ANDY NYLAN
-X
Having had previous experi
ence in the House, Representa
tive Nylan was equipped to take
a leading place in the councils
of the body of which he was a
conscientious and courageous
member. But he was given lit
tle opportunity to shine, being
placed on committees where his
counsel was of the minority
kind. Altho entitled to a place
on thi important Ways and
Means Committee, li e was
shunted aside and two new, but
pliable, members from the Se
cond Division were given consid
eration. It was known that they
could work harmoniously with
Mr. Shaftuck, the Democratic
Chairman. Altho everybody lik
ed Andy, possibly his greatest
handicap was the fact that he
favored the principles of a Bo ird
of Control bill. He was one of
the few who had the cour -go to
stand up against a safe majority
of fawners who did not van to
see the Governor shorn of any
of his prerogatives, when the
opportunity was given to have
the Territor
ed by Territorial r< i
officials. Andy Nylan was pre
pared to render good service to
the Second Division but his col
leagues from the North were not
of the type to work with him.
HENRY BURGH
-o
Always good natured a
ing to vote for a friend when the
interests of the complex
ity would not be interf
with, Representative Bur; h did
not take his duties serious]}.. H>
was soon regarded as
man and nobody ever bothered
much to get Henry's support of
the various measures pro
The bosses would ansv er • hii
—and they did.
FRANK H. FOSTER
Frank Foster is a lawyer from
the Third Division. As a repre
sentative be is just a talker. He
is voluble upon all own 'o;: p
with convictions (if they can be
called such) that change with
the rise and fall of the tide.
Foster is one of the reasons
why the Legisla*ure ' 01 1
hooked
tom. The people of the Third
Division, especially the small
fishing villages of the West,
would find out that his pre-elec
tion promises are pure bunk, and
that when in the legislature,
Frank serves his real masters.
He takes care of his cannery
clients (perhaps by way of prov
ing to them that he is a real
friend) under the guise of “keep
ing down taxes,” by which he
means cannery taxes. But that
did not deter him from propos
ing a head tax of $5.00 (similar
to the school tax and additional
to it) from which to pay the pi
one ers. “Lay it on the poor resi
dents,” says Frank Foster, “but
don’t discourage (foreign) cap
ital.”
Foster’s cutting of appropria
tions was a mere pretense for in
all cases, they were promptly
raised.
On committee appointments,
Frank demanded and was made
chairman of the Fisheries Com
mittee. Lacking an opportunity
to do something “big” for his
friends, he joined with Repre
sentative Ziegler and together
they led tire successful attack on
the bill to compell sanitation
and cleanliness in all canneries.
Foster also joined the major
ity who defeated Mr. McCor
mick’s bill to tax fish traps ac
cording to their catch, and so
the Little Trap Man must pay
virtually the same tax as the
ap owner.
Tt is not too much to say that
Frank Foster is not independ
hes to believe but
d back you will
f 'd rue brand of his boss,
T.V’l WATER
When Mr. Tarwater got back
to Anchorage and was asked the
rue: ' -T: “Well, what did you
>lat ire,” we can
wer from his
record.
business ' dative im
arre ! tor misde
Drrrmv is really too much for
in.v < I g/'t wi fine gentlemen
roo Tarwater is one of these.
’ ■’bother The general poverty of
:y ;com >hr ientJ was due to
the s 'awky of his sober mo
rn e- ' s or is merely a poor gen
"rage no one will ever
know.
Being a banker, he should
know what the trouble with
Alaska is—why our white popu
lation has decreased almost one
thousand each year for twenty
years. And yet, Iv.s sole claim
to distinction is this—he claims
credit for giving the Federal Su
pervising Engineer (appointed
from Washington) $20,000 for
work that should be done by the
Territory itself. Mr. Tarwater
feels very keen disappointment
because Senator Sundquist
would not allow him to give this
federal official $40,000.
The matter of the general
failure to give Alaska a more
democratic system of govern
ment has not disturbed his
equinimity; nor does Tarwater
feel that our continued loss of
white population is a question
to bother a statesman. But tliat
failure to give a federal official
another $20,000—that is a fail
ure to make banking statesmen
swear. Shades of Alexander
Hamilton1 !
Mr. Tarwater had such close
sympathetic relations with Joe
Murray and Frank Foster that
the Siamese twins cease to be a
wonder. He carried out their
wishes. But he really enjoyed
this his first legislative experi
ence and he also had a very
pleasant vacation being for sixty
days immune from arrest,
JOSEPH MURRAY
-x
Many look upon him affec
tionately and consider ly.m the
Dean of the House, and really
think of Representative Murray
as some “big man.” But the
knowing ones in Juneau, who
have seen the legislators come
and go, know that in reality Joe
is considerable of a false alarm.
He doesn’t bother much about
general legislation and gives
virtually no study or thot to
most bills. But when it is some
thing that the legal profession
wants to put over or a measure
that affects the Governor’s pow
er. then Joe gets quite worked
up in Iv's own oratorical way. He
has the advantage of a strong
voice, but his reasoning power is
not always the logical kind that
sways colleagues. That, howev
er, is not a requisite very often.
He makes the gesture and votes
follow according lo instructions.
In some instances where Big in