_THE ALASKA FISHERMAN
Published the 15 of each month at Ketchikan, Alaska
WILLIAM L. PAUL, ATTORNEY FOR THE
ALASKA NATIVE BROTHERHOOD
Entered as second - class matter at the Post Office at
KETCHIKAN, ALASKA
SUBSCRPTION PRICE $2.00 FOR TWELVE ISSUES
OUE PLATFORM:
ALASKA FOR ALASKANS.
FULL TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT.
ABOLISHMENT OF ALL TRAPS.
COMPETENT CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP.
OUR PLATFORM
We believe in the Golden Rule as the only
safe guide for political action. “Do unto others
as you would that they should do unto you.”
We believe that the development of Alaska
for the benefit of the bona fide residents is the
greatest issue before the Territory today.
We are not opposed to capital as such, but we
do believe that capital coming into Alaska could
make a fair profit and still build up this terri
tory with real home builders.
As To HOME RULE
Peace will not come to Alaska until Alaskans
are allowed to govern themselves. This of
course will come with Statehood. But a larger
degree of self-government is possible even un
der our present Organic Act, and we will enu
merate one or two of these.
Alaskans can elect three men, to comprise a
Board of Control, who can manage strictly ter
ritorial affairs. These men can be called the
Controller, the Secretary, and the Treasurer.
All powers and duties which our Legislature
has heretofore given to the federal Governor
and Secretary should be exercised by our own
ELECTED OFFICERS. Among these duties
would be the management of the Pioneers’ Home,
and the Pension Fund. The Banking Board,
and a great many duties which our Legislature
has turned over to men Not Responsible To
The Citizens of Alaska.
As To Industries
While everybody realizes that our fisheries
are becoming depleted, the people who legislate
for us in Alaska, and the Bureau of Fisheries
have been afraid to put the knife to the real
cause of the trouble.
Everv fisherman knows that the FISHTRAP
is the DIRECT CAUSE of the depletion of our
salmon. Therefore we advocate the abolishment
of all fishtraps,
From a conservation standpoint this is. advise
able because this move woyld release at .,least
five million salmon for spawning purposes, .this
would be even after a greater catch by seiners
and gill-netters. . ,
From the standpoint of developing . Alaska,
such a move would mean an increase of at least
TEN THOUSAND men in our fishing popula
tion plus their families. These men and wom#n
would spend ALL their earnings IN ALASKA.
That is at least THREE MILLION dollars
more would be spent in Alaska. The Juneau
district would get at least $500,000 of this;
Ketchikan would get ONE MILLION DOL
LARS MORE; the balance would go to Wran
gell, Petersburg, Sitka, Skagway districts. Bur
the relief would be instant. Imagine what it
will mean when our bona fide citizens get this
additional THREE MILLION DOLARS. Ma
chine shops, boat shops, ship chandlery, mer
chants and every other line of business will get
their share of this increase.
This is the policy of British Columbia. The
result of their policy is that whereas their pack
is only one-third that of ours, they have
THREE TIMES as many resident fishermen
as we do.
As For Taxation
Taxes are necessary and cannot be evaded.
They should be collected from those who can
best afford to pay. We are opposed to nuisance
taxes.
Therefore we are opposed to the FUR TAX.
We are also opposed to the tax on FOX
FARMERS.
We are opposed to any increase in the tax
on Pink Salmon for the reason that the margin
of profit is very small on this species. The cost
of packing RED SALMON is exactly the same
as PINKS, but the wholesale price on REDS
is $13.00 per case while the price for PINKS is
only $6.00. From this you can see that the
Reds can stand a tax of $1.00 per case easier
than the Pinks can stand 10c.
As To Reduction of Taxes
Taxes cannot be reduced UNLESS or UNTIL
we are willing to reduce our Appropriations.
Commercial clubs or citizens who demand a re
duction of taxes Without indicating What ap
propriation should be reduced are either IG
NORANT, or DISHONEST with themselves.
We favor a reduction of taxation, and to this
end, we would reduce or cut out all appropria
tions that are premature, ill-advised, wasteful,
or duplicates.
We are opposed to the Building of a Univer
sity of Alaska at Fairbanks or anywhere else as