The Alaska daily empire., 1922-10-26
DELEGATE URGES
GREATER MARKET
FOR FRESH FISH
Sutherland Defends Legisla-
tive Record in Talk Before
Commercial Association.
CONTINUED From Page OneD

position to his policies has arisen
from lack of Information and the
activities Of attorneys OF the spe-
cial interests"
He expressed confidence that the
White bill. regulating the fisheries
OF Alaska, will be passed al tho com
ing session of Congress, Instead
of legislating the fish traps ont OF
business, as has been charged, said
the speaker, he asserted that not
more than II per cent OF the traps
in this vicinity. nor more than -
per cent of all the traps in Alaska.
would be affected by this measure. as
ii Is aimed only a; the traps in bays
ana cstuarics Gamers whose traps
do not sall in tbs category are IN
favor Of the bill. h declared.
Government Dock
Delegate Sutherland also stated
that the appropriation for govern
mem: dock in Juncau VIII be Included
in Che next bulge; and predicted that
ii would pass Congress.
The Delegate asserted that the
commercial bodies of The Territory
have not given him the support to
which he was entitled in his fight
against the transportation companies.
which he alleged have boon charging
outrageous rates. ''In spite Of the
fact THAT their operating expenses
have decreased 40 per cent. they are
still charging the same tariffs as
before the war he declared. He
said he was unable TO do mach to-
ward rate reduction unless he could
/ ret the proper suppolt from the
business men of Alaska. as he said
/ he had been fighting the steamship
companies too long to be able to CO
operate with them.
! Delegate Sutherland said in part:
! "The building up OF a halibnt in
dus;ry is the most important thing
for this city possible. 1t means
more than The pulp mill. which IS
very fine, and wich you will prob
ably have, but fishing would mean
more than any other industry. The
fresh fish industry is always a great
/ industry. Every town in the world
that is known as fresh fish town
is always prosperous. because it IS
cash only; t4serc is no credit in the
/ fresh fish business
'In those matters connected with
| the War Departm en;-dock building,
/ excava ron OF channels. etc, | am
always with YOU heartily. But ! ex-
ercise the right 10 interpret the pub
| lie will II decide that the Cham
, Der OF Commerce Of Juneau is not
| Interpreting the viii CT the public, I
am usually opposed 10 your project.
/ Eighteen hundred to two thousand
! haiibut fishermen were up in arms
! against transferring the fresh fish
! industry from Prince Rupert 10
j Ketchikan. They had no free AMI
open market until about 1916. Those
men furnish all The labor and every
| dollar in the business: Il IS their
/ business. yet two or three real es-
! tate dealers in ketchikan would at
tempt to make these mon pay tribute
10 them BY changing their market 10
! Ketchikan.
The Halibut Business
"The fresh halibut of the Pacific
Coast pass through 4 peculiar pro-
cess. They First land at Prince Ru-
pert. The buyer there has his profit
to make. the icer. tho manufacturer
Of boxes. all those are necessary 10
, the business. A charge of 4c a
pound to Chicago. l Sac is rake
I down by the express company be
cause stockholders of the company
are connected with the railroal-an
! unnecessary tribute exactcd from the
fishermen. The consumer should
have the benefit. But a jobber comes
! in, one from the state and another
in the city. So that when ii gets to
the butchers block in Chicago ii
costs soc pound. This proposition
in Kctchikan was simply another
rakecff between the producer and
I consumer. Thlt's how the Non-par-
| tisan League originated, exactly the
same thing is proposed in Ketehi-
kan, another rakeoff between pro-
ducer and consumer The Bo!she-
vism OF the Northwest has a cause.
II 1000 fishermen had been driven
into u port they didn't want, and
protested, We would speak OF them
as Bolshcviks.
"Now, your organization endorsed
that. Yoa didn't go into the details
Of IT. You didn't know how ii would
affect Juneau. Bnt individuals and
probably the commercial club in
ketchikan wanted it. For years to
como | wAl probably never have a
fight like ! had in Congress to pre-
vent IT,
Tariff on Haiibut
THE Canadians are getting &C a
pound less than are out American
fishermen for they had been ship
ping their fish into the United States
all the time. Today, the American
fisherman is getting the benefit of
the duty OF &c a pound. Fish will
always be shipped down to Seattle
for coast consumption. but the mar
ket Tor fresh fish. not salt fish, is
Prince Rupert. and all the powers
on earth cannot prevent them going
through that way. They have COM
nptitiya marlrat .fu.o,re ;c