priority of claims. To this the
Attorney General replies that
the question is “purely aca
demic,” and thus passes the
matter back.
The records disclose that the
Auditor sought to so arrange
certain what might be termed
‘fixed” demands upon the Trea
sury as to safeguard them a
gainst default owing to shortage
of funds, and to place demands
that were not urgent aside until
the volume of revenue for the
year was determined by receipts.
These matters affected the Pio
neers pension funds, and the
school refund funds.
Thus we have the spectacle of
the Auditor endeavoring to safe
guard himself against improper
payment and at the same tine
injecting a human element into
ihe situation.
If the Auditor was not ac
corded the authority to say
when a claim was proper—a
power accorded the Controller
of the U. S. Treasury—why was
he singled out for penalties
alone?
As matters now stand, what
was believed to have been tho
agency of home rule, as con
ceived by those who drew the
Board of Control bill, has de
veloped into a situation where,
under what apparently appears
to be pressure by the Governor,
the full intent of the law has
teen nullified.
It was the Governor who, af
ter affixing his signature to
school warrants, ordered them
returned to him for cancella
tion of his signature.
It is apparent that the situa
tion has developed into a vin
dictive internecine battle, where
cool judgement should prevail.—
Seward Daily Gateway.
-x
Be sure that your character
foundations are firm: air
planes cannot rise from
quicksand.
New Cannery For Hoonah
-x
Captain O. H. Wood, master
and owner of the gasboat Val
kyrie has purchased a floating
cannery which will be moved
over to Hoonah and used for the
purpose of canning clams.
Capt. M. B. Dahl also has a
clam canning plant in Hood Bay
end his products are already on
the local market.
Hoonah has large clam beds
located near the bay, and the
labor supply is steady, the na
tives at the time clams are can
ned, are not fishing.
A clam cannery for Ninilchik
is the present enthusiastic talk
at the little neighboring town
to the Westward. Residents of
that city have been canning
razor clams for some time and
there is getting to be a demand
for the product.
-x
Year-round operation of a
cannery at Cordova, packing
clams, crabs, salmon and ship
ping fresh fish, is the sort of
local industry which will bund
Alaska towns.
--x
HALIBUT SITUATION NOT
IN SETTLED CONDITION
It-has been stated that Mr. J.
Berg, president of the First Na
tional Bank of Ketchikan, is
making an attempt to revive the
Fishermen’s Buyers’ Association
which functioned for a short
while last year. In order to make
such an organization, he feels it
necessary that 90 per cent of
the fleet be signed up as mem
bers. Prior to his leaving Ket
chikan for New York, he had
been able to sign up only about
30 per cent which was insuffi
cient to have such an organiza
tion function with any degree of
success.
It is believed, in event this
plan does not work out, that ef
fort will be made to form an as
sociation of Alaska fishermen to
work along the same lines.
The fishermen are hot decided
as to their plans. And probably
will not make known any plan
of action until further develop
ments in the Berg plan. How
ever, the situation as to markets
i^ precarious. With beef retail
ing at from ten to eighteen
cents per pound in the eastern
states, it is not expected that the
buying public will purchase
fish—equal food values—at from
three to four times higher in
price.
The problem resolves itseii
into that of production. If the
fishermen by agreement, accept^
the longer closed season arid
also add a month during the
summer months, considerable of
the production will be reduced.
So long as there is an over-sup
ply of this fish on the market,
it stands to reason that the
price will be low but as the sup
ply diminishes, its value in
creases in proportion. So that
the entire problem of returns
for productions will be more or
less in the control of the fish
ermen or organizations produc
ing the fish for market. It has
been suggested that one group
of vessels go out with the open
ing of the fishing season and
another group delay going out
so that too much fish will not
be dumped on the market right
from the start—along with the
plan to curtail production dur
ing the summer months, it is
believed that considerable of the
problem will be solved How
ever, the solution to the entire
problem is one that only the
fishermen can secure and that
by their own action.
-x
I am certain that Americans
are beginning to realize that
material possessions are not es
sential to a happy and blessed
life.—Albert Enstein.