THE ALASKA E1SUEKMAN
Published the 15tn of each month at Ketchikan, Alaska
A/ILL1AM L. PAUL, ATTORNEY FOR THE
ALASKA NATIVE BKOTlIKltLIOOD
’jiiterea as second ■ class matter at the Post Otlice at
KETCHIKAN, ALASKA
HUBSCRPTION PRICE $2.00 FOR TWELVE ISSUES
OUR RLATROKM:
ALASKA FOR ALASKANS.
FULL TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT.
COMPETENT CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP.
ABOLISHMENT OF ALL TRAPS.
j. J. UNDERWOOD
Mr J. J, Underwood said that in all his
writings he had been opposed to all bureaucratic
government, but alter travelling with Mr. O'Mal
ley and seeing the fishing conditions in Alaska l'or
himself, he was strong for the control oi the fish
eries by such means as used by the Commissioner
of Fisheries. He said that if there were no Mr.
O’Malley he felt sure that the packers and fisher
men would all regret it and that there would soon
be no fish.
In the fight against the recent arms reduc
tions treaty, the “powers that be” were able to get
a high admiral to tell the Senate that whereas he
felt that eight inch guns were absolutely essential
for American needs, he had recently seen a great
light and now he believed that six inch guns were
just as good and even better.
This man Hubbard, testifying against Roy
Lyle, testified in a former trial and helped to send
Roy Olmstead to jail, but now Hubbard says that
his former testimony was perjury and his present
testimony is the truth
And so it will ever be.
We believe that we are still a part of tne Unit
ed States and that government is based upon “the.
consent of the governed” and not upon King
O’Malley.
-x
“HATS OFF TO HENRY O’MALLEY”
This is the tribute which the Ketchikan
Chronicle pays to Henry O’Malley, king of Alaska,
because of the great, fine run of 1930 salmon.
THE REASON
“There is a growing (?) conviction that the
commissioner of fisheries was right. And in Ket
chikan this year it appears to us that there is
proof conclusive that Mr. QMaiiey’s regulatory
policies have been the right ones.” (Question
mark ours).
This does not take into account the millions
of dollars which the industry has lost through
O'Malley’s regulations which on the surface at
this date seem correct to the Chronicle. It is so
easy to forget.
LET US COMPARE
In spite cf the “great run of fish” that came
here at Mr. O'Malley’s behest, the 1930 pack is
TWO HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND CASES
SHORT OF THE 1929 PACK around Ketchikan—
counting 21 canneries.
Am1 since there has been a virtual total fail -
ure in Bristol Bay, why should we not blame Mr.
O’Malley, the acknowledged king of Alaska, and
hailed as such by some with delight.
x
A CORRECTION
-x
In our “Open letter to Stewart Edward White”
published in the May number, on page nine we
stated wherein: “Fisheries differ from all other
businesses in this, that efficiency is not an end m
itself; for there is a principle that has stood the
test of centuries and which finds it first expres
sion in Magna Charta wherein it is stated that
‘There shall be no fixed engines for catching fish.’
The law was but the result of the ancient strug
gle between the upper and lower fishermen which
is this—that I, a lower fisherman shall not be
permitted to catch all the fish . and thus deprive
you. an upper fisherman, of your share, but that
my gear shall be sc regulated that NO escapement
shall be permitted for you an upper fisherman ”
The word “no” is a mistake of the printer.
The true principle of fishery legislation is
simply this—that a fisherman at the mouth of the
river shall not be allowed to catch ALL the fish
and thus deprive the fisherman in the upper riv
er of his share.
The fish belong to us all and so the law which
is passed by all and without which your “property
rights” could not be protected, must see that the
lower fisherman shall not hog all the fish.
It is not right that the fishermen at Cape
Chacon, Cape Fox, Cape Spencer, and the Lower
Chatham have destroyed the fisheries at Wran
gell, Petersburg, the Taku and the Chilkat.
-x
THE CLOSED SEASON
“Another disadvantage in the seasonal clos
ing comes from the strong probability that early
fi*h early fish, and the late spawners again
give rise to late spawners.”