peace officers in ridding the communi
ty of these undesirables, and recom
mend and urge the prompt arrest and
prosecution of all men who are found
to be in any way associated with
women of ill fame. As means of pre
venting the operations of this scum,
we recommend that municipal ordi
nances be adopted requiring all
drivers of taxicabs to obtain individ
ual licenses from proper city authori
ties; that such licenses be not issued
to any person who can not show to
the satisfaction of the proper authori
ty that he is a person of good moral
character, and that such licenses be
revocable in the discretion of the is
suing authority. We have evidence
(hat there are as many as seven
licensed drivers for one taxi.
Ketchikan has a large summer pop
ulation. The fisheries of this district
employ more labor than Ketchikan
and the surrounding country can sup
ply. This labor is by 90 per cent
made up of single men. But there is
also an undesirable class of people
who have recently come to our city.
They are the “floaters,” with no fixed
domicile, either in Alaska or else
where, and some of whom have been
encouraged to come to Ketchikan by
the unfortunate and unfounded state
ments recently made and published by
men in public life to the effect that
this community is wicked and lawless
and one in which no proper and honest
efforts are being made to enforce the
laws. And this grand jury finds that
the officers, both federal and munici
pal, have united to rid our community
of these parasites, and we most
strongly condemn such false state
ments which breed such a condition,
and commend the officers for their
vigilance.
We heartily approve the position
of the present police committee of the
city of Ketchikan that all kinds of law
violators shall be hunted out and
prosecuted. This police committee is
entitled to every support, and should
be fully empowered to select all po
lice officers and to remove any such
police officers who, in the opinion of
the police committee, are not properly
performing their duties. The work of
keeping undesirable characters from
operating should not be sporadic but
should be persistent.
On October 24, 1923, a grand jury
of this court submitted a report,
signed by its foreman, the Honorable
Forest J. Hunt, in which it was said:
“This grand jury feels it to be due
to the federal officials on duty here
at this time to make grateful ac
knowledgment of the assistance freely
rendered them by every department.
We believe that all are working faith
fully and conscientiously in the dis
charge of their official duties, and
that the forces of the city police are
co-operating very effectively in their
attempts to enforce obedience to the
laws. The prohibition officers, as
sisted by the district attorney’s of
ficers, are doing- service which entitles
them to the support and confidence
of all who respect law and order.”
Those words express the situation
at the present time with even greater
force than when signed by Senator
Hunt a year and a half ago.
In conclusion, we wish to extend to
the honorable judge of this court, the
nited States attorney, and his as
sistant, Howard D. Stabler, and his
deputies here, our thanks for the help
and cordial co-operation extended by
them during our sittings, and take
this occasion to express our confi
dence in the efficiency, integrity and
conscientious industry of those of
ficers.
It is requested that copies of this
report be sent to the appropriate de
partments of the government.
J. D. LITTLEPAGE,
Foreman.
C. J. WAAGE,
Secretary.
Have Conditions Changed?
Loss than one year ago, Mayor Tom
Torrey, in a public address, said that
he could not tell the difference be
tween a good woman and a “sport”
when he met either on the streets of
Ketchikan. At that meeting U. S.
Marshal Beaumont said that if the
city authorities did not clean up the
town, he would bring in fifty deputies
if necessary. Was anything done?
There was not.
TWENTY:FIVE TO BLOCK
Some years ago the New York
police “fine-combed” the intellectuals
of a twelve-block district on the east
side and found three hundred mental
defectives—precisely twenty-five to
the block. Colonel Arthur Woods,
former police commissioner, is re
sponsible for this statement. If the
psychological comb was wielded by
the ordinary roundsman, it could not
have been very fine. The three hun
dred must have been fairly obvious
incompetents. Yet “they could vote
and did vote.” Quite possibly Col
onel Woods was justified in saying
that the fact explains our addition
to “fool laws” and the general tyran
ny which we suffer from half-baked
legislation. Certainly it is worth
nothing that data gathered by the
police agree with that of educators
and mental testers in suggesting the
need of some slightly more stringent
standard for citizenship.
Only in recent years has it been
possible to consider such a sugges
tion in terms of reality. Prominent
among Dean Inge’s indictments of
democracy is this, that it disposes
a nation to be swayed by abstract
ideas, by mere phrases. Are all men
created equal? Jefferson himself
did not think so. In his “Notes on
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Ketchikan — Alaska
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