THE ALASKA FISHERMAN
Published the 15th ol each month at Ketchikan, Alaska
WILLIAM L. PAUL, ATTORNEY FOR THE
ALASKA NATIVE BROTHERHOOD
Entered as second - class matter at the Post Office at
KETCHIKAN, ALASKA
;>UBSCRPTION PRICE $2.00 FOR TWELVE ISSUES
OUR PLATFORM:
ALASKA FOR ALASKANS.
FULL TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT.
ABOLISHMENT OF ALL TRAPS.
COMPETENT CHRISTIAN CITIZENSHIP.
OUR “MOST IMPORTANT ASSET”
Charles Evans Hughes used this phrase in
a recent address in New York City when speaking
about the value of “a good judge” to the com
munity. The occasion was the appointment of
three federal judges under a new law and the
general knowledge that the men who were re
commended by the “politicians” did not measure
up to the highest tests. This is because what Mr.
Hughes put aside as entirely out of place, name
ly, “the solicitations and intrigues of politics,”
have had too much to do with such candidacies.
“Character, learning, experience and tact are
the qualifications for the bench. The best guar
antee of fitness is sound professional reputation.
The prestige of the bench is largely dependent on
the distinction of those who are appointed to it.
I think it is a mistake to suppose that highly com
petent lawyers cannot be obtained for these
places.”
It seems that in New York as elsewhere many
applicants have no thought as to their fitness for
the high honor except that they get the job. The
“pull,” that is the thing.
The New York Times discusses this very ques
tion and points out the responsibilities of the Bar
Associations—“What are the various bar associa
tions doing about raising the standards of our
judiciary. Chicago lawyers have acted with in
telligence, vigor and a large degree of success in
securing better judges. New York lawyers have
been more timid and feeble. * * * There should be
a more active inquiry into personalities and the
politicians behind them. Urgent representations
should be made at Washington, so that these ju
dicial appointments should not be dealt with on
a purely political basis, and behind closed doors,
just as if they were fourth-class postmaster
ghips,”
The TIMES goes on and says, “If the crying
need for abler and more unfettered Judges could
be met, it would go far to still some of the com
plaints about the administration of justice in
this country. * * A high minded, industrious and
public-spirited Judge is indeed one of the com
munity’s most important assets. But if the com
munity does not bestir itself to secure that sort
of Judge, it will continue to suffer from the oth
er kind.
“Eternal vigilence is the price of liberty.” Many
citizens are not interested in this subject until for
the first time in their lives they are brought face
to face with the power of the court when they
realize the difference between a fair judge and
one seeking vengeance for some fancied wrong.
Very often a new judge begins his term of of
fice by making a public declaration that “now I
have been made a judge, I will be fair, impartial,
weighing in the scales of justice with an even and
unbiased hand.” But after that, he makes his
own record for all time whether he is a “Daniel
come to judgment” or another Jeffereys court.
The first is to his lasting credit. The latter
to his lasting disgrace.
MARSHAL \L WHITE
-x
We pay our respects once more to United
S ates Marshal Albert White who was one of the
lc'i.uers of the successful Democratic ticket in
southeastern Alaska.
He keeps in office a man named C. V. Brown as
deputy marshal at Petersburg, Alaska. If there
is a more filthy- mouthed individual in Alaska
than C. V. Brown, we have not discovered him.
He raves and he curses men and women alike. He
first puts handcuffs on unresisting men and then
he has clubbed them without mercy. He is a fre
quenter of bawdy houses himself. We have no
way of knowing whether he pays the market
“price,” but we have strong reason for believing
he gets “his free’ for at times he has ordered
“out of town” those women who have incurred his
displeasure; the others he allows to remain.
We could tell more.
But United States Marshal Albert White who
knows all this says that “C. V. Brown is a fine of
ficer who by his energy has incurred the enmity
of those who believe in law violation.”
We have read White’s report to the Attorney
General on the complaint against Brown who
walked into a shooting gallery in Juneau and at
the top of his voice called a woman a “whore” a
prostitute, a dam bitch” and many more vile
names. This woman tried to hire a lawyer in Ju
neau to fight for her rights. This lawyer got the