“OLD AGE PENSION” AND
“MOTHERS’ PENSIONS”
On account of studied politics, the
newspapers throughout Alaska have
badly misinformed the public about
the facts of the Old Age Pension Act
and also the Mothers’ Pension Act.
Amendments were proposed first
by Representative William L. Paul,
then by George C. Moody, of Fair
banks, and by Mr. Paul again, then
lastly by Thomas Jensen of Nome.
The scare lines of the newspapers
were something like the following:
“PAUL TRIES TO OPEN PENSION
GATES TO INDIANS.” Then again:
“PAUL THREATENS TO TIE UP
PENSION FUNDS UNLESS IN
DIANS PROVIDED FOR.”
What are the facts?
The facts are simply these, that
both the above mentioned laws have
been unconstitutional from the very
beginning, and at the very first test,
the laws would have been so de
clared by the courts. The reason for
this is that the laws were drawn up
spec:'ally excluding Indians as a race
from the benefits of the law and
violating the 14th amendment to
the Constitution of the United States
that “no state shall make or en
force any law which shall abridge
the privileges or immunities of citi
zens of the United States; * * *
nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of
the laws.”
In a well considered opinion, At
torney General John Rustgard held
that by virtue of several general
statutes passed by Congress, such
as revised statute 1891, the 14th
amendment applied to Alaska.
A contest could have arisen in
two ways, first by any one of a*
growing number of large tax payers
who are grumbling about the in
creasing burden of old age and
mothers’ pensions; second, by citi
zen Indians who are taxed and
treated like any other citizen and
who are yet the victims of studied
discrimination by the public offi
cials of this Territory.
Because of this danger, Represen
tative William L. Paul proposed to
amend the existing old age and
mothers’ pension acts so that, con
sidered strictly from a legal stand
point, these laws could not be suc
cessfully attacked in the courts. In
other words, Mr. Paul was trying to
correct a bad defect in the law so
that the Pioneers and Mothers who
were getting the pension wrould not
have this help cut off without notice.
On the other hand, near-sighted
statesmen and persons blinded by
intense prejudice, were determined
that the law should not be corrected.
It seemed to us that these people
were only using a dirty, underhanded
way of destroying the pension
system.
After Mr. Paul had pointed out
the fatal defects of the present laws,
Joseph Murray, leader of the Juneau
Empire forces in the House, said:
“I have known for a long time that
these laws were defective, and we
have been apprehensive that some
time a contest might be started, and
since Mr. Paul has made his state
ment, I think there is nothing for us
to do but send it back to the com
mittee for further consideration.”
The Juneau Empire and its scut
tlers are trying to prejudice the
pubPe mind against Mr. Paul for
his effort to correct a badly drawn
bill, but every thinking mind in
Juneau and elsewhere are saying that
“Mr. Paul has done the right thing,
and you cannot beat a man who is
right. It takes a good deal of
courage to do the right thing espe
cially when it is unpopular.”
The amendment adopted reads sub
stantially as follows: “This act shall
not inure to the benefit of any In
dian or Eskimo who is provided for
out of funds appropriated by the
United States government, or to any
ward of the United States.”
This simply says that if any In
dian is getting help from the United
States government, he shall not get
any from the Territory. And that
is as it should be. Simple justice,
however, would argue that the In
dian citizen should receive the same
treatment under the law as any
other citizen.
It has always seemed to us that
the suffering of an Indian orphan
and the privation of a widowed In
dian mother is just as keen as that
of a white mother. And it has also
seemed to us that the true prin
ciples on which the story of the
Good Samaritan is founded does not
turn on color.
“You cannot beat a man who is
right.”
George C. Moody, the Grand Sec
retary of the Pioneers Lodge, intro
duced an amendment first requiring
that no one but a citizen of the
United States should receive a pen
sion; second, that no pension should
be paid to any person who leaves
the territory even for a day; third,
that no person should receive a pen
sion who did not come to Alaska
PRIOR to January 1, 190G. People
can easily see what George had on
his mind and how broad his sym
pathies run.
Last year many applications for
help were refused because the ap
propriation had become nearly ex
hausted. Other pensions were cut
down materially for the same reason.
In order to prevent the re-occur
rence of this calamity, Mr. Paul in
troduced an amendment thus: “If
the funds provided by the Legisla
ture shall be exhausted, the Terri
torial Treasurer shall issue warrants
to the beneficiary in place of drafts,
which warrants shall be an obliga
tion of the Territory of Alaska,
payable out iof the funds of the
Territory as soon as made available
by an act of the Legislature.”
Warrants issued under this amend
ment can be used by the Pioneers
for credit purposes.
* * *
Some people have the notion that
the Old Age Pension Acts of this
Territory provide for pension merely
because the party applying is old.
A party came to see us the other
day and sa;d that under that act,
his mother was entitled to a pen
sion and should get it. We told him
“No” for the reason that the mother
has several children who were able
to care for her and so long as that
was true, she was not eligible to a
pension.
Tn order to get a pension, the
applicant must virtually be what is
known in law as a “poor person” or
“pauper.”
Willie Clallam went home the
ether night and caught his wife sit
t'ng on Chief Dancing Bear’s lap.
When his wife saw him she merely
said: “Here, Willie, pull up a chair
and learn something.”—Real Ameri
can.
Bull Etiquette
Dear Mr. Bull: Isn’t it vulgar to
blow on vour tea in order to cool
it?—Chief Willie Clallam.
“Yes, Chief; the most refined way
is to pour it in your saucer and
fan it with your hat.”—Sitting- Bull.
—Real American.
Kaffe-Stova Cafe
ED. BROKKE, Prop.
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