WHY LEAVE ALASKA’S
CAPITAL AT JUNEAU?
Mr. Ross of the Fourth Division
introduced into the House of Repre
sentatives a memorial requesting
Congress to let the people of the
Territory decide, by popular refer
endum, the permanent location of
the capital. The delegation from
the First, with the exception of
Hardy, of booze-bill fame, voted for
this memorial.
Why did they ?
For the very be$t reasons in the
world:
There is a curse on Juneau and
that curse will rest on the Terri
tory as long as the capital is at
that place. We have been going
down hill ever since the capital was
moved there, and we will be going
in the same direction as long as we
leave the capital where it now is.
Juneau is a one-man town. It has
isolated itself from the rest of the
Fiist Division and from the rest
of the Territory. It is snarling, and
j napping, and biting at everybody,
including itself.
The meanest thing that Judge'
Wickersham did to the Territory
while he was in Congress was to
locate the capital at the foot of the
black mountain on Gastineau Chan
nel. And for this he has suffered
ju^t and well-earned retribution—for
< ver since that fateful day the busi
ness element of Juneau have been
blackguarding him without cessation.
Nevertheless, he turned the other
< hcek and secured them appropria
tion of $200,000 for a capitol build
ing and $40,000 for a governor’s
mansion.
Then they blackguarded him some
more.
Then he quit, and they have re
ceived nothing since.
Then the people sent Mr. Suther
land to Congress, backed by a vote
of a two to one and sometimes by
a three to one majority. But the
business element of Juneau, with its
Chamber of Commerce, was always
against him. At all times they lied
about him through their daily paper
and did everything* they possibly
could to obstruct him in his work
for the public.
The business element of Juneau
has done and is doing* everything to
obstruct the man who represents two
thirds of the people of the First
Division and as many in the rest of
the Territory.
Why, then, should the- people of
the First Division or of the rest of
the Territory support Juneau? Have
we not turned the other cheek to the
arrogant villain long enough ? Are
we going to continue to bestow our
favors any longer upon those who
are always fighting us?
There are certain responsibilities
resting upon the people of any Capi
tal City. They owe it to the public
to treat all officials with decent re
spect whether or not they like them
personally or like their policies.
This the citizens of Juneau never
did. Through their civic organiza
tions they have exhibited extreme
hostility to some, while showering
their enconiums upon others—all ac
cording to the personal likes or dis
likes of half a dozen individuals who
have been permitted to run the city
for their own benefit. Through their
daily press they have sent out false
and malicious reports about some
officials, while by no less false re
ports they have undertaken to bol
ster up the waning cause of others.
In short, the business element at Ju
neau has been and is a menace to
good government in the Territory.
It was a mistake to place the
capital at Juneau in the first place.
It is the headquarters of the preda
tory interests. To leave the capital
there is to leave the officials, in
cluding the members of the legisla
ture, under the hammer of the big
interests, and their unscrupulous
clackers.
Ketchikan would not be the loser,
but the gainer, by removing the
capital from the First Division to
some place in * the Third, where it
would be away from the big fishing
companies and the big mining com
panies, and where the officials could
be treated fairly by the press and
by the civic organizations. If the
capital were thus removed many of
the bureaus, which now are at Ju
neau simply because that is the
place of the capital, would be moved
back to Ketchikan where their prin
cipal work is located.
Juneau is a malicious, backbiting
town sitting in its own lair, growl
ing and licking its own wounds. Let
us not spread its contagion over the
Territory. The town got started
wrong under the iron heel of Joe
McDonald and has stayed wrong
ever since. Its politicians always
have adhered to the system of elim
ination instead of accretion. They
have sought to eliminate every man
and woman who showed evidence of
possessing spirit, individuality and
independence of thought. They have
followed that system until they to
day stand alone. Their beau ideal
in public life is Hardy—and more of
his anon.
When they won out on the Ross
memorial it was for this simple
reason:
They thought they would be able
to repeal the primary law and nom
inate party candidates at secret con
clave held in some private office.
Tom Marquam was slated for Re
publican candidate for delegate to
Congress by that process. He had
the support of the Juneau bunch and
the latter served him with notice
that unless he swung his delegations
from the Third to the Fourth, which
he owred, against the Ross memorial,
there would be no nomination for
Tom.
So he swung them all right—but
in the end he lost both the nomina
tion and the capital.
The Juneau spirit is a spirit of
hate. Malice sits at the editorial
desk of its newspapers. Venom they
spew out over the Territory and call
it news. They undertake to control
the actions of all officials by pest
ering the strong and bull-conning
the weak. To the press of Juneau
may be laid the inglorious ending of
both Riggs and Bone. Both fell
victims to the flattery of designing
“friends.”
Let others take notice.
It is perfectly safe to assert that
had they an opportunity, the major
ity of the electors in the First Di
vision would vote to boot the capi
tal out of the town which has always
been politically the hell-hole of all
Alaska.
Although the people of the Third
and Fourth Divisions had been agi
tating a change of capital for several
years past, where were their faithful
representatives when the question
was at issue in the House? The
Ross memorial was defeated by a
vote of 6 to 9, as follows:
Ayes—Grant, Ferguson, Paul, Ny
len, Elliott, Ross.
Nays—Hardy, of the First; Jensen
of the Second; Murray, Wilcox,
Grier, Sherman, of the Third; Shel
don, Watson, Moody, of the Fourth.
Absent—Sundquist.
MASONS IN OKLAHOMA
Those who understand what real
Masonry stands for know that no real
Mason could tolerate the violation of
our liquor laws either by others or
himself. We have been anxiouslv
looking to that great order to set the
pace and to compel the enforcement
of all laws, including the prohibition
laws.
The Grand Lodge of the A. F. and
A. M. of Oklahoma at their seven
teenth annual communication adopted
a rule the substance of which is as
follows:
“All members of the Masonic Order
who violate the national prohibition
act by transporting, possessing or
manuafcturing liquor, shall be ex
pelled, and no candidate will be ac
cepted who buys or uses narcotics or
intoxicants.”
In other words, this Grand Lodge
recognizes and publishes the fact that
wilful violation of our laws , espe
cially against the use of intoxicants
and narcotics is an un-Masonic act.
If Masons will live up to their ob
ligations, violation of the prohibition
laws would cease AT ONCE. Let
us get at it.