of Alaska, none of whom are able to collect all
their dues.”
At that time, O’Malley felt that all he needed
to do was to tell the world that the men charged
with graft were big business men, eminent col
lege professors, and public officials. But today
with the Teapot Dome question still before Con
gress O’Malley must hunt a new answer. There
might be a difference between Hoover, O’Malley
and Bone in that they are not doing this for
money. But, nevertheless, they are doing the
will of the fish trust, and to us in Alaska the
results are the same.
THE PROOF OF THE CHARGES
Since Sutherland delivered his charges, we
have had one fishing season, and we print the
proof that CONSERVATION IS NOT THE PUR
POSE OF THE RESERVES.
Canneries Place
Alaska Packers Assn., Kasilof
Libby, McNeil & Libby, Kenai
N. W. Fisheries Kenai
Fidalgo Pt. Graham
All Year Round Seldovia
Anchorage Packing Anchorage
Arctic Packing English Bay
No. Coast Packing Ninilchik
Pioneer Packing Snug Harbor
H. J. Emard Moose Point
Pack Actual
Limit Pack
40,000 14,611
40,000 26,088
40,000 15,931
40.000 14,344
3,400 2,099
15.000 4,549
5,000 1,054
5,000 2,073
15,000 6,645
5,000 1,545
Totals 208,000 88,937
A comparison at Chignik shows the following:
A. P. A. 50,000 23,298
Columbia River Packers 50,000 23,279
N. W. Fisheries 50,000 23,309
Totals 150,000 69,886
Messrs. Ploover and O’Malley say that these
reserves are created for conservation purposes
“pending legislation by Congress.” We charge
that these reserves were made at the behest of
the Fish Trust to shut out competition and that
they have no relation whatever to conservation
of fish for the public, but that they do conserve
fish for the Trust. Consider again Mr. Suther
land’s charges in 1923, and the proof in 1924,
and use your head for what God intended it.
But that is not all. We have still another fact
to add to this which should prove even to the
most doubtful that these reserves of Mr. Hoover
are not for conservation except for the Trust
that wrote the regulations in the first place in
their offices in San Francisco.
The permits for the season of 1924 have been
issued. The actual pack of the following can
neries for 1923 and the allotment for 1924 is
as follows:
1924 1923
Cannery Allotment Pack
Pac. Am. fisheries, Ikatan 76,000 62,253
Pac. Am. Fisheries, King Cove 100,000 46,831
Pac. Am. Fisheries, Shumagin 50,000 50,000
P. E. Harris & Co., False Pass 70,000 42,328
Totals 296,000 201,411
In addition to this, the Department of Com
merce is permitting still another cannery in this
district, the one at Jacob Island.
Even Mr. Hoover fears that his acts are ille
gal for he has caused Congressman Wallace H.
White, Jr., of Maine, to introduce a bill legaliz
ing the grab. This act provides that the re
serves shall be legal “until Congress passes ade
quate legislation.” Would it not be more to the
point for Mr. White to introduce for Mr. Hoover
“suitable legislation?” Of course it would if the
Department were acting irs good faith.
We will therefore repeat the charges which I
made before the special committee of Congress,
towit: the Bureau of Fisheries is using its en
tire influence to aid the Fish Trust to block all
legislation, that Mr. Hoover is cooperating with
them, because the reserve system shuts out com
petition for the Trust and does not affect their
maximum pack in the least.
This situation will continue until the traps are
abolished. When the Department of Commerce
or friends of the Fish Trust in Congress canm
protect the special privileges of the Trust any
longer, then Alaska will get Home Rule. We
have it in mines, why not in fisheries?
Cannerymen Must Learn
Cannerymen generally feel that we
are trying to put them out of busi
ness and they fight to protect their
business. They would learn the
truth by reading what we have to
say, and also by confessing their
wiong acts to each other.
Take the matter of depletion of
the fisheries. This would be a
greater hardship on the resident
Alaskan than on the canneryman
for we would be without both the
cannery and the food product. And
as we look at the problem, we are
convinced that the traps must be
abolished before the problem can be
solved.
Other factors that increase the
hardships of the canneries are be
ing brought about through their
own acts. “Skinning” their fishing
crews, usually picking on the most
helpless. There are a number of men
in Ketchikan that are still without
pay for fish delivered last year.
C. Whitney, of P. E. Harris & Co.
Seattle, made another criticism that
cannerymen should heed; “A con
tributing factor to the present de
plorable situation is the packing
and marketing of poor salmon. The
time is now past for false modesty
in discussing this festering sore. . .
. .Canners in the north know of
putrid fish being packed but act
like a man seeing his neighbor’s
house afire but not reporting the
blaze, though his own house must
surely burn.As long as the
packers condone the canning and
selling of stale, spent, and decom
posed fish, the money and effort
will be worse than wasted. There
are two problems today in the sal
mon business—successful marketing
and proper packing. Neither has been
solved.”
SO-CALLED RESERVES
The reserves at Bay view and Hy da
burg are not reserves in the sense
that people living thereon cannot
vote. Citizenship is a condition ac
quired by birth. If a person is born
within the United States and at the
time of birth is born under the com
plete jurisdiction of the United
Sates, that person is a citizen. At
the time the reserves above mention
ed were created, all those of voting
age now had already been born. Once
having acquired the rights of citizen
ship, the United States cannot take
the right away.
The citizens at these places must
again travel several miles to vote,
and if challenged, each person must
swear in his or her vote. If these
Natives were all really men with
strong hearts, instead of wishbones
dressed in pants, they would vote all
right. We will see what they are.