CALVIN COOLIDGE
Calvin Coolidge is the first Presi
dent of the United States to have in
his veins the blood of the original
Americans—a fact which a regiment
of biographers appear to have over
looked.
His great-grandmother showed
clear evidence of Indian descent; and
though succeeding generations of
Coolidges have hidden the Indian
blood beneath a protective coloring
of fair hair and freckles, the Indian
blood, like The Star Spangled Ban
ner, is still there.
It is possible to ascribe many
Coolidge characteristics to the In
dian blood; but before any person
does any ascribing along this line,
he ought to know a little something
about Indian characteristics.
It is popularly supposed, for ex
ample, that the average Indian ex
presses delight, sorrow, anger, pain,
resentment, distress, doubt and vari
ous other emotions by the one ex
clamation “Ugh!”; that he seldom
if ever elaborates on this remark,
and that silence and paucity of ex
pression are his most striking at
tributes.
As a matter of fact, almost any
Indian, when he knows and trusts
the person to whom he is talking,
will ramble on at such length that
those who are obliged to listen to
him are frequently seized with an
almost uncontrollable desire to
strike him smartly over the head
with a stockingful of iron filings in
order to silence him for a few hours.
Every Indian tribe has scores upon
scores of interminable legends, sucn
as the story of how the Doctor of
the Eearth, Juh-Wert-a-Blah-Blah,
or something similar, with the as
sistance of Esky-No-Go-Blah-Bull,
the Chickadee, took a bowl of water
and made it hard and hung it up
in the sky—Wup-Mush-Ga-Ga—thus
forming the sun—Sis-Boom-Bah.
These legends are preserved by
handing them down by word of
mouth from father to son and from
mother to daughter; and theie are
so many of them, and all the In
dians are so thoroughly conversant
with them, that most Indians must
spend a large part of their lives
telling long and involved legends to
their children, instead of remarking
“Ugh!” to one another morosely.
Indians are not at all silent when
they have occasion to talk and when
they know to whom they are talk
ing. They are very patient, how
ever, and they are apt to be modest
and reticent; and when there is
need for them to take action against
trespassers and encroachers, they
wait carefully and patiently until
the time is ripe and then they fre
quently take quick, violent and di
rect action of the most unexpected
nature.
Calvin Coolidge has some of these
attributes, as have a great many
New Englanders who have no In
dian blood in their veins; but no
man can say definitely whether he
inherited them from his Indian An
cestors or from his New England
forbears- —By Kenneth L. Robert,
Saturday Evening Post.
LESE MAJESTE
(Ketchikan Chronicle, February 5)
News that the passenger fare has
been increased from Seattle to Alas
kan points comes to the people of
the North as rather a slap that was
not anticipated. No statement has
yet been received from the trans
portation companies showing the
necessity of such a move, if, indeed,
such a necessity can be shown.
It is true that the service on
some of the boats has been im
proved in the matter of better rooms
and more commodious vessels in
some instances. That, however, does
not hold good on all boats and an
increased rate on the older and less
commodious vessels certainly could
not be said to warrant ** iumn in
the price of passenger transporta
tion. As to the better boats, it will
be difficult to convince the people
of Alaska that increases should be
made for they feel, especially in
Southeastern Alaska, that they have
been paying sufficient.
As it is understood that the in
creases are to apply to all the
steamship lines, both American and
Canadian, it may be that a combina
tion was entered into which will
bear investigation as to possible vio
lations of the law relative to com
binations in restraint of trade and
competition. But, regardless of this,
and whether or not the public can
do anything to prevent such an in
crease, it is a certainty that were
there an independent and rival line
accommodating Southeastern Alaska,
the older lir.es would meet with
some hearty opposition from an ag
grieved public.
-«*.
If you are sincere, rot afraid, and
stand your ground, calumny won’t
hurt you in the long run.
Senator La Follette, returning to
the senate yesterday, after a long
illness', was received by .senators of
all parties with loud applause, an
ovation such as few men have had
in the senate.
Every man in that body knows
that La Follette is sincere, says
what he means, and that no amount
of money could even interest him,
much less influence him.
It has not been so with all men,
and La Follette wins his elections
by fighting, not by purchase, as has
been done, sometimes.—N. Y. Times.
-«•
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BACK TO SCHOOL
With Apologies to Anchorage Times
LOUIS F. PAUL,
Grand Secretary A. N. B.
The most significant event of the
year takes place in September, when
millions of children go back to
school.
When the final history of this age
of democracy is written the common
school will be set down as its great
est glory.
Here they come—children of all
classes, religions and races, (except
the Alaska Indian)—trooping into
the schoolrooms where they sit side
by side to study and learn. (Except
the Alaska Indian.) This is not
only an institution for the informing
of the mind; it is the training school
for democracy and its importance as
the representative institution of the
commonwealth cannot be overestimat
ed. (Except for the Indian).
Class consciousness, snobbishness,
intolerance, superciliousness, cannot
exist in the atmosphere of the pub
lic school. (Except for the Indian.)
Here the barriers that separate
classes and creeds, races and com
munities are broken down. (Except
for the Indian.) A sense of mutual
sympathy and understanding is de
veloped, (except for the Indian) and
the one loyalty to the flag as against
all other obediences and authorities
and allegiances is emphasized. (In
clude the Indian.)
Seventy years ago Theodore Park
er declared: “The common school is
the cradle of America’s greatness.”
Twenty-five centuries ago Diogenes
said: “Education is the basis of the
Greek State” We may well say:
the public school is the foundation
of the American state. (Except for
the Indians.)
The greatness and glory of this
United States waxes and wanes with
the development or decline of the
public school. If by reason of the
growth of some other system or
school, or by a failure on the part
of the citizenship to appreciate the
unique civic significance of the pub
lic school, it should fall into decay
a body blow would be struck at the
republic.
Some time this axiom of demo
cracy will be universally recognized
(Prof. Lester Henderson says sever
al generations hence for the Indian)
and the parents of the nation frank
ly and patriotically acknowledge this
truth shall gladly send their children
to the public schools to be instructed
in secular subjects, to be trained in
American citizenship, to grow up in
the atmosphere of democracy, and
to be imbued with the Idealistic
spirit of Washington and Lincoln.
(Except the Indians.) Herein lies
the assurance of America’s future.