The daily Nome industrial worker., 1916-06-21


 this territory is part of the United States or it is not. Either it is an- titled to full administration of ts affairs or it is net. and we caunot ses what difference it makes whcJh- CT orders taken from Washington are carried out in Alaska by Alas kans or whether they are carried out by men from Alabama.
 That is precisely the situation here. And as we see it every Alaskan is partizan. Every outsider who gets an appointment becomes a par tizan. He sides with one clique or another or with one faction or an other, and while he pleases that which he supports he odds emphasis to the shout Alaska for Alaskans" on the part of his opponents.
 Theoretically if this is not mere | ly the vail of a political jobbite, there should be no sound reason for Alaskan positions not getting the best possible men whether they come from Alaska or whether they come from Seattle. The trouble is that more often than not appoint ments are not made because of their being designed to give the peo- pie the best possible service but be- cause of political drag in the out side states. Many and many a man gets a job in Alaska who is con- gonitally unfit for any such position, but who has earned well of those who have the power to secure an appointment. That's the difference between theory and practice. But because it is rotten to appoint poll- tical followers from outside states to office because they are political followers who have been we'll de- serving of Senator SucotaCh, it does not follow that to appoint a politi- cal follower. from Alaska because he has a political pull with this man or that is any better
 We have seen Alcskans appointed to office, not because they fitted the office or possessed any peculiar qua- lifications therefor, but because they were time servers, because they had pull with corporations, because they had the habit of trucking to those possessed of great economic power. We say any sort of politician would have done better than that whether he came form Mukilteo or from Oshkosh.
 The slogan Alaska for Alaskans is more or less a false alarm. It is designed to reserve for the faith full the flesh pots. It is intended that those who have been the lack eys of the men of wealth and the powerful corporations who can be depended upoa to serve such corpo- rations will obtain positions of mora or less federal power.
 Glance at tho men who are pick ed out from time to time for posi- tions who emphasize this slogan in their scramble for office and nine times out of ten they have their search for the spells of office aided by conglomeration of corporation power, bodes no good whatever 10 the people of the territory. It is about time that the people content ed themselves with some other slo- gan. Just as long as this io g tar- ritory just so long will Washington not Alaska be the supreme power in the administration of even the smallest affairs of this country.
 As stated at the outset this is a non-partizan discussion on the cam paign slogan adopted with cheerful independence of analysis by both democrats and republicans alike. It is supposed merely to be repeated by the voters just as the parrot learns the set phrases Polly wants a cracker. 1t has got nothing what ever to do with good government it often has a whole lot to do with bad government and is han dy if insidious means of privilege extending it's power over the dis tricts where it has become a proper