FAIRBANKS RENOMINATES
People who have watched the legis
lature closely during the past four
years can very easily pick out the
‘‘strong men.” I do not mean by that,
that a “strong man” is one who
agrees with me, but rather one who
by his personality has left his mark
on legislation.
Two men who are entitled to this
designation and are ) again in the
field for re-election are the Honor
able Joseph H Murray of McCartney,
in the Third Division, and the Honor
able H. H. Ross, of Fairbanks.
Singularly speaking, these men
are strong but exert their strength
ii. entirely different directions. There
is no stronger force in the legisla
ture than Mr. Murray, hut he has
used it entirely in the interests of
the large copper mine from whose
district he comes. He has used it to
defeat every just demand of the lit
tle fellow, voting to increase the
taxes of the small business man and
the working man, in order that his
“pet” that divides from two to six
millions in profits each year might
be relieved from paying its just
share in taxes. As a result of his
efforts, the Kennecott mine pays
$15,000 in taxes for each million dol
lars in net profits. Do you wonder
that a poor transfer man has to pav
oftentimes the value of his truck in
taxes?
The other strong personality in the
House, was H. H. Ross. This man
is often misunderstood because of his
quiet style. But at every test, Mr.
Ross showed a capacity for correct
thinking. Usually he and Mr. Mur
ray were on opposite sides, and this
led to much comment until Mr. Ross
became recognized as the leader o<*
the Progressives and Mr. Murray
the leader of the reactionaries. It
is not doubted that he and Mr.
Johnston were responsible for the ap
propriation for the Fairbanks Col
lege.
At the last session, Mr. Ross was
the chairman of the Ways and
Means Committee, and as such he
would not be stampeded by the
charge of the Cannery brigade.
The people of all Divisions are in
terested in v the re-election of Mr.
Ross and the defeat of Joseph Mur
ray; for the next legislature will be
composed of almost entirely green
material. The leadership will fall
naturally to the older hands especial
ly in the early days of the session.
I have no doubt but what the two
candidates for the Speakership of
the House will be H. H. Ross and
Jos. Murray, not so much because
these men are ambitious for it, but
because they represent the two op
posing forces in Alaskan govern
ment. I am convinced that the senti
ment among the Republicans of the
First Division is favorable to Mr.
Ross for this important post because
the Republicans of this division are
Progressive. We wonder if Fair
banks is alive to her chance to elect
a man who will be a power for good
government and a strong representa
tive of her interests. You cannot
always tell.
PETERSBURG SAWMILL
A new company has been incor
porated under the laws of Alaska to
take over the mill which has been
idle for some time. It will operate
as the Shields Sather Lumber and
Pox Co., Inc. The incorporators are
Ed B. Shields, of Portland, Oregon,
and Oscar Sather, of Hoquiam, Wash
ington, and Mr. Elsemore, of Peters
burg.
Mr. Sather, who has been identified
with the lumber industry in Wash
ington, will have charge of the mill
work, while Mr. Shields will handle
the office and sales department.
The company is capitalized for
$M),000, the stock having a par value
of $100. This company does not
expect to engage in extensive opera
tion yet, but will aim to take care
of the local demand. It will not be
long, however, before these men wiU
make the mill the most modern in all
A’aska, reducing the cost of manu
facturing and establishing a business
that will be of greatest value to
Petersburg.
um m business”
'‘Recent newspaper articles against
the fish industry, charging trusts
and the like, is all having its effect
ir. hurting Ketchikan,” said H. C.
Strong, and “something should be
done to stop the talk when it re
sults in such injury.”
No one will differ from him.
The thing that should be done is
this; let the canneries quit their
secret agreements, and their encour
agement of lawlessness, and the
talk will stop at once.
Nobody knows \better than Carl
Strong th&fc there is a fish trust,
and for a long time, he was a vital
part of it. For many years prices
have been exactly alike in this dis
trict. Was it a mere accident?
The cannerymen do not want us
to talk about their unlawful prac
tices, then let them quit. On one
occasion, Carl Strong ordered a fish
boat to get dog salmon, and when
that boat came back with something
like 12,000, he refused to take them,
forcing the fisherman to throw the
fish overboard because Strong had
received a fine load from some trap.
When he was in Washington, he
argued that trap fish were the best
because they could be held until they
were needed by the cannery, and yet
h° forced this fisherman to dump
>2 000 good, fresh fish into the wa
ter and took the trap fish.
Lest summer, while Senator Wes
ley L. Jones was making a ‘personal
inspection” of the fishing industry,
over 100,000 pounds of fresh fish
were dumped into the bay near the
cold storage plant belonging in part
to Carl Strong. Where was the Sena
tor? Probably riding down in Mr.
Strong’s automobile to inspect “the
best cannery in Alaska.”
GROCERIES, HARDWARE, SHOES
HOUSE FURNISHINGS FULLER’S PAINTS
The Winchester Brand Tools
THE TRADING UNION
PETERSBURG (Incorporated) ALASKA
SHIELDS-SATHER LUMBER & BOX CO.
Manufactuiers of
Spruce Lumber and Box Shooks
Petersburg, Alaska
BANK OF PETERSBURG
K. L. STEBERG, President T. S. ELSEMORE, Cashier
C. NORBERG, Vice-President ED LOCKEN, Ass’t. Cashier
l Per Cent Interest Paid on Savings Accounts