WHO PAYS THE TAXES
The Ketchikan Chronicle says that the mer
chants of Ketchikan pay the taxes of that city
and for that reason Edward G. Morrissey
says we should buy everything at home- Patron
ize the home merchants, is the cry.
There are many reasons why the home mer
chant will have his customers, but the claim that
he pays the taxes of the town is not one of these.
Only the most ignorant person, or a cheap so
phist (deceiver) would make such a statement
and try to make others believe that this is true.
It is the ULTIMATE CONSUMER who pays
He may not get anv credit for it, but neverthe
less he pays it. We were talking wit J- •
Heckman the other clay about taxes when he said
“My taxes this year amount to about $7,000.00.
And yet it is Mr. Heckman’s customers who pay
the tax bill, not Mr. Heckman. Every business
man adds his tax bill to his costs exactly as he
does his rent and other items of expense, and
thus he passes it on to Mr. Ultimate Consumer
As for trading at home as against sending u
mail order houses, we have little to say. W
belmve that it is good business to encourage
competition, and we can only concede a point
when an industry is really “an infant “^strug
gling to become established. The reason foi
buying from mail order houses is simp e. V
income is $100 a month, which .is the averse
in Alaska, and I can buy a pair of boots for
*S no or a suit of clothes for $25, whereas the
resident merchant charges me $7 for boots and
<toc for clothes, I have to send away for my
supplies. It seems plain to us that necessity
controls us in our buying. If Carl Strong, J.
Heckman and others would endorse our notes
so that we could set up in business as they di
for Edward G. Morrissey, we would have no
trouble in buying everything from the big de
partment store.” Or if the Miners & Merchant,
Bank of Ketchikan would lend us 100 per cent
on our house, we might again do so.
__This is a funny world.
“TRADING AT HOME”
Alaskans know that the position of this paper
is this: ALASKA FOR ALASKANS. By
this we mean that Alaskans should trade at
home. But it also means that our resources
should be exploited by residents in preference
to non-residents whenever possible, for example,
in catching salmon. „ .
The great exponent of “trading at home is
Edward G. Morrissey of the Ketchikan Chron
icle. He goes so fir in this that he will not
accept an advertisement from a solicitor.
“Practice what you preach.’’
The Honorable Hr. Morrissey has just re
turned “from Seattle” sporting a new tailor
made suit, new shoes, socks, tie, shirt, collar,
hat coat and for all we know a new union suit
v-hich he did not “buy at home” from
“merchants who pay the taxes ” When you get
down to brass ta'S, people will buy where
they get the best service either as to price
or service. A friend wished to buy an article
the other day and went to a local merchant*
Then he looked up the same goods in a cat
alog. The difference in price was more
than $100. What would you have done?
HERRING WASTE
While the Bureau of Fisheries and the Dis
trict Attorney of the First Division of Alaska
are wondering if the use of herring for fertilizer
is wanton waste and contrary to law, the State of
of California has acted.
The District Court of Monterey Conty, Cali
fornia, has issued an order (October 14, 1925)
forbidding the operation for three months of the
reduction plant of the Monterey Fish products
company. The decision came as the result of
action brought bv the State Fish and Game
Commission who charged that the defendants
had used some 400 tons of sardines for other
purposes than for human consumption. The
same district court has issued an order per
manently prohibiting the company from so
operating.
The Grand Jury last April said that condi
tions in Ketchikan were “all right” and Ketchi
kan was a clean, decent town.
The Grand Jury last October said that condi
tions about Ketchikan were bad, liquor abound
ing, and 48 sports were living in the decent
sections of the town.
The district attorney of the First Division
is quoted as saying that while conditions may
be bad now, they are better than they were
last April.
-This is a funny world. “Where are we at.”
We are told that N. R. Walker asked the
Ketchikan Commercial Club the other day why
it was that there is generally an unfriendly
s' ?rit in the neighboring districts against Ketchi
k n. This is a question that is well worth
serious attention.
The answer is very simple and plain to most
o ople. A mere half dozen men today control
by force, by bullying and otherwise, the busi
ness of Ketchikan and run it for their own
profit. Nobody loves a bully.
■^ven a so-called independent like Alfred
Howe, manager of the Tongass Trading Co.,
when asked why he wrote the letter asking for
a greatlv increased tax on shipments of fish
tl ru Prince Rupert when he knew it was
against the interests of the halibut fishermen,
replied, “I had to do it- They made me do
it If I did not do it they would have
o^racised me.”
We could tell you a great deal more, but
v' ll wait for some future issue. We know
iv-.t how the “independent” fish buyer would
in Ketchikan if Prince Rupert should
biccmc a closed port.
\ dealer left his furniture catalog around
V -sc the other dav. In it was his new pries
V •• The trade discount wa« 50 per cent legfl
10 and 10, '