can
be operative only in each restricted
area. If any practical results are to
be attained all streams must be
given a chance.
\ ou must realize we have our
backs to the wall, and must fight
for our very existence. We are in
the same position as the old settler
who was cornered by a bear. Drop
ping on his knees he said, Oh Lor i
I never asked you for much and if
1 come out of this alive it will be
a long time before I ask you for
anything more. If you can’t help
me don’t help the bear, but stand
clear and you will see the damd’est
fight ever pulled off. Ictah micha
turn turn?
With best wishes, I am,
Yours truly,
CHAS. B. FERGUSON,
Representative First Division.
“PEOPLE OF HIGHER TYPE”
Congressman A. M. Free came to
Alaska, looked around for a minute
or two and, marvelous to relate, he
learned all there was to know.
Speaking of the Alaska railroad,
ho said: “The Alaska railroad cost
over fifty million dollars to build,
and is costing the Government ap
proximately two million dollars year
ly to run. It begins nowhere and
ends nowhere, and practically serves
no purpose.”
Congressman Free is the rightful
heir to Goldsmith’s Schoolmaster.
“And still the wonder grew, that
one small head could carry all he
knew, for e’en tho vanquished, he
could argue still.”
The honorable Congressman has
announced some rather startling con
clusions which makes some of us
poorer folk wonder just what we