The daily morning Alaskan., 1899-05-16
TIME TO CALL q HALT.

Chsnt in town were StfueN on dh~ >e"' over to Dyea tor the tram company 70 use AS advertising mllterl That IS a fact sub iect 10 proof. That is the paper which tor selfish ends rretendS tO protect the interest of the merchants whose advertisements it dependS on tor itS existence, while |, se- erstly knifeS every man in the community while. Judas like. it pockets money taken for i,S trsacherouS at. Not an issue, not an editorial, not an Item in the last four months but what. under the tiSgui'e oi aiming at the railro1d, Sklgwav, ltS mer- chants and its surroundings, have been in some measure belttlei and diSplrlgsd. The packers were saints and the salvation of the town and the railroad was a eorpor' atica and the ruinltiOn of it. lis about time the twsdile 50 long harPet on about the "poor. honest. perSecuted packer was eN- ploiei. The packer was the outgrowth oi the eonges,ed condition of freight matters here at a time when there Was no other mode of transportation. and the eagemeSS Of argonautS Co get over the trail made them reckless about expenses. The pack CTS grew anl flttenei of these many thou sands of fryerSh gold seekers at rates ranging from IS cents Co 70 cents a round. This money same easy and went easV, but not m the channel Of legitimate trade, toT today almost every prominent merchant ln town nouns the loss ot a bill oi goods trusted some of these iniiN iiualS Nhith will have Co be charged on Co profit and loss. While there were few honest patN' CTS, the majority in the business were not and the many ca>eS in the courts prove it. This is the class ot men that IS being con- s,antly Haunted in the faceS ot the citizens is men who made Sklgwav boom and who are entrusted with the "grlSping mo- nopolv. " and lS of greater advantage Co Sklgwav than the railroad. The railroad was the salvation ot the town; ilS aiNen, insured itS permanency; without it Ovea had ,he sal. Evevboiv welcomed It; ,veycoIv voted to- it; every body courlei r,. and nothing WIS too good for lt until it betame ln established ilct; now these small souled cdrperS. who would condemn and erucifv Christ .i he were Co come on earth again, tan sec nothing bu, evil ln the riilroli and will continue Co sec through those specitles until the railroad "Sees them. |, Is either some and see me, v or "I'u io you up even it ruin eye-v man m Skagway." ln other words, |, is "tule or rin." Unfortunately, that policy has letei like a boomerang on S<lgwly lni she is being injured vitlllv by lt. The railroad cln survive It. but Skagwlv will not unless drastic measures are adopted bv the citizens. The rNlrlli. if it becomes SltiShet thl, that sheet reflects the senti- ment oi the majority Of the people, Is in position Co remove l,S shops, itS boarding houses, all itS emploveS al everything that now furnishes Steliy revenue Co Skagwav, beyond the summit and side
 
 track US like a way station. Can Sklg- way afford tha, for the sake of gratifying the personal spite CO malicious instinct Of one or a few? Do one denies that the railroad made a bad break when it aniagonilei the packers. Westward the course of empire wenis itS way" is IS applicable Co SSlsWlv today as it was Co Chiclgo iittv vears ago. The packers had Co give way Co the iron horse; it vas the inevitable tecree of progress and civilization, but considering that their ten. ure of life on the trail was limited Co this SsaSon and that with the completion of the road 10 Bennett their oc,upi,iOn would have been gone, it might have been better had the railroad tontilIatei the packers and kip, them working In harmony even at some Sacrifce of profit. The packers were entitled Co some consideration. These, however. were errors of judgment, aggravs,et by the then existing crude con ditions and the tantalizing. miSchei-mak. ing efforts of that sheet and Skagway's enemies. The eTor> were made. but they did no, and do not now justify any one having a personal grievance in laying Sys- tematic siege for the destruction of this entire community, or from selling them selves body and soul Co Dyel or her tram. This is a matter that has now reached be- yoni the power Of any one man 10 handle. lt remains for the citizens Co act in concert and purge the community Of theSe diSloval rlScalS and get the town blck on a healthy eommercic blSiS again. A newspaper that Solicits advertisements and SubScrip- ,ionS does so on the ground that it will subServe the best interests Of the cOmmu- nity. lt stands in the position of loyal servant and guardian of the citizens inter estS. lf it fails in itS duty t is diSloval to its patrons and deserves Co be dismissed just like any other unfathful servant. Wha, would any one of our merchants do if one Of his employeS went out and ran down his business and advised people to keep away and 20 to his neighbor? Why, when discovered he would kick him out without a moments hesitation and every body would applaud the att. This is an apt illustration of the position assumed by the enemies of Skagwav through that con tsmptible sheet, which, under the preteXt of fighting the railroad. has been belittleing every industry in the place, every effort at prog eSs. even to the possibility of mines in this vicinity, boosting Dyea and her tram, betraying Skagway until emboldened ep the apathy of the citizens it now comes out openly, brazenly. dsfantly, and hudS