The Washington herald., 1922-06-07
"Preposterous and Malig.
nantly False" Writes
Delegate Sutherland.
ASKS DAUGHERTY
FOR EQUAL ACTION
Declares Attorney Gener'
al Is Fooled and Mis-
led by Falsehoods."

DcuOunClnB as pTcpostcHOus anu
Indignantly false" the statements
Of the salmon packing corporations
which caused Attorney General
Daugherty to declare war on ''fish
pirates of Alaska. Dan Sutherland.
delegate to Congress from Alaska.
yesterday addressed a heated pro-
test to the Department Of Justice
in which he charged that the COM
plainants are the real criminals
who are seeking to divert atten-
tion from their own operations and
called upon the department to
prosecute both classes Of Alaskan
fish pirates"I
IF the courts will punish the
arrogant. selfish and avaricious
pirates of Chicago, Seattle. Port
land and San Francisco. who have
always in the past and do at pres
ent consider themselves immune
from punishment. to an extent
Commensurate with their crimes,
the evidence of which IS on file
IN the Department., il will create
wholesome regard for the laws by
all classes in Alaska Mr.. Suther-
land said.
Fooled by Fal.ehoods.-
The reference OF the Attorney
General to the existence of a "ver-
table Bolshevist reign OF terror
along the coast" particularly
aroused the indignation of Mr..
Sutherland. who asserted that the
department had been "mfsled and
fooled by falsehoods"
The letter from the cannery men
on which the Attorney Generals
statement was based is from be-
ginning to end a tissue of propa-
gsndic lies woven around the fact
that FISH pirates, or trap robbers.
have operated to a relatively small
extent In Alaskan waters during the
past several fishing seasons" Mr..
Sutherland said. ----.
That these nsh pirates. who are
essentially petty thieves. should be
prosecuted without limit goes with
out saying. but when the cannery
men use this Incident to malign and
defame the coast residents of
Alaska and represent to the country
that they are profoundly i'm
pressed with the fact that the anar-
chists and Bolshevists of South
eastern Alaska had entered into a
general scheme to overthrow the
government and establish a Soviet
government" 1 deem u my duty to
protest against such a preposte-ous
and Indignantly false accusation.
and known to be so by the signer OF
the letter. against the character or
a law abiding and loyal people who
proved their loyalty by giving more
men to the war service than any
other governmental unit in proper
ton to population"
Denounees Fish Packers.
The practices Of a majority Of
the packers who signed the COM
plant. on the other hand. Mr..
Sutherland asserted. were "crim-
inal. disloyal and un-American as
shown by the records of the Juneau
court for 1919. when five of the
siEnatory corporations plead guilty
and were hned from 5000 to $1,000
each for violation OF the Fishery
Laws. and by the report of the
special war investigating commit
tee headed by Representative Gra-
ham Of Illinois which shows that
five OF them had sold a total of
7.s4s cases Of decomposed fish to
the War Department for the Amer
lean army
These men are the real auto
cratic Romanoffs Of Alaska" Mr.
Sutherland said For years they
have monopolized patriotism and
made 10 a weapon of exploitation.
They represent to the authorities at
washington that the resident
Alaskan fishermen are disloyal
and Bolshevistic. We may look
for them, when under Indictment
20 crawl into the folds of the flag.
Their defense as usual will be that
their disloyal employees are of pro-
German sympathies. IL these Ro-
manons are curbed and re-
strained in their pernicious indus
trial activities and some demon
stration given by the Department
of Justice that our boasted equality
before the law Is not a dead let
ter In Alaska there will be no
necessity for alarm concerning
Bolshevism in Alaska"