The Alaska daily empire. [volume], March 03, 1913, Image 3

About The Alaska daily empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1912-1926

Image provided by: Alaska State Library Historical Collections

: JUNEAU LIQUOR COMPANY, Inc. ;
J We have for the table the ^
: CRESTA BLANCA AND EL DORADO WINES Z
? <>
FINE OLD BRANDY AND SCOTCH
\ Tel. 9-1 RYE AND BOURBON Front St. 2
OPERA LIQUOR CO., inc. j
Thus. II. Ashbv. Pres. A. G. Bays, Sec.-Treas. ?
?
COR. SEWARD AND SECOND STREETS J
?
?
?
finest Straight Whiskies Cigars That Everybody Likes to Smoke *
A
A RESORT FOR GENTLEMEN %
\
ALASKA MEAT COMPANY John itcck. ugr.
Wholesale and Retail Butchers
Manufacturers of all Kinds of Sausages Our Hams and Bacon Are
Home-Smoked
OLYMPIA BEER
-IT'S THE WATER"
FOR SALE AT ALL FIRST-CLASS BARS AND CAFES
! I I I I I !' I-K I ! I I I I H I I I I I I 111 111 II H I ?! I"i .111111
| OCCIDENTAL HOTEL AND ANNEX
**" Restaurant in Connection Established 1S81 European Plan Ij!
COMMERCIAL MEN'S HOME
I! FRONT ST. JOHN P. OLDS. Mngr. JUNEAU, ALASKA -?
i i i i i : i : : : i : 11 i m-h n i i m iii m i i m i iii m i i i m i i
? Juneau Transfer Co. ?
| COAL WOOD |
STORAGE J
J Moving Carefully Done ?
i Baggage Our Long Suit ?
? FRONT STREET
? X1
^ J
? Watkins S Geidon |
? EXPERT BLACKSMITHS ?
} and IRON WORKERS 1
? ?
? General Blacksmithing. Horse- ?
^ Shoeing. Iron and Marine Work ?
J Estimates Furnished and j
? Work Guaranteed ? i
? FRANKLIN STREET ?
J Near Alaska Steam Laundry J
? ?
I I
i McCloskeys j
111:: !? 11 i i r 111 i 1111111 n i i
The Louvre Bar ::
T
I A1 Carbon, Prop. . . j
T Imported and'Domeitic ? ? !
i LIQUORS and;cigars -?
I RAINIER BEER ON DRAUGHT -
T Phone Juneau ??
m : i : i i i i i 111 i 11 i 11 1111111
J. W. DORAN j
DRUGS
PHONE 3
104 Second St. Juneau, Alaska
R. P. NELSON
STATIONERY DEALER
OFFICE SUPPLIES
Writing Paper?Fountain Pens
Blank Books?Letter Files
Drawing Papers ? Blue Print
Paper?Library Book Exchange
?Huyler's Candies?
Berry's Store
EASTER GOODS
Arriving on Every Boat
n I I I 1 I I I I I 11 n 111 I i i II in
? The Alaska Grill ??
The" Best Appointed
Plate in Town
;; Best of Everything Served !!
at Moderate Prices
\ +111 I I I II iii 11111 II 11 H I s
0 THE BEST LOAF OF
1 BREAD \
X Is Sold At
| San Francisco Bakery ?
? G. MESSERSCHMIDT. Prop. X
x ?
First National
Bank
OF JUNEAU
CAPITAL $50,000
SURPLUS $10,000
UNDIVIDED PROFITS $15,000
DEPOSITS OVER $400,000
Complete facilities for the
transaction of any banking
business.
OFFICERS
T. F. KENNEDY. Pres.
JOHN RECK, Vice-Pres.
A. A. GABBS, Cashier
DIRECTORS
F. W. BRADLEY
E. P. KENNEDY
GEO. F. MILLER
T. F. KENNEDY
JOHN RECK
P. H. FOX
A. A. GABBS
M. J. O'CONNOR
Latest Novelties in
Tobacco Jars and
Pipe Racks
at Burford's
Governor's Message to
First Alaska Legislature
(Continued from Page 1.)
local taxation, that a proper ratio be
maintained between gross revenue and
cost of collection, for if the cost is
excessive, the tax is, to the extent
of that excess, an excessive and un
just tax. The question of an eco
nomical system of assessing, equal
izing and collecting taxes in a Ter
ritory as large as this and in which
: the means of communication are so
slow and expensive, is one of the
most difficult problems with which
you will have to deal.
The present taxable resources are
not large enough, in my opinion, to
warrant the passage of any legisla
tion for public works greatly as these
j are needed. We must still depend al
most or quite exclusively upon the
monies of the Alaska Fund, and such
appropriations as may be made by
Congress, for the purposes of road and
trail building- unless certain special
provision for supplementary work be
made through the enactment of a law
; not calling for the imposition of taxes.
I shall discuss this proposed law later
j in this message. The amount of reve
| tines to be raised in the next two years
! should lie limited to the actual cost
of administering such laws as may
be enacted by the Assembly at this
session. Several of these, which have
j been the subject of wide-spread dis
i Mission throughout the Territory, are
badly needed, but with possibly one
I or two exceptions they will require
only an inconsiderable expenditure of!
| public money.
I* I'noi-a ni-lnr
For me penuu ui iuui ,
to 191L\ the average annual receipts
from taxes and licenses of every de
scription in Alaska, exclusive only of
customs and internal revenue collec
tions. but inclusive even of the local
property taxes collected by the incor
porated towns, were only $o.r>S,50$.l.r>.
This statement, taken in connection
with otir common knowledge that in
many instances property in Alaska isj
already sufficiently taxed, readily sug
gests the comparative paucity of!
sources of further revenue. I can not
forbear, at this juncture, to remind
you that, while our Territory has been
sadly neglected by many Federal Con-)
grosses in that some of our most vital j
needs have not been supplied, the to- j
tal disbursements of public money for |
the support of the government in this]
Territory reach approximately $4.000,-1
000 per annnum. or more than ten
times the amount of the local
tax and license monies. This is
mentioned so that we may not fail
to consider, first, our inability at pres
' ent to support ourselves, and. sec
ond, the need of uniting in memor
ials to Congress for such national leg
islation for Alaska as will speedily
render our great natural resources pro
ductive. and therefore sources of
available wealth for the whole people
and the purposes of a better govern
ment.
There are wanting in Alaska sever
al provisions of law which are afforded
in some form probably in every other
civilized territory in the world. These
may readily be enacted by the present
Assembly, some of these were passed
by the United States Senate last year
but were not acted upon by the House
of Representatives. Among the first
in importance is a law for the super
vision of hanks and banking, other
than national associations. The ab-1
sence of any restrictions, even of a I
requirement for simple periodical ex
amination by government officers, has
caused depositors and shareholders
to suffer in several conspicuous in
stances. The lesson has been suffi
' ciently impressed. We should not wait
for further costly repetition. In my
annual report to the Secretar> of the
Interior for the years 1911 and 1912,
the following remarks were sub
mited:
"There is 110 law especially ap
plicable to the organization of
banking institutions in Alaska
and no legal means for their con
trol. It has already been proven
that this condition is capable of
producing the gravest conse
quences, and it is not a credit to
a civilized government that it
should not be permitted to exist.
Besides the national banking as
sociations, of which there are two,
and which, of course, are subject
to the provisions of the national
bank act, there are in the Terri
tory at least 12 so-called private
banks, either organized under the
laws of some of the States, or not
" incorporated at all. None of
these is subject to any supervision
by State or Federal authority. It
hardly seems necessary to say that
this situation should be relieved
without delay by the enactment
of a simple provision for official
examination. The expense of such
examination probably should be
borne by the banks."
Quarantine.
No legal means Exists in Alaska, at >
least outside the incorporated towns,!
for the establishment and enforcement!
of a quarantine to prevent the spread I
of contagious diseases. No law exists j
under which a patient must be iso- j
? lated. The penal code, it is true, pro-;
vides for the punishment of a person j
guilty of "intent to cause the preva-j
lence or spread of such (malignant!
or infectious) disease." but this
strange provision rests upon an hy-!
pothesis as absurd as it is abhorreut,
and which, as a matter of fact, never
materialized anywhere in Alaska. A
year ago I was informed by the chief;
administrative officers of the Public'
Health and Marine Hospital Service
that, under a liberal construction of
the laws governing that service, it
was possible to establish and main
lain quarantines at Federal expense at
all interior points in Alaska, as well
as at seaports and at places on the
international boundary. An officer of
that Bervice was accordingly detailed
for special duty in Alaska, with in
structions to exercise the usual func
tions of a Stute or Territorial com
missioner of public health. A month
ago, however, when the necessity
arose of establishing a quarantine at
two places in Southeastern Aluska, it
was found that the Public Health and
Marine Hospital service had no funds
available for the purpose, and no ac
tion was taken. Unless the difficulty
regarding funds be soon surmounted
?and I await further advices from
Washington on the subject?It will be
necessary for the Legislative Assem
bly to deal with this subject. The
menace of small pox and other contag
ious diseases should not be suffered to
exist without means of check. With
out submitting any particular form
of legislation I suggest that a Federal
quarantine law will not prove expen
sive to administer if local resident
physicians be employed, with com
pensation only at such times as pre
scribed duties are actually rendered.
These local health officers may be au
thorized to establish quarantines in
stantly in emergencies and to con
tinue them and to defray the expense
thereof under directions from the Gov
ernor or other designated officer of |
the Territory. |
Sanitation and Public Health.
I recommend the enactment of suit
able provision for sanitation and pub
lic health. Any law on this subject
should apply to the native inhabitants
as well as the whites. The need of a
simple sanitary code is presented
most frequently in the native settle
ments, but is often observed else
where; while the danger to white res
idents which comes from the exist
ence of unsanitary conditions and in
fectious diseases in the native vll
j lages adjacent to the principal towns
j is constant.
Vital Statistics Registration.
I Among the subjects of minor legis
{lation few are more important than
compulsory and systematic registra
tion of births, marriages and deaths.
The nature of this subject is such
i that it does not arouse wide public;
interest until some pitiable example
; of human suffering arises from the
absence of certain vital records.
There have been several such exam
ples in Alaska. A registration law has
among other effects an important mor
al one, for the marriage contract is
more likely to be observed and op
portunities for fraud and deception
of various kinds are less frequently
found. A model bill on this subject,
prepared last year in the Bureau of
Vital Statistics of the United States
Census Office, was passed by the Sen
I ate but was one of those which did not
! receive the attention of the House.
The public expense of administering
this law would amount to littl" or noth
ing. I heartily commend its provisions
to your consideration. This subject is
also treated in n useful and sugges
tive way by the Alaska Commissioners
on Uniform Laws, whose report I ex
I poet to communicate to the Assembly
; a little later.
Compulsory School Attendance.
j Also among these measures which
I were passed by the United States Sen
J ate last year but which were not acted
{upon in the House is a bill providing
for compulsory school attendance.
Such a law is needed rarely to secure
the attendance of white children in
Alaska, but the act is very necessary J
for the natives, and its provisions
should be made applicable equally to
whites and natives. It may be found
desirable to incorporate in an act of
? ui.. nf f|,p
the Legislative Assemmj oun.c v.. ? .
provisions of the bill which was in
troduced in Congress, and 1 therefore
Invite your attention to them.
Relief of Destitution.
That some of the primary needs of
Alaska, quite simple and elementary
In their nature but none the less Im
portant, have been neglected since the
earliest settlement of the Territory
is well illustrated by the notorious
lack of any means relieving the
poor. I refer particularly to cases of
destitution caused by physical acci
dents brought on by the rigors of
life on the frontier. By far the great
er number of the persons who are
poverty-stricken from this cause have
not contributed to their present un
fortunate condition by any fault of
their own making; and to many of
them, notably the old prospectors and
early miners, the Territory owes much,
for they blazed the way for more
prosperous residents who came after
them. A bill setting aside for the re
lief of destitute whites such a per
centage of the Alaska Fund as would
yield from $9,000 to $18,000 a year at
present, was actually passed by both
houses of Congress last yea.*, but
strangely enough it appears that the
usual conference committee to con
sider the easily reconcilable differ
ences between the Senate and House
bills has never ben appointd. Only
one day of the present Congress re
mains; and if the bill be not enacted
by the national body at once, there
fore, the subject should be considered
by the Territorial Asembly with a
view of enacting a suitable relief
measure.
Mining Law Amendments.
The mining law enacted by Con
gress last year was not such as to
bring a sufllcient measure of relief,
and further provisions are necessary
to meet the conditions found in this
Territory. aiuuiik uiu muiu I1U|JUII
ant Ih a modification of the require
ment that tho first assessment must
ho completed within the calendar year.
The requirement operates unjustly in
the case of locators who make discov
eries and stake their claims very late
in the year, when the time is insulli
cient for inaugurating profitable opera
tions to improve the property. A com
promise plan possessing such merit,
in my opinion, is the one which would
require the first instalment of assess
ment work to be done within ninety
days of the date of location, without
reference to the end of the calendar
year period. This Initiutory work
would he to some oxtent incidental to
the discovery and location, and would
have a tendency, at least to settle
many of the questions of genuinness of
the discovery Itself.
Other desirable provisions are so
familiarly known and have been the
subject of such wide expressions of
opinion that I refrain from a discus
sion of them all within the limits of
this communication especially as the
legislation on this subject must needs
be somewhat varied and voluminous.
Optional Amount of Assessment Work.
As a plan calculated to enlarge great
ly the extent of wagon-road building
wthout the imposition of further
taxes, 1 heartily favor the enactment
of a mining law as described in the
following extract from my current an
ual report to the Secretary of the In
terior:
"I strongly recommend a further
modification of the general min
ing law as applied to this Terri
tory, under which assessment work
on both quart?, and placer mining
claims may be paid in cash or in
labor to be applied to the construc
tion of roads and trails outside of
incorporated towns. This policy is
sound in principle and would cer
tainly accomplish much for the de
velopment of the Territory. The
I soundness of the principle rests on
the fact that so-called assess
ment work 011 mining locations is
intended to promote the develop
ment of mines and io discourage
speculative holdings. This pur
pose is notoriously defeated in
countless instances not only he
cause false affidavits as to labor
on mining ground are promoted,
but because much of the assess
ment work, done in good faith
with the object of complying with
the law, really does not accom
plish any rear development at all,
but, from the conditions of mining,
is work wasted. This is particular
ly true in groups of quartz claims
and in placer tracts purchased for
dredging operations, upon which
lahor in any given year can be
profitably applied only within the
confines of one claim. By grant
ing to locators or claim owners
prior to patent the option of pay
ing the amount of their assess
ments in cash for wagon-road con
structions, much perjury would he
prevented, litigation would he
forestalled, and the real develop
ment of mining properties has
tened and rendered more profit
able."
Tho power of a territorial legisla
ture, however, to enact such a provis
ion, under the terms of the general
mining law is at the best a matter of
doubt. I mention it here particularly
because of the paramount need of se
curing the construction of more ex
tensive highways and trails, and be
cause this plan of raising rev
enue may be made the subject of a
memorial to Congress by your honor
able body.
As a matter somewhat nearly relat
ed to the foregoing. I recommend the
repeal of the road tax law ol April
27, 1904, since experience has shown
that the tax is not only excessive but
unequal in the burdens which it im
poses, and expensive and difllcult to
collect.
Labor Laws.
A miners' labor-lien law to take the
place of the act passed by Congress
in 1910, the provisions of which are
notoriously inadequate and ineffective
should be enacted by the Legislative
Assembly.
I warmly support the position of
those who would ultimately have eight
.hours of daily labor recognized as
standard throughout the manual
trades and occupations. For a long
time, however, there must be excep
tions to the eight-hour rule, and in u
country of pioneers especially should
tlve subject of eight-hour legislation be
approached with caution. Upon most
easily recognized grounds of common
equity, the eight-hour day must be
made compulsory only when special
conditions can be assigned rendering
imperative a shorter period of daily
labor than that which, in excess of
eight hours, prevails.
In this connection I mention the sal
mon fisheries and canneries as an in
dustry whose representatives should
be listened to carefully on the subject
of shorter hours of labor; and I invite
your attention to the interests and wel
fare of more than 4,000 Indians or oth
er natives whose principal time of la
bor is already restricted to the short
period of salmon fishing each year
and whose earnings are measured ex
actly by the number of hours they are
employed.
Excellent measures of legislation
other than those which I have brief
ly discussed herein have been suggest
ed from many sources, and among
these are several to which some of the
members of this Assembly were
pledged in the platforms on which they
were elected. I do not discuss many
of them in detail, but among those
most worthy of early consideration are
those providing for the control of pub-'
lie service corporations, more ceono
mlcal means of uettling estates in pro
bate, adding slander to libel as a
crime under the provisions of the pen-'
il code, imposing a tax on transient
traders, revising the existing list ofj
trade and occupation licenses, and I
making delinquent taxes a first lien,
an property. The nature of several of
these provisions brings me to the sub
ject of revising our civil and criminal
codes.
Code Revision.
Among those subjects of needed leg-!
islution which are within the scope of J
your powers, not a few are such as |
will require the amendment of various !
provisions found in the civil and crim
inal codes of Alaska. These codes, en
acted more than a decade ago, have
afforded during that period the prin
cipal means of civil administration and
judicial action in this Territory. But
the codes were not based on the best
models, and they were somewhat has
tily prepared without a full knowledge
of the needs of the district. However,
these needs have changed rapidly with
the early development of the country.
The experience particularly of Terri
torial civil officers and of our courts of
justice, as well as of lawyers who have
been active in professional practice,
lias suggested strongly the need of
many amendments to both codes. But
such amendments should not be made
piecemeal, and the whole task is a
large work, requiring much painstak
| ing effort, a thorough knowledge of
the principles of law and equity, and
| mature discussion and deliberation ex
tending over a considerable period.
Among the statutory provisions for
the government of this Territory are
many imperfect enactments, more ori
less unsuited to the purposes for
which they were intended, and often
conflicting or ambiguous in their
terms. This incoherent and highly un
satisfactory body of law should not be
made worse by abortive and author
ough efforts at code revision. It is not
to be expected that thjs large and im
portant task could be completed by the
Assembly within the sixty days of its
present session, even if other matters
of legislation should receive no attcn
iton at all.. As the work could not be
completed, it ought not to be begun;
for it is a work requiring consecutive
effort, and should bo performed at
once and as a whole.
I recommend that the whole subject
of code revision be assigned to a com
mission of from three to live mem
bers, who should be instructed to re
port all needed amendments to the
civil and criminal codes for ratification
either by the next legislature, or by
the present legislature if an extraor
dinary session should be convened for
that purpose.
Hoping that the disposition of this
subject will be made by you as sug
gested, I recommend that at the pres
ent session no acts be passed amend
atory of the codes, with the single ex
ception of an act to revise the list of
trade and occupation licences.
Needs of National Legislation and of
Administrative Reforms.
It is as unnecessary as it is irrele
vant for me to discuss at length in this
message those great needs of our Ter
ritory which require national legisla
tion. They are not only familiarly
known to you to such an extent as to
enable you to present intelligent and
forceful memorials to the national leg
islature hut the proper executive offi
cers have already performed their du
ty by presenting them to the Congress,
which alone possesses the power to j
grant remedial action. I venture to J
suggest only in this connection that, in
any petitions or memorials which you
may address to the Congress on those
prime necessities of railway construc
tion and better land laws, you give
primary expression to the demand for
prompt affirmative action on the gen
eral subject, and only secondary (lis
cushion, If any at all, to the particu
lar kind of relief which is to be af
forded. The Territory has suffered
so long and the need of relief is so ur
gent that we may well give empha
sis to the general necessity only, rath
er than prolong the period of waiting
by Introducing new elements cA partic
ular discussion or controversy. In any
event, it is to be hoped that in these
petitions to the higher law?making
power, the action of this legislature
will be made unanimous if possible,
for they will thereby have greater
force.
It is regrettable in flu* extreme tnat
a larger measure of administrative au
thority lias not been granted to offic
ers residing in the Territory. This
means that there should be a trans
fer of several adtnlnlsf ratructlve func
tions relating to this Territory from
departments and bureaus in Washing
fion to the proper offices in Alaska.
We suffer greatly from ?; ??: resident
administration the more so because
the Territory is so distant from the
seat of federal government, and be
cause there is a general lack of knowl
edge of our conditions among execu
tive officers at the national capital. It
is sometimes true that those distant
officers are not sufficiently interested
in the greatest welfare of the people
of the Territory, and are not at all re
sponsive to proper considerations of
public opinion in Alaska.
It is an unwelcome reminder of our
present condition of comparative neg
lect and lack of fostering care by gov
ernment that the body of law and reg
ulations applicable to Alaska appears,
when considered as a whole, a patch
work of inequalities and conflicts,
incapable of being economically or har
moniously administered. Some of the
worst faults are found in the school
[system, and in the game, fishery, and
| fur laws; and it is unfortunate that
the Legislative Assembly is express
ly inhibited from applying proper rem
edies by amending those laws.
In the consideration, however, of
those classes of legislation which have
been delegated to you by the creative
act of Congress it is my earnest desire
to assist you in every way that is per
missible during the remaining short
period of my official tenure.
WALTKIt K. CI. A It K.
Ciovernor.
EXPEDITION TO LOOK
FOR MISSING MEN
An expedition lias been sent tip the
Bremner river to try and locate Har
ry Happle and Johnny Van Iderstein,
J who wore expected out from that conn- -
try not later than the first of October,
t and who have not arrived as yet. savs
ithe Valdez Prospector.
Oeorge Stone and Charles May man
left Cordova a few days ago with a
doe team to go to the camp of Hap
! pie and Van Iderstein and ascertain
the trouble.
Happle came to the railroad last
July and Rot a few supplies, which
he took with him up the Bremner.
He said they would come out in Sep
I tember, as they would be out of grub
by that time. They have not been
heard of nor seen since that time and
their friends are worried. A collec
tion was taken up in Cordova and
Stone and Mayman were sent to the
Bremner to ascertain the reason for
; their delay.
C.old was found in the Bremner
! country in 1898 and many prospectors
have gone in each year. Several plac
I er properties have been opened up
? showing good values.
Both Happle and Van Iderstein are
I old-timers In this section and have
been prospecting in the Bremner for
several years.
Finest line of Calabash pipes In
Alaska at BURFORD'S
SEAL SHIFT OYSTERS?Freeh at
fhe local agency?CHAS COLDSTEIN ^
-K? ? 1" 1'? i" 1"? I I-11! I I I I I 1 I I 1 I I ! !?
| THE CIRCLE CITY HOTEL
MRS. M. E. BERGMANN, Prop. ;;
J HEADQUARTERS for PROSPECTORS AND MINING MEN::
ELECTRIC LIGHTED STEAM HEATED ::
;; THIRD STREET JUNEAU, ALASKA ;;
-H 1 ?! 1 I I I I I I I 1 I I t I H-M-H-I I 1 I T I I I I I I 1 I I I I I I I I I I ! I 1 I i 1 | |
i
In A Class By Itself
IMPARTIAL tests made by The Columbus Labo
ratories of Chicago give Fisher's Blend Flour
a higher rating than that of the Dakota all-Hard
Wheat Patent Flour.
Considering that this scientific combination of East
ern Hard Wheat and Western Soft Wheat costs you
from 20 to 25% less than what lias always been con
sidered the highest grade of breadstuff, you can readily
see that it will pay you to insist on having
Fisher's Blend Flour
For Sale by All Dealers