THE POLITICAL MEDLEY
(By SEN. FOREST J. HUNT)
In Southeastern Alaska we are
limited to two daily papers, boJi
democratic, which, naturally, drives
all of our political news a bourbon
flavor and, while they have driven
most of the honest-principled demo
crats out of the party, they have
schemed and played up to special in
terests and the capitalistic element
of the Republican party of Alaska,
to such an extent as to have ab
sorbed them “body and breeches*’
into their ranks, as evidenced by the
last election, when they openly sup
ported the democratic ticket, aft-u*
pretty generally installing well
known democrats in most of the ap
pointive political positions. The fact
is that the sentiment being ex
pressed by this combine is that there
are no paity lines here, it is a case
of whether the whites or Indians are
to control. Now, we will ask, as a
matter of justice, who should con
trol? The Indians are a product i f
this land, were born Indians, not
from choice, but as a family of God’s
people. The whites are the usurpers,
and as such should exhibit a spirit
of fairness and evidence their pro
fessed superiority by a proper rec
ognition of the rights of the In
dians instead of continually voicing
their contempt in the same spirit
that they refer to the colored man
as a “damned Nigger’’ when, as a
matter of fact, the white man is him
self to blame for the presence -f
the negro element in this country.
The Juneau Empire, Ketchikan
Chronicle and Stroller White’s paper
have all worked themselves up to a
white heat over the illiterate Indian
vote for political reasons only, an 1
for the reason that the Indian vote
was against their gang, and this
condition will continue as long as
they control the newspaper situation
of this section but, a reasonable
amount of competition is a good
thing and it will come sooner or
later. William Paul is referred to
as an Indian, in derisive term ; it
would be just as fair to speak with
contempt of a blind or one-legged
man, but man, the animal, is the
most selfish of the family. If Wil
liam would but condemn Dan Suth
erland and join ranks with the
monied tories of Alaska how soon
the sentiment would change. I am
not authorized to speak for William
Paul, but I believe that I have a
fair conception of respectab’e citi
zenship and equality before the ’aw.
The worship of mammon is the
evil menace of this country, as it,
has been the downfall of nations.
Alaska and our nation, as well, mu ;L
stand or fall upon the standard of
its citizenship. As I view the gsitua
t on, the woeful lack of law enforce
ment in this country and the con
flict of interests so manifest is di
rectly attributable to a lust for riches
and power by those who (many of
them unconsciously) reverence the
dollar above the welfare of the ris
ing generation; they may prate of
their riches, but the richest heri
tage of man is the love and respect
ful regard of a well reared family.
The future of Alaska rests wholly
upon the standard of citizenship of
the rising generation. The Chronicle
and Empire are, by their continued
attacks upon Dan Sutherland and his
fr’ends, including myself (for politi
cal reasons alone) giving si eh aid as
is within their power to discrimina
tory laws and class distinction. When
Mr. Morrissey, as president of the
Commercial Club did, in a most un
parliamentary manner, arbitrarily ta
ble a communication of the Woman's
Council, soliciting the support of the
club to their petition for a police
matron, with the statement that he
did not approve of the woman whom
they wanted, he flagrantly insulted
the mothers of the rising generation
of this community and showed his
utter disregard for the fundamental
principles of democracy. As a mas
ter of fact the Woman’s Council ha 1
no particular person in view for the
position, and if they had, by what
authority was he enthroned a dic
tator? When he took up the cause
of the lawless element in his efforcs
to discredit Delegate Sutherland and
his friends, in his denial of what he
and every observant citizen in the
community knows to be true, he
took a stand for a continuation of
lax law enforcement, and to show
his insincerity I quote from an edi
torial which appeared in the Chron
icle of April 17th, on “Clean-up
Week,” to-wit:
“And Speaking of Cleanups,” “It
might not be amiss, in speaking of
cleanups, to suggest that a concerted
effort be made by the police and
others to remove from the city some
of the idle gentry whose chief oc
cupation is that of petty thievery in
the form of gambling, and in living
off the earnings of others. In the
old days of Alaska there was wide
c pen gambling and generally speak
ing the gamblers of those days had
a code of honor which they ob
served. They victimized the public
in a rather gentle way, giving it at
least a semblance of a show for
their money. Today it is not so.
The tinhorn gamblers infest many
places and the sucker who sits in
with them has no chance in the
world. He is not only running up
against crooked cards but the “man
agcr” of these games is not even
satisfied with this, but he must take
in addition his “rakeoff.” It would
he better to wipe out every card
game in town, even for cigars, than
to permit these tinhorns to continue
their preying upon a certain class )f
ind'viduals who are unable to resist
Ih' instinct of “sitting in.” Wipe
(>ut the tinhorn gambling and auto
matically the town is rid of a few
at least who then will have to go
to work, and not being of that dis
nos’tion thev will move on to other
fields.”
This is a surprising editorial to
appear in this nice, clean, much
abused town, in the columns of the
Chronicle. Why all of this talk if
law and order now prevails?
The inconsistency of this editorial
is apparent when compared with the
utterances of abuse against those
who really want better law enforce
ment. I still ir.sist that less political
chicanery and a more loyal co-op
eration among Alaskans for the per
manent advancement of the Terri
tory must be attained if we are to
make substantial progress. Delegate
Sutherland is conscientiously repre
senting us, to the best of his ability
and judgment, for the best interests
of all, and he is every ready to as
s'st to secure needed legislation for
the public good, but he is a hard
man to coerce or bribe to betray the
people. I have yet to hear the first
accusation against his honor or fi
delity from any who have be 211
closely associated with him, but there
is a determined effort to discredit
him, for selfish and political rea
sons. “Truth dashed to earth will
lise again, but error wounded writhes
with pain and dies among its wor
shippers.”
When He Got Bad—Billy came
home from school bearing every evi
dence of having had the worst of a
fight.
“Why, Billy!” exclaimed his moth
er. “How often have 1 told you to
play only with good little boys?
Good little boys don’t fight.”
“Well,” said Billy through his
tears, “T thought he was a good
little boy till I hit him.”—The Fore
cast.
The Problem—“Can I become a
centenarian, doctor?”
“Do you drink, smoke, or go in
for high living?”
“No.”
“Then who do you want to be a
centenarian?”—Sans Gene, Paris.