must conclude that your appointment by Gov.
Bone a mere. political play to gain the support
of your father’s great influence.”
As a result of the appointment of special in
terests only to this Commission, this Territory
is committed to wrong principles of conserva
tion. We refer to the seasonal closed period
under the “Heckman Bill,” so called because J.
R. Heckman drew up the bill and pushed it thru
the legislature. This bill closes the season in
the Ketchikan district on August 20th to Sep
tember 10th.
This law demonstrates the supreme ignorance
of its advocates of the most elementary facts of
life. “If you breed late fish, you will get late
fish,” and very soon all fish will be depleted
except those that run from August 20th ana
later. What we should do is to breed early fish.
If we could get the humpies to begin June 1st
as they do at Anan Creek, south of Wrangell,
we would add millions of dollars to the income
of the canners, the fishermen, and to Alaska.
But what do the Boards with special duties do
but take from Anan Creek the late fish instead
of the early fish.
When we argued with Calvin Hazlett about
that he said, “Oh, well, that was Heckman’s idea
and what am I to put myself up against Heck
man. He knows more than I do about fish, and
more than any body else in Alaska.” Then why
not abolish the commission and save travelling
expenses at least.
Today, due to Mr. Bone’s policies, J. R. Heck
man has become the manager of our fish hatch
eries, and possibly when Mr. Heckman has spent
another $250,000 experimenting with fish eggs,
he will learn the fallacy of his seasonal closing
scheme, and he will know what every chicken
farmer has learned, “If you breed late stock,
you get late stock.” Acting on this principle,
we have the early potatoes, the early apples,
early lettuce and other things. But when it
comes to fish, the fish experts, Henry O’Malley,
E. M. Ball, J. R. Heckman, and their devotees,
spend all their time and energy in breeding hum
pies taken from the creeks in September and
October, whereas they should be hatching the
fish that come to the earliest streams.
You have criticized me for being unreasonable
in my opposition to Mr. Bone. If we had no
other reason, for being opposed to him, the above
would be enough. There are many others, for
instance, he has consistently supported men for
office who were totally unfit.
We do not accuse Mr. Bone as being personally
corrupt, but we do say that the effect is the
same. We have pounded him hard for his ap
pointment of men like Senator Chamberlain, of
Seward, to high public office, because that act
is indefensible. We think his other policies
would justify his removal, but many good people,
without an understanding of the harm which
Mr. Bone is doing to Alaskans, might disagree
with us, so we hammer him on the point where
no one can defend him. Senator Chamberlain
has so openly and flagrantly violated the 18th
amendment that no Governor should shut his
eyes to it, and even if the Senator is protected
from arrest during the time wrhen the legislature
is sitting, still the governor can very well take
notice that the Senator is a man openly adicted
to drunkenness.
There are still other matters on which we
think Mr. Bone is altogether wrong as his at
titude on the Transportation question, Fishery
Reserves, his veto of the Resolution directing
the Attorney General to inquire into the legality
of Mr. Hoover’s reserves, but we will leave that
discussion for a later time.
IS THIS THE BEGINNING
This year, under the Reserve Sy
stem, the Bureau df Fisheries, with
the approval of Herbert Hoover, is
giving the entire catch of the Nush
agak River to the following canner
ies, Alaska Packers’ Association, two
canneries; the International Packing
Co., one cannery. These canneries
will be allowed to put a trap IN THE
RIVER and divide the catch pro rata
under the supervision of the Bureau
of Fisheries.
Last year these canneries operated
66 boats and used 132 men. With
the new trap scheme, the companies
will need about 12 men. It is not
hard to see what will become of the
fishing population of Alaska if the
Bureau of Fisheries and Mr. Hoover
continue to have their own way.
Many thoughtless people think
that the fisheries question for Al
aska is simply one of escapement.
This example i^Hpuld open their eyes,
for under the Nushagak system, the
escapement is guaranteed, one-half
the fish go into cans, the other half
goes up the river.
But what becomes of our fishing
population?
Alaska is becoming one vast pri
vate estate of the Fish Trust. Her
bert Hoover makes it possible. Al
askans are beginning to see that the
real problem of this territory is Con
servation of Fish and Population.
♦
A book agent took refuge under a
hay-stack during a thunder storm ancl
the lightning struck him on the creek,
glanced off and killed a mule two
hundred yards away.