The Alaska daily empire., 1913-03-11

by constitutional restrictions. Every state Legislature in the Union is linn ilsd in it's exercise of power by con stitutional checks, balances and prohl- bitions drawn by the people in protec- tion of their lives and liberties. In preparing the organic grant of power to the Alaska Legislature, your rep. resentative in Congress followed American principles and plans ana imposed restraints and limitations up on the exercise of that power. The or ganic act of August 24, 1912, is, in ef- feet, the Constitution of Alaska; 1t contains those limitations and re- straints upon legislative power which are usually found in State constitu- tions. It is identical, in that respect with similar organic acts passed ere ating legislative bodies in other terrl- tories.
 However much legislators may wish it, an organic act giving mlimlt' ed power to a territorial legislature would be as unwise and dangerous legislation as it would be unique in American history Such limitations are universal, wise and necessary to guide legislation into uniform chan neIs and to protect the liberties of the people Let us now consider those in the Alaska organic act and discover 1T it is true that the quality thereon IS so bad as the keynote speech indicates
 Sec. of the organic Act IS the first one to contain limitations. and no objection is heard to any part or 1t except that contained in the proviso which reads as follows:
 PROVIDED, That the authority
 herein granted to the legislature
 to alter, amend, modify, and repeal
 laws in force in Alaska shall not
 extend to the customs, lIiernat
 revenue, postal, or other general
 laws of the United States or to
 the GAME, FISH, and furSeal
 laws and laws relating to fur-bear-
 ing animals of the United States
 applicable to Alaska, or to the
 laws of the United States proyid-
 ing for taxes on business and
 trade, or to the Act entitled, An
 Act to provide for the construction
 and maintenance of roads, the es-
 tablishment and maintenance Of
 schools, and the care and support
 of insane persons in the District or
 Alaska, and for other purposes,
 approved January twenty-seyenth, nineteen hundred and five, and the
 several Acts amendatory thereof;
 PROVIDED FURTHER, THAT
 THIS PROVISION SHALL NOT
 OPERATE TO PREVENT THE
 LEGISLATURE FROM IMPOS-
 ING OTHER AND ADDITIONAL
 TAXES OR LICENSES"
 Of course there can be no objection to the action of Congress in withhold ing from the territorial legislature the power to alter, amend, modify or re peal the general laws of the United States. No legislature has that pow er-neither state nor territorial Not even the legislature of the Empire State of New York may exercise such power. The criticism generally heard against this proyiso is that the legislature of Alaska may not alter Iamend, modify, or repeal" the game and fish" laws heretofore passed by Congress and now in force in Alaska Neither of those provisions was in the Ibill drawn by me; both were inserted bv amendment on the floor of the House of Representative over my ob lection by powerful influences which have their Alaskan headquarters m Juneau and Ketchikan respectively But having been forcibly injected into and being now part of the law, lei us see how far they exclude the Alas ka legislature from passing additiona | Legislation for the protection or both game" and fish"
 Notice that the prohibition is "that the authority herein granted to the leg islature to alter, amend, modify, and repeal laws in force in Alaska shall not extend to the game and fish laws That means that you may not change the laws now in force relating to those two matters, but it leaves your leglsla ture entirely free to pass other and in dependent laws necessary to the more effectual protection of both game and fish. There is a wide field of need ed legislation for the protection Of our game and fisheries in which you have | full power and authority. For in stance, you may enact law requiring both local and foreign sportsmen to take out a territorial license to hunt game. and in hundred similar ways you may legislate in the protection of Alaska game. With respect to fisher ies. your field is equally wide in leg islating to protect our fish from de, struction, and even the proviso itself contain a further provisio that this provision shall not operate to prevent the legislature from imposing other additional taxes or licenses" on both game and fish.
 A member who is seeking power to aid in the preservation of game and fish in Alaska, and securing the full limit of tax or license thereon, will have little trouble to do SO
 Sec. 9 of the organic act is the one. however, which contains the vital linn itations upon the power of the legis- lature to enact laws. It begins with a provision universal in such acts in the following language:
 Sec g. Legislative Power. The
 legislative power of the territory
 shall extend to all rightful sub
 jects of legislation not inconsist-
 ent with the Constitution and laws
 of the United States"
 This is the widest possible grant of power, because none could be granted which would violate the Constitution