the voice of the Alaska people.
It would seem to most people,
and it does seem to Alaskans,
that men who have spent but
three weeks in an empire, one
fifth the size of the United
States, and spent those few days
not in interviewing the people,
but all the while in the com
pany, presence and shadow of
government officials, where no
member of the common herd
would be welcome or would care
to appear, it would appear that
such men would be a bit timid
about being so absolutely posi
tive that they knew all, yes ev
erything, about what ailed Alas
ka; they would, it seems to us,
have tried to get away from
Chambers of Commerce and Bu
reaus for a while, and take some
unbiased testimony, before rush
ing into print and insulting the
majority of the people of Alas
ka, For make no mistake about
it, Congressmen, that is just
what you did.
I make this statement without
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CliAS. A. GREENAA
MEAT MARKET
GENERAL MERCHANDISE
Petersburg, Alaska
Electric Laundry
Phone It-6
GENERAL LAiJNDRY
WORK
F. H. Bo!4, ?r<v.
T DR. S. II. SUSSMAN *
X - v
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X Highest Grade Dentistry at •**
A y
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712 Joshua Green Bldg X
»|» 4ill & Pike - Seattle,, Wasl
DR. L. P. DAWES
Physician and Surgeon
First National Bank
Building
Phone 2602 Juneau
fear of contradiction by any un
biased informed Alaskan, or af
ter taking a fair census: There
is not one man out of seven who
is in favor of the present bu
reaucratic control of Alaska; and
when I state these figures, I give
the Congressmen and their bu
reaus, all the best of it. Since
1908 we have had just two Con
gressmen from Alaska; (George
Grigsby and Charles Sulzer were
both seated for a time, but were
both unseated later by Con
gress) ; Judge Wickersham, who
served from 1908 to 1920, and
Dan Sutherland, from 1920 until
the present. Both of these men
fought the bureaus and both
were, have been and now are
hated by them. If the people are
with the bureaus, they should
show it when election time
comes around and vote for can
didates of the bureaus.
Surely from years of experi
ence at the National Capital,
Congressmen know what bu
reaus are; have they not been
declaiming against them for
years, both Dickinson and Sum
mers, as my memory serves? Do
these gentlemen think that an
Alaskan Bureau is better than
the others? Indeed we know,
alas, that they are worse. They
are more autocratic, and more
irresponsible because they are
far away and beyond the eye of
Congress and public opinion.
Permit us, gentlemen, to sub
mit a few facts about Alaska: Do
you know that the population of
Alaska is shrinking at the rate
of 1,000 a/ year and more, how
much more only an accurate
census will reveal? That our
vote is shrinking at the rate of
1,000 to 1,500 every election?
That our fisheries, both salmon
and halibut, are depleted, and
on the point of death, and all
while under czaristic bureau con
trol? That we have no liberty,
no legislative powers worth
having? That our judges, mar
shals, governors, district attor
neys, even minor deputies, are
practically all sent in to us from
the outside, against our wishes
or consent? That there are less
white men in all Alaska at this
hour than there once were dig
ging gold on Nome Beach? That
the Native races are dying,
largely due to the loss of their
fishing and hunting and trap
ping grounds? Do you know
that the Hoover candidate at
the last primary was over
whelmingly defeated, due to the
fact that the Fisheries Bureau,
of which the President was then
the head, was distrusted and
disliked? Do you know, you
who are lauding the administra
tion of our fisheries, that a trap
can hook one end to shore, run
out into the ocean 1000 feet or
more and stand all summer, but
that a seine fisherman cannot
hook one end of his net to the
shore for ten minutes without
danger of prosecution and jail?
Do you know this, if you do, how
in God’s name can you com
mend it? If you don’t know it,
can you blame us for irritation
at such statements as you have
made? The result of such a re
gulation, and it is a bureau re
gulation, is that it gives our
shores to the traps, i. e., the can
neries, and deprives the resi
dents of Alaska of any right of
fishery along the shores. Do you
know of any edict of King
George III before the Revolu
tion worse than this? Do you
know that the canneries buy
all their supplies outside of Alas
ka? Do you know they hire
nearly 100 per cent of their
help in the States under the yel
low dog contracts? Do you know
that 90 per cent of such outside
cannery help is Asiatic, mostly
Filipino, hired at a slave wage,
and paid off, not in Alaska, but
in Seattle or San Francisco? Do
you know and how can you help