The Nenana daily news., 1918-06-04

ISLANDERS GIVE
 SONS ID ALLIES
 IN WAR ON HUNS

There is at least one community in the United States which is not bothered by politics, and that is Louds Island, down of the Maine coast. The people do not vote, do not pay taxes, have no form of gov ernment whatever. Loud's, winch is inhabited by twenty-five or thirty fishing families, who are "agin guvmint" and have been "agin" 1t so long that they are now "sot in
 their ways" "seceded" from the United States in 1860. At Lincoln's first election in the fall of that year the islanders voted with Bristol, the nearest mainland town, but on some constitutional grounds, their ballots were thrown out. This
 started something at Loud's Island.
 Having been deprived of the right
 of suffrage the people, acting upon
 the advice of lawyer, refused to pay taxes. And, as these sturdy
 fishermen were of a determined na- ture, the ultimatum ended the con- troversy.
 When the draft was made for the Civil war a few years after the trouble with Bristol, Loud's Island names were placed in the same box
 with those of the mainland town, and, not being property shaken up, came out on top. As a result nine
 men from the possible forty-five were drawn from the island to fill Bristol's quota. This was rubbing it in" just little too freely for the fishermen's tastes. They congre- gated in a mass and unanimously refused to honor the draft. When the Government officers came to the island to perform their official dut, ies, they were given rather hot
 reception. The irate mothers o1 the drafted boys greeted them with a fusillade of rocks, hot potatoes
 and other missiles, and forbade them to land. The officers didn't land
 Later the islanders met and made
 a proportional draft among them
 selves. They favored the North
 but did not want to fight, and SC Thus the island has remained 9;
 practically a nonpolitical unit. The
 only local expense is for the sup. port of the school, and that is main tained wholly by the state of Maine About year ago the Maine au. thorities, thinking that it was about time for a change in the state ot
 affairs at Loud's Island, requested
 the people to either incorporate
 their island as a plantation or an
 next it to some town. The islanders refused to do either. As the Con- stitution of the State did not em- power the officials with authority to force the islanders to comply with | their request, the only thing for them to do was to accept the de- cision of the fishermen and content themselves by finding possible way by which to assess the real estate on the island for a state tax. The
 people of the island intend to fight to the bitter end against even this change in the present "highly satis- factory" conditions. ..-. .: :..
 When the United States declared war against Germany the inhabitants of Loud's Island did not worry very much. They kept out of the Civil
 war and would do likewise in this conflict. Congress passed the draft
 law, and still Loud's Island remained ! neutral. When the draft machin. cry began to operate, the young men of the island were "requested" tc register. As the people were begin.
 ming to condemn the kaiser for his inhuman practices, they decided tc
 accept Uncle Sam's invitation" and help him crush German militarism Loud's nine men of the draft age registered, and thus the island be.
 came one of the Allies,