aiinod to carry out this recommend
ation was defeated in , the House,
the standpatters having on this sub
ject secured the assistance of some
members who on some of the mat
ters had shown liberal proclivities.
The argument was advanced that
a transportation line between Jun
eau and Prince Rupert to relieve
the fishermen from the necessity of
going- to Prince Rupert would be ot
no aid to any other part of the Ter
ritory than southeastern Alaska.
This is an obvious fallacy, for what
ever increases the demand for fresh
hsh, whatever facilitate^ tile market
ing of fresh fish, raises its price to
the individual fisherman. If the
fishermen of the first division, who
frequently fish the banks as far as
Kodiak, can be put in a position to
readily send their fish to the Atlan
tic Coast markets it will leave the
other fishermen alone in supplying
the Pacific Coast and the mountain
states. Tn other words, the more
Ire-sji fish of Alaska is shipped east
the less fresh fish will there be to
compete for the markets of the
Pacific Coast and the mountain
states. The experience of the past
has certainly impressed this lesson
upon all fishermen. Whenever
Prince Rupert was closed by reason
of car shortage or slides on the
railroad the fresh fish of Alaska
dropped fifty percent in price to the
fishermen, because the Pacific Coast
markets became congested and the
supply exceeded the demand. It
seems absurd that it should be
necessary to argue such a self-ev
ident fact. And yet, some of those
wno voted against the bill gave as
their excuse that the fishing popula
tion of the third division would not
be benefited by the establishment of
the steamship line in question. It
is miserable sectional jealousies
which these people endeavor to
arouse. They neither talk nor act
as patriotic Alaskans with a heart
beating for the entire Territory.
What a splendid thing it would
be if people who lost their tempers
were unable to find them again.
Not So Bad
By WILLIAM L. PAUL
Our excuse for printing so mucli
from the Nome Nugget, the “Oldest
Newspaper in Alaska,” is that wo
have just received a number or
copies that dealt with the last legis
lature. They are the more interest
ing because the Honorable Thomas
Gaffney a member of that legisla
ture wrote the articles. He no
doubt thought nobody would ever
read the Nome Nugget and so his
telegrams naturally confessed that
he was the controlling mind of the
legislature. “Daddy and me, WE
killed the bear.” The parenthesis
are ours just by way of amplifying.
“SPECIAL NUGGET
CORRESPONI) E XC K"
(Meaning Tom Gaffney)
“A bill repealing the fur taxes
and licenses passed the Senate
Thursday and is now a law. Sec.
ond Division Members Lomen, Gaff
ney and Rydeen spoke strongly for
the measure in the House, and Sen
ator Jensen made a vigorous speech
in the Senate in favor of the meas
ure, declaring “The tax is penaliz
ing our trappers and traders and is
driving them out of business.”
Pretty cute. This bill was in
troduced by Rep. Worth of Peters
burg It was written by William L.
Paul. The motion to pass the Bill
was made on April lltli in commit
tee by Fred Johnston of Fairbanks
The motion was seconded by Ben
Gi' r of Anchorage. On the floor
1 * Mio mu ' s On April 14th, Ralph
Lomen tried to sidetrack this bill
repealing all the fur taxes in favor
ol one by Mr. Ross repealing only
the fox tax. He was not supported.
' Lomen supported Rep. Worth's
bill. At this time, Richard Sund
quist of Candle slipped ine a note
“Did you notice Lomen switch to
H. B. 20?” H. B. 20 was the num
ber of this bill. Gaffney and Ry
deen had absolutely nothing to do
with this bill except to vote for its
passage. It came into the House
opposed by only two persons. [
call attention to the part played by
the First Division members, Worth
and Paul, because the Nome Nug
get takes great delight in showing
liow “bad the First Division mem
bers were and how “important”
Gaflney was. When this bill was
“ahornin,’ ” I had a discussion with
should introduce the bill, whether
Worth and Sundquist as to who
should introduced the bill, whether
by Sundquist or Worth. Sundquist
gave way generously because this
bill was so strongly demanded by
the fox farmers of the First Divi
sion. So, if the record were fully
explained, Gaffney would have had
to credit Sundquist as the author
of this bill.)
ine Nome, Kotzebue, St. Michael
Ship Subsidy passed the Senate to
day, also the Telephone Subsidy.
There was considerable opposition
to both measures developed, on the
same ground as usual, that the Sec
ond Division’s share of the Terri
torial tax is negligible, hut by skill
ful handling, both measures piloted
through.”
(The opposition to the ship sub
sidy bill was due to the fact that
Ka'ipb Lomen, the direct beneficiary
of the bill, thru his willing tool,
Tom Gaffney, tried to get the Terri
tory to make a direct gift of $17,
00 0. Every previous subsidy had
this provision, that the Territory
would only guarantee a profit equal
to the amount of the appropriation.
If the profit of the ship line IN
v ivHjaoUjjj, the aid rrom the Terri
tory DECREASED. Another fight
occurred over the form of reports.
Gaffney, Rydeen and Lomen oppos
ed a provision in the bill requiring
the ship line to submit vouchers.
All the amendments to this bill were
proposed by William L. Paul, and
were made strictly in the interest
of ordinary business requirements.
The provision for vouchers was of
fered at the suggestion of Gover
nor Parks. There was no question
in the minds of a majority of the
House that the expense accounts of