sentation with American fisher
men although there are only
some 90 small boats fishing from
Canadian ports while there are
some 280 American boats, most
of them large ones, fishing from
American ports.
The fishermen also are oppos
ed to giving this commission,
with the unequal representation
mentioned above, the right to
tell tiiem when and where they
can fish. The Canadians should
not be given the chance to play
the dog in the manger and tell
the American fishermen that
they cannot fish during that
period.
The closing of the season for
ihe first two weeks in November
simply means that as the Can
adian boats cannot fish on ac
count of their inability to cope
with the bad weather prevalent
at that time, they are not going
to allow the American boats,
with their superior equipment,
10 fish either.
There is too much govern
ment by bureau in the United
Stages today and we believe it
would ee unwise to enter ir-o
ids treaty with Canada in ire
present form, with power to in
terfere with the livelihood of
the men fishing for a living.
its present form, it does not give
Americans equal representation
whh the Canadians, but give >
rre smaller number of boa^s
working from Canadian ports, an
eqi-al voice with the much
gieater number of boats fron
.nerican porf'a
The closing of the 3. ason din
*np the first twe weeks of No
wj,nber ;s discriminatory as
avT *inst me Amerinn fishe.
men. I he Cnradia* boats n.
no1 fish then n.iyway -they can
not , because of their size. Cut
ting cff the revenue of the A
merican boats during these two
weeks just amounts to increas
ing the overhead expense of the
reason as practically all the ov
erhead is a set exnense, such as
dry-docking, painting, etc. The
season being two weeks shorter
would increase the overhead on
these large boats to quite a con
siderable degree and this in
crease in the cost of fishing is
not justified.
Al^sVan population is com
posed largely of men engaged in
the fishing industry and we must
aid this large portion of our pop
ulation to protect their indus
trial life if we expect to have
them prosper. Should this treaty
go through in its present form it
certainly is not going to be a
benefit to Alaska or Ketchikan.
The Commercial Club and
other civic organizations should
take this matter up at once, call
ing special meetings, if neces
sary, to endorse the stand of the
vessel owners in their fight on
the ratification of this Treaty.
Businessmen of the commun
ity most certainly are interested
enough in the welfare of this
large element of our population,
to see that their side of the case
receives the proper considera
tion at the hands of Congress
Every organization in town
should get behind the fishermen
and endorse their stand, sending
copies of their endorsements to
Delegate Dan Sutherland at
Washington, so that he will see
that Ketchikan is back of the
men who really make the city—
the fishermen.
Fish Trap Case Before Judge Harding-Property
Rights Of Tide Lands and Water Involved
Is Stockholder Trustee of Cor
poration? Does Corporation
Have Title to Trapsite
Area? Question Asked
A case in which many new
elements appear, according to
one of the contesting attorneys,
and which is of general interest
to the fishing industry, dealing
with a trap site location, was re
viewed in the District Court by
Judge Justin W. Harding, before
1 eaving Ketchikan recently.
The case is entitled the Hous
ton Fish Company, plaintiff, vs.
Laura Houston and Nakat Pack
ing Company, a corporation, de
-X
fendant. The Nakat company
merely appears because it leas
ed the trap site in controversy
and paid money to defendant.
A. H. Ziegler represents the
Houston Fish Company and Les
ter O. Gore appeared for Laura
Houston
The plaintiff company brot
rn action in equity to compel
Laura Houston to render an ac
counting to plaintiff for all
money received by her on the
lease of the Point Higgins trap
location, that she be declared
trustee for plaintiff in taking
over the site; that the property
be decreed as belonging to the
plaintiff and that all money col
lected on a lease be turned ov
er to plaintiff.
Through her attorney, Laura
Houston demurred to the com
plaint. The case was argued be
fore Judge Justin W. Harding,
who took the cese under advise
ment. He asked the attorneys
to submit briefs within 30 days
before he rendered a decision.
The story back of the case is
that E. K. Houston and L. R.
Ellson in 1927, co-partners, form
ed a corporation to own and op