sites, quoted above, this colloquy
end control of these important
adjuncts to the public fisheries.
Trap Sites Under the Acts of
1924 and 1926
After a careful examination
of the language giving power to
the Secretary of Commerce to
control the fisheries of Alaska,
contained in Section One of the
Acts of June 6, 1924, and June
18,1926, it is my judgement that
if the Secretary should, by rules
and regulations, provide for giv
ing trap Jlshermen an exclusive
license to construct and main
tain fish traps on then long used
sites, the courts might sustain
his power and authority to do so.
Such a trap and trap site wouhl
not constitute the grant of ar
“exclusive or several right o'
fishery,” for the law recognizes
them as legal fishing gear, and
if it should be so held all trap.i
would now be barred from fish
ing, for they constitute an ex
clusive right in the area occupied
by them. No court has yet held
ihe Secretary may thus control
trap sites, and no attempt has
yet been made by the Secretary
to exercise that power, but con
ditions may reach the point
where he will do so. In my judg
ment the bill under consideration
is much more favorable to the
public interest and to the private
interests of Alaskans than the
exercise of such unlimited power
by the Secretary of Commerce.
The President’s Powr to Create
Fish Reservations
In the case of Alaska Pacific
Fisheries, et al, v. United States
240 Fed. 274, the United States
Circuit Court of Appeals, Ninth
Circuit, laid down the rule that
Territory of Alaska, exercises
all sovereignty, national and
municipal, and hence, in view
of the nowers of the King ov
er lands flowed by the tide,
United States has complete
control over Alaskan waters
flowed by the tide which are
within its maritime Jurisdic
tion. CONSEQUENTLY, THE
PRESIDENT IN VIEW OF
HIS POWERS TO RESERVE
PUBLIC LANDS, MAY, TO
CARRY OUT THE PURPOSE
OF AN ACT OF CONGRESS
RESERVE SUCH WATERS.”
In other words, if it seems ne
cessary to carry out the pur
poses of the Acts of Congress of
June 6, 1924 and June 18, 1926,
the President may reserve all the
trap sites in Alaska, and place
them under the management
and control of the Secretary of
Commerce. And if the President
should reserve such sites and the
traps and fish caught thereon
would not be subject to taxation
or any levy of license tax or other
control by the Territory of Alas
ka.
Territory v. Annette Island
Packing Co., 6 Alaska, 585.
Territory v. Annette Island
Packing Co., 289 Fed 671.
Certiorari denied: 263 U. S.
708, 68, L. Ed. 5171
In short it will be dangerous
to the public interests and to
Alaska fishermen, If the trap
sites shall be reserved by the
Rules and Regulations of the
Secretary of Commerce under
Acts of 1924 and 1926 or by an
executive order by the resident
of the United States. If reserv
ed in either way they may be
come thereby, instrumentalities
of the United States, and not
subject to taxation in any form
by the Territory, llie only safe
and certain way for the Terri
tory or its people to have any
interest in them, subject to tax
ation, is by the enactment of the
bill under consideration in some
form.
In conclusion, I earnestly re
quest you to carefully examine
the proposed bill, and submit it
to every fair test; determine
whether it will not leave the trap
question in better shape for the
public interest, as well as the
private interest; submit this let
ter, if you like, to some attorney,
in or out of any Department, and
discover if the conclusions which
occur to me are the fair ones to
draw from the present laws and
the proposed Act; and, finally,
if you reach the conclusion
which I have, that it is in the in
terest of the public good, and the
protection and conservation of
the Alaska Fisheries, then intro
duce the bill, or permit someone
else to do so, and let it become a
law. If that shall occur the whole
scope of the Alaska fisheries will
then be where they ought to be,
under the control and manage
ment of one executive head.
Very truly yours,
fsigned) JAMES WICKERSHAM
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-X
GOD GIVE US MEN
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God give us men. The time de
mands
Strong minds, great hearts,
true, faith and willing
hands;
Men whom the lust of office
does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office
cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a
will;
Men who have honor; men who
will not lie;
Men who can .stand before a
demogogue
And damn his treacherous flat
teries without winking;
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live
above fhe fog
In public duty and in private
thinking!
For while the rabble with their
thumb-worn creeds,
Their professions and their little
deeds
Mingle in selfish strife; lo! Free
dom weeps!
Wrong rules the land, and wait
ing Justice sleeps!
—Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819
1881).
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