The United Sons of Alaska
■st
Answer Howard
Ketchikan, Alaska
January 12, 1928
Mr. Bartley Howard,
Anchorage, Alaska
Dear Sir:
Tour letters and statement of :s
sues hare been received by many of
the United Sons of Alaska here at
Ketchikan. At the last meeting of
Ketchikan Fort No. 2 of the United
Sons of Alaska, held January 6th,
1928, your letter and statement was
read and discussed by the members
of the organisation.
After a thorough discussion of
your letter and principles, the under
signed secretary was unanimously
instructed to write and inform you
that this organisation is unalterably
opposed to your candidacy.
This action was taken on account
of your past record on the question
of self government in Alaska as ex
pressed in the Controller Bill,
against which you worked and vot
ed at the last session of the Alaska
Legislature, and because of the
evasiveness in many of the state
ments in your platform. The Unit
ed Sons of Alaska exists for the pur
pose of helping to achieve self gov
ernment in Alaska, and we cannot
support, but will oppose any and
every candidate whose record or
platform shows him to be against
this fundamental American principle.
When you opposed the Controller
Bill at the last legislature you ex
pressed the desire that this question
be made a political is3ue in the next
election. We accept your challenge
fairly and squarely. Let the peo
ple now decide.
At the same meeting at which the
above action was taken, this or
ganization also, by unanimous vote,
passed a resolution expressing the
fact that-%we resent your criticism
cf Delegate Sutherland for appearv
ing before the last session of the
Legislature in support of the Con
troller Bill. We believe that the
elected representative of the Alaska
people not only has the right, but
that it is his duty to appear before
that Body in suport of any measure
intended to give Alaskans a fuller
degree of self government. And
the fact that you do not believe so
convinces us that you are not the
right man for delegate to Congress.
It seems to us a strange doctrine,
indeed, that the paid lobbyists and
representatives of every private in
terest or corporation have the righ*
to appear before the legislature in
behalf of desired legislation, but
that the elected representative of
the people of this Territory has not
that right. This letter, and the
resolution passed, is to inform you
that we totally repudiate that un
American doctrine and any candidate
who advocates it.
Yours very truly,
GILBERT SCHLAIS
Secretary, Fort No. 3
United Sons of Alaska.
Fall Fishing
Washington, D. C.,
Dec. 24th, 1927
Hon. Henry O’Malley,
U. S. Commissioner of Fisheries.
Washington, D. C.
My dear Sir:—
When I called upon you about
ten days ago with reference to the
fishery regulations for 1928, I call
ed your attention to the necessity
for more elastic regulations with
particular regard to the fall fish
ing operations.
A perusal of the new regulations,
a copy of which reached me today,
still further convinces me that the
Bureau should give consideration
to a policy that would permit a
modification of the closed season
regulations that would permit the
taking of late fish by the few can
neries that would care to continue
operations into the late fall and
give employment to local fishermen.
Under the 1926 regulations for
the Central District of Southeastern
Alaska, the closing date for all
fishing for the season is fixed for
August 11th. This means that all
cohoes and chums running after
that date for a period of almost
three months are to reach the
spawning grounds, and thus the
replenishment of the supply is
placed almost entirely upon the
late fish. It is generally believed
that the fall runs of cohoes and
chums have no connections with the.
early runs but are entirely separate
and distinct bodies of‘salmon. There
is nothing to indicate that any more
escapement is required to maintain
the fall run of fish than is required
to maintain the earlier run of pinks.
In fact, there has never been the
earlier summer run of pinks. In
fact, there has never been the same
intensive fishing for fall salmon
that we have had during the earlier
runs, but the disproportion of op
erations in the two seasons has re
sulted in an almost negligible take
from the late runs. There is ev
ery reason to believe that the late
runs of silvers and dogs are now
just as large as they ever were ot
ever will be. In other words, the
late runs are always at their maxi
mum, and a take of 50%, or even
75%, should not diminish the gen
eral supply, but might tend to tn
crease It.
.(
It Is held by Alaska fishermen
that the escapement of last seasou,
1927, in Southeastern Alaska was
almost entirely of the late run, and
although the number seen on the
spawning grounds indicated a small
general escapement for the season,
they did indicate a large fall escape
ment.