Iditarod pioneer., 1916-06-17
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REPUBLICAN INCONSISTENCY
Valdez Prospectorl

(N aldeZ PrOSpeCtOrl
 Politicians who attended the Seward con vention state that the sticking point oyer which the delegates and the members of the party could not agree was the plank in the platform which gave the federal pat rCnage to the committeeman of the sev eral divisions. Possibly this is true, but on the other hand there are inconsistencies between the declaration of the platform and the action of the convention so glar- ing that the delegate may well have baked on them instead of on the question of pat ronage. Wick may, 1t is true, have de sired to handle the patronage of the terri tory, for it would mean added strength to his candidacy, but tEe acts of the conven tion, so inconsistent with the platform may also have been an important factor in the refusal of the delegate to accept the terms preferred
 One of the important blanks of the plat form adopted at the convention proclaims that all Alaska offices shall be filled by AlaSkans This plank is an important one, and if carried out would mean $ material strengthening of the organization through out the territory but when the convention, immediately following the adoption of this platform, elects C. D. Murane as national committeeman and W. A. Gilmore as one Cf the delegates to the national convention, it demonstrates beyond all question that the platform was d meaningless instrument to the politicians, and was adopted only as a means of catching the votes of the people, and that its principles were not cen Sidered binding upon either the political leaders or their candidates
 C. D. Murane was never an Alaskan in the true sense of the word. It Is true that he resided in Alaska for several years while he filled the position of district attorney for the Third division, and as judge in the Second But he has no legal residence in Alaska at this time, and for several years past he has lived in Seattle. He Is mem Der of the bar of that city, and to become such he must be an acknowledged resident of King county If Mr Murane is resi- dent of King county the only manner in which he might be considered a resident of Alaska is to acknowledge the claim Seattle has made that Alaska belongs to that city anyway, and should be governed from there This is all right if AIaskans do not object. But the people of the North have had the statement flung at them so many times and from so many different directions that they are not able to govern themselves like the Filipin0s and other semi-civihzed races, that it does not set we'll any more, and we believe they are likely to revolt against any attempt to govern them from the Spirit City"
 MT Gilmore was resident of Alaska for a number of years but he has given up lis residence in the North and like Mir. Mu rane is now resident of Seattle. MT Gil more, as an Alaskan, was probably entitled to any honor the convention might bestoW upon him, but when he ceased to be an Alaskan, when he became a resident of Seattle and had absorbed the Seattle ideas regarding Alaska, he became as much of a carpet-bagger as any federal official sent here from the States.
 There are plenty of able Alaskans There is no need to go outside of the country for federal officials or party representatives Until the Seattle bunch is eliminated from Alaska politics the candidates named by the party will have as much chance of elec ton at the hands of the people as the proverbiaI snowball will have of maintain ing it's frigid condition in the regions of perpetual fire