The Ketchikan miner., 1908-09-19

ness tO Dnu out. le is hoso coA'oaS matter. If the charge is false the Prospector and other papers are gull ty of gross slander and of putting into circulation a report that will be re- peated in every corner of the United States and be strong argument in the hands of all its enemies against .se right and capability of Alaska for territorial government, for if home rule in Alaska means the election of the tools of corporations by wholesale fraud then all the plea of the people of Nome, Fairbanks, Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan and other representa- tive towns for the right of territorial governm ent and seli-government goes for naught, as the granting of terri torial government only means the transfer of the government of Alaska from Congress to Wall street. Hence VIC say if the charge made in Valdez
 s false, chose who make it should be severely punished.
 But if it is true and NJ. J. Heney brought unnaturalized foreigners, men who had only been in Alaska 8 short time and even brought legal voters and by intimidation or bribes of any sort whatsoever voted them for any candidate, then the men who so sham lessly abused the right Of suffrage, Mir. Heney, the corporation he repre- sents and the local officials at Cordova who winked at the violation of law deserve alike the deepest condemna- sion from every true Alaskan and the severest punishment the law can in- flict-and Cordova deserves to be put on a long probation before it is ad- imtted again to any respect or stand, ing among the towns of Alaska.
 The abuse of the franchise is q crime against every American citizen. The foundation of government and freedom, the stability and peace oi the republic, rest in the .principle that every man who was born or sworn to citizenship shall, free and unutramelled. have an equal part 1T the choice of those who make oul laws and who execute them. By hi; vote he transfers, for the time being, his own inherant right as law maker and law executor to some one else who shall be his and his fellow citi. zen's servant in these great and i'm portant tasks. With the belief thai each man thus expresses his convic' tions and that the choice is fair ant square, he calmly accepts the result no matter whether his candidate es wir or not.
 The comment that faith in the in. tegrity of the franchise is lost ant men feel their votes are the play things of monopoly, fraud is rampant and government by the people is farce, that moment is the beginning of revolution that may end in the loss of all the rights and privileges that Anglo-Saxons have fought for fol centuries.
 All this is true of the abuse of the ballot anywehres under the flag bu especially is it true in Alaska, stand ing as she does at the doors of the na tion pleading for self-government She has been represented to the world as a frozen ice-clad wilderness through whose lonely forests wild beasts ant still wilder men roam; an empire O. totem poles and uncivilized camps, peopled by gamblers and tCughs; ..s world of Esquimo dogs and adventur. CTS. a realm without law or order. Every exposition, every novel, nearly every tourist, has spread the stories of such ap Alaksa. The real Alaska is solid business men, of vast enter. prise, of schools and churches and homes, of the comforts of civilization, of flower gardens and fair women and rosy checked children. This is an un- kown world even as far south as Seat tie. Now when this real Alaska is seeking for hearing at the bar oi public opinion, such frauds as charged at Cordova are more than criminal, they are an outrge on the good name of every honest man in Alaska, they are treason against the highest in- terest of the Northland. Judge Reid has most important mission to probe these charges to their depth.
 But The Miner believes that .the probeing and trial of the case should be left to Judge Reid, that till he does his work thoroughly and the yer dict is in, it is our place to give Cor dova and the railroads fair chance to prove their innocence. The evi- dence against them seems strong, but these are the days when corporations are the object of critici i'm often up- deserved. The Miner bespeaks for both Valdez and Cordova fair trial. The good name of Alaska is at stake. the most sacred thing in Amercan government, an honest ballot, is in the balance, We await anxiously the outcome.
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