The Alaska daily empire., 1913-05-19
Gov. Clark Pleased With
 Liquor Traffic Work
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(Continued from rage l'J
 the evidence at hand seemed suffic- tent to insure conviction. That the evidence was very strong is confirmed by the fact that not less than A ac- cused persons pleaded guilty In large percentage of the remaining cas- es convictions were obtained upon trial
 Several Indians have been arrest ed and convicted for making 'hootch' and the paraphernalia used in it's man. ufacture has been destroyed. Drug stores no longer sell Jamaica ginger and other intoxicating extracts to h. dans. Several natives have been con victed for giving liquor to other na- tives. while several have been con victed for melting another to com init a crime. that is, soliciting white man to obtain liquor for them. Sev- eral fines have been imposed for sell ing liquor without a license, some Of the purchasers being Indians. A sys- tematic and vigorous campaign has been carried on in nearly all of the towns, villages, and cannery settle ments in the First division, with the result that one may challenge sue cessful contradiction of the statement that there is now comparatively little whisky peddling in Southeastern Alas ka. what there is left being generally confined to the giving liquor to In- dian women for immoral purposes. Shortly after beginning the special work in July, 1911, employees of this office counted in one night in Aux vil- lage and elsewhere in the near vicinity of Juneau. 3S drunken Indians. Now one rarely comes in contact with a drunken Indian. Few white men are now engaged in the unlawful traffic and the Indians are generally afraid to ask white men to give them liquor, realizing that they may be prosecuted for soliciting A great deal of credit is due the marshals office for active and efficient cooperation.
 "One good result of the work has been that Indian testimony is constant ly being given more credence by trial as well as grand juries. The special agents of this office assert that there is a much smaller degree of untruth- fitness among the natives than is commonly supposed to exist One of them, in recent report to this of flee, says:
 T have found the frequently eX-
 pressed statement about natives
 making a specially of informing
 on the white man and then volun-
 tarily going into court for the
 purpose of obtaining witness fees
 to be without foundation. My eX-
 perience has been that a very
 large majority of the natives are
 reluctant to tell from whom they
 procure liquor. Not case is re-
 called where an Indian was anX-
 ious to testify against the white
 man..
 We hear persons occasionally beg the whole question of prosecuting the illegal liquor traffic among the na- tives by deploring the expense to the government and the large amount of time occupied in prosecuting these cases in our courts of justice Such arguments do not meet the issue at all. We must either let immortality run riot among the natives, or to the extent of our ability, we must check it: we must either permit the produc- tive usefulness of the thousands of In- dians who work in canneries and other occupations to be seriously i'm paired, or we must do what we can to protect and conserve this useful source of labor. Which is the wiser and more human course?"