Is This Bolshevism? Or Rather
Isn’t St Good Americanism
The blahs of election are ov
er and it is well to take a sober
f.urvey of our situation and see
v.hat it all amounted to.
Our troubles arc not political,
oat economic, a tact the mass of
voters realise, but through a
lack of understanding, and or
ganized constructive effort, are
depending on the impossible
i omises of political parties and
g tting nowhere, for reasons set
forth.
In the first place this Division
contains over half of the popu
lation of the entire Territory,
i nd about 75 per cent of its tax
hle wealth. Under favorable
c onditions it probably always
will.
The four delegates from this
Division go to Juneau, elected by
about 6,000 votes, to convene
with twelve delegates from the
(ther three Divisions elected by
a FEW HUNDRED VOTES, a ra
tio of 3 to 1, obtained by a hand
ful of votes. Needy and Provin
cial for the most part, they easi
ly fall for the wiles of the pri
vileged, with the consequence
that through their own needs
and the artful arguments of the
‘Fifth House,’ they take our
money away from us, and tell us
what we can do, and cannot do.
Is THAT “Representative Gov
ernment”?
There was much prating in
the last campaign about ‘Home
Rule’ and local control of our
fisheries With this bunch to
contend with, do not imagine
if we had control of our fisher
ies we would be any better off
than we are today.
At the 1925 and 1927 Sessions
eif the legislature, notwithstand
ing the earnest efforts of all the
members from the Division to
put these measures over, who
was it successfully OPPOSED:
(1.) A ia>: on trap caught fish.
An increased tax on her
ring fertilizer.
(3) A measure to keep out
alien fishermen?
The sisters from the Sticks!
Geographically and economic
ally we have few interests in
common with the other Divi
sions, yet we will dc dominated
and plucked just as long as we
icier ate being tied to them. With
Seattle on ilie one flue and the
Sticks on the other, we are be
tween the devil and the deep
Sea. Home Rule is but a hollow
mockery under such conditions.
Physically, economically and
morally wo have every right to
demand separation, and the or
gan:: cation of a Territory of our
own.
Consider our fisheries, our bas
ic and only developed industry,
the dependence of 75 per cent of
our entire population. Ninety
per cent of all the salmon can
ned in this Division are caught
in traps owned by about 20 cor
porations and a few individuals.
In a normal year, if these trap
ped fish were caught by cur own
people, and paid for at current
rates, the purchasing power of
our fishermen 'would be increas
ed by over TWO MILLION dol
lars annually in this Division.
At hearings during the last
Session of the Legislature when
the question of taxing trap
caught fish was up, the packers
testified that collectively, that
in a six-year period, they could
only show a profit of on.? and
three-fourths per cent (1% per
cent) on their investment. COL
I.ECTIVELY, they probably were
not far from the truth. They
admitted it was a rotten show
ing. yet all they asked was to be
let alone. Through the assist
ance of the sisters from the
Sticks they got everything they
wanted.
It was pointed out to the pack
ers th3t. enormous wastes could
be saved by combining under
one head and reducing the num
ber of canneries in this Division
to about a dozen, strategically
located, where local labor could
be had to run them, large over
head dispensed with, expensive
competition for fish eliminated,
the pack regulatad and improv
ed. prices stabelized, local co
operation assured, and many
ether large economies effected.
But the dominating interests
wanted, nothing like that. They
are sitting pretty, and want to
go on in the same old way, no
matter how it affects us.
It is perfectly safe to say that
by a united effort, close co-op
oration and comprehensive plan
powerful interests can be induc
ed to organize on lines of mu
tual assistance and put such a
system in effect, whereby the
people of this Division would be
assured of a regular supply of
fish, regular employment of can
nery help and fishermen, fair
prices for fish, and if desired a
chance to participate in packing
profits, which under such a sys
tem can be assured, and the pro
ceeds of fishing and packing
spent at home. With proper
industrial planhing, other indus
tries could be developed to give
employment during slack sea
sou,