The Alaska daily empire., 1919-02-24
THE POsT-INTELLIGENCER AND THE ALASKA
 DELEGATESHIP.

Regulating the political affairs of Alaska
 is no part of the duties of the Post-lntel-
 ligencer The principle of selt-determlna-
 tion, even in the matter of choosing Del
 egate to Congress- applies there with unas-
 sailable force. The neck-and-neck contests
 between MT. Wickersham and MT Suizer
 are always interesting as sporting events,
 and as such come properly within the helu
 of newspaper comment. But as to their rel
 ative merits, no outsider should pretend more
 that personal opinion
 None the less the conclusion cannot be
 avoided that the peculiar political condi-
 tIpn4u existing in the North not at all
 favorable to the interests of Alaska IT Delegate to Congress from Alaska is to be of any benefit to Alaska he should be able to speak with some show of authority; he should have some mandate from the people Of Alaska that is unprecedented This, apparent ly, under the present conditions, is not probable even possible.
 Congress has experience with Dele gate who held his seat and drew his salary and mileage for the term for which he
 was supposed to be elected only to dis cover at the end of the term that he
 was not entitled to his seat. His successful competitor for the seat gained victory,
 empty far as its political results were concerned, and made manifest only by the
 payment of his salary and mileage
 Now the prospects are that this routine
 will be carried through Congress second
 time. Once more the same candidates are
 divided by few votes, and whoever is de-
 clared elected by the Alaskan canvassing
 board is certain to have the result contested
 in Congress It requires ponderous
 knowledge of human nature to realize that
 these political squabbles brought to the floor
 of Congress will have tendency to minimize
 the seriousness with which Congress will re-
 gard affairs In Alaska generally. If the pres
 ent conditions continue Alaska will come
 to be sort of Congressional nuisance and
 will receive less and less consideration
 Alaska should be able to regulate its in
 ternal political affairs so that it come
 before the nation with solid front. And
 this should be brought about by the eirn-
 ination of personal politics and preJudices.
 It might be better for Alaska if both MT.
 Sulzer and MT. Wickersham should withdraw
 from politics and give their supporters a
 chance to start anew. There must be
 other in Alaska competent they,
 without their personal following and per
 sonal enemies.-( Seattle Post-Inteligencer.) If the Post-Intelligencer suggest a remedy csc election contests it will find a ready dema r it's discovery-and it will not be confined aska for market Close election contests ha en known to in the State of Washington i'd even in the City of Seattle.
 But the Post-lntelligencer seems to have lost arngs in this Alaska situation completely. ems to assume that the contests the Delega ip in Alaska have been between two politicia i'd that if MT. Sulzer and Judge Wickersham wo' intimate themselves, Alaskan differences would q pear. In the first place. MT Sulzer is not "p cian in the sense the Post-Inteligencer uses rm, and he has personal enemies or personal ical following. He has machine" and yer sought office. He detests office holding, el ,n contests and personal politics. He is mini an, and for more than dozen years before he V minated for Territorial Senator in 1914 he m fly, unostentatiously and successfully operated me. In all that period he attended a ical convention in Alaska. He did not visit . au, the Territorial capital. oftener than once e years, and his visits to Seattle. the mecca aska professional politicians. almost .quent It some time after his nomination e he knew that he candidate. He was b, his mine, and he remained there at work throul the campaign He paid absolutely no attenti the campaign. He was elected by large IT ity. and came to Juneau at the opening of sIative session, and served the people in the IL