ture of 1923 did not provide suf
ficient funds to take care of the
increased pensions granted under the
bill introduced by H. R. Shepard of
Juneau. This oversight on the part
of Mr. Shepard has caused him a
great deal of vexation. Under tha
amendment above quoted the Treas
urer will issue warrants when funds
are exhausted, which warrants will
undoubtedly be used as a basis of
credit by the pioneers, and thus the
purposes of the Act will be accom
plished.
“Section 3. Extending the (Pension
Act to Cover Indians.” This amend
ment as it stands in law is one in
troduced by Mr. Jensen of Nome,
and makes the law constitutional,
for the old Act specifically ex
cluded from its benefits all Indians
or people of Indian descent, in vio
lation of the Fourteenth Amend
ment forbidding Legislatures from
passing laws which discriminate
against peoples on account of “race,
color or previous condition of servi
tude.” In a sense the amendment
was forced for the reason that the
Natives of Alaska resented the old
law of the Territory which excluded
them from its benefits, and yet
the other laws did not relieve
them of the taxes placed upon citi
zens generally. In the debate which
occurred upon this phase of the
question, when the illegality of the
old act was pointed out, Mr. Mur
ray, of McCarthy, stated in sub
stance as follows: “We have known
for a long time that the present act
excluding Natives is of doubtful le
gality, and if there is any danger
of a test in the courts I would say
that the legislature should accept
the amendment.” And thus it was
that the amendment offered by Mr.
Jensen was adopted. It reads as
follows:
“Section 8. This Act shall not in
ure to the benefit of any Indian or
Eskimo resident of the Territory
who is provided for by the Depart
ment of the Interior out of the funds
of the Treasury of the United States
or to any ward of the Government
of the United States.”
It will be seen from this that if
any Indian or Eskimo is the recip
iert of funds from the United
States Government, he cannot also
receive help from the Territory. Thi
merely places the Indian on an equal
basis with the White man, for White
persons who receive help from the
United States are also barred from
receiving Territorial aid.
It should be stated in closing that
the only persons who are eligible
for a pension under our laws are
those persons with the specified age
limits who have made an applica
tion to the Board of Trustees of the
Alaska Pioneers’ Home, and who is
found by them to be in actual need
of such allowance. Applications for
Territorial aid may be obtained by
an application to the Secretary of
the Board, who resides in Sitka,
Alaska.
THE UNFORTUNATE THIRD
The Third Division seems to be
very unfortunate in its selection of
members to the Territorial Legisla
ture. It cannot be possible that the
voters of the Division are satisfied
with the work of the men who have
represented them at the last two
sessions.
There arc a large number of fish
ermen who vote in the Third and
they should expect some considera
tion in legislation from their rep
resentatives. These representatives
have, however, taken the side of the
cannery and trap interests on every
question of vital interest to fisher
men.
At the 1D23 session when a reso
lution was passed by the Legislature
instructing the Attorney General to
test the legality of the fish reserve
system of Secretary Hoover, the
two Senators from the Third threw
their constituents down by support
ing Governor Bore’s veto of the
measure. Senator Dimond was the
paid attorney of the Alaska Pack
ers’ Association and the Booth Fish
eries Co. while on the floor of the
Senate fighting against the cause of
the people who elected him. We
wonder how long the people of the
Third will continue to send canrery
attorneys to the Legislature to mis
represent them. When any man who
is in the employ of the canning
corporations says that he can deal
fairly with both shies—his legal cli
ents and the people generally—we
know that he is running a bluff to
get into office where he can serve
his clients and earn his retainer at
the expense of the rights of the
people who elect him.
When Dimond fought the resolu
tion to take the reserve question into
court he knew that the Booths and
Alaska Packers—his clients—were
big winners by the reserve system.
He also knew that his fishermen
constituents were getting a very bad
deal, but he ca'-t his influence with
the source of his income.
Tt seems strange that a man can
get away with work such as Di
mond’s without being called to ac
count for it. At the recent legis
lative session, Mr. Diamond worked
hard for the Booths and the Alaska
Packers. The proposed tax on trap
caught fish which Bone vetoed in
the interest of the big canning com
panies, was vigorously opposed by
Dimond for the reason that his cli
ents—Booth and the Alaska Packers
—would be compelled to pay for the
catches of their b’g traps, but there
are many little traps in Dimond’s
Division that would have been helped
by it. As the law now stands a
little trap on Cook’s inlet pays a
tax of $200.00 just the same as the
big ones. Under the proposed tax
measure the little traps catching
10,000 salmon would pay the mini
mum tax of $100.00, and a big trap
catching 500,000 salmon would pay
a tax of $1500.00. The fairness of
this proposition was evident to every
one, but the big trap owners would
not have it and so their retained
attorneys in the Alaska Senate op
posed it, and after its passage their
friend, Treas. W. G. Smith, got Gov
ernor Bone to veto it. Other mem
bers of the Third Division have gone
against their constituents on ques
tions affecting the fishermen. These
fellows are real friends of the pool'
while running for office, but when
they get to Juneau they cannot re
member that all along the coast are
men who look to them to protect
their interests. They place them
selves in the hands of the cannery
lobbyists. They feel that while they
are dining with corporation attor
neys and boozing with cannery lob
byists they are real big toads in
the Legislative puddle, and why
should protection of the rights of
some poor stiff at Seldovia or Ko
diak or Unga who voted for them
occupy their minds during their pe
riod of social delirium at Juneau.
We wish to say most emphati
cally to the fishing population of
the Third Division that you have
been doublecrossed by the men you
have helped to elect to the last two
sessions of the Legislature. Al
though they were elected by your
votes, the canning corporations ex
ercised absolute control over their
legislative work. We ask you to in
ouire into the Legislative record of
these men who deliberately sold you
out—some for social entertainment,
some for legal retainers and some
for expected political appointive jobs.
COMPARATIVE WAGES
“American workers in many crafts
receive twice the highest wages paid
to workers in similar vocations in
the most prosperous countries of
Europe.
“A British machinist is paid $10.22
per week, a German machinist $8.10
per week, and American, $40.28. Brit
ish carpenters are paid $10.22 per
week, German carpenters, $8.10;
Americans, $34.56. British electri
cians get $10.22; Germans, $8.10;
Americans, $34.56. The British la
borer gets $12.69; the German,
$6.48; the American, $23.”
Thus writes a contemporary.
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NOW FOR THE ALASKA FISH
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