The Alaska daily empire., 1923-04-03

designed and are totally yalueless for any purpose.
 The Remedy
 "For many years past more than one-half of the wealth of Alaska ex- ported to tho United States has con- sisted of fish or some kind of fish products. end of such fish products by far the greater portion has been canned salmon. The laws governing tho fishing Of salmon in Alaska are antiquatcd and no longer serve to protect the fish from extermination Many of the salmol streams Of AL aska which formerly were fairly alive with salmon have been absolutely depleted and no salmon can be founf in them, and. under the present law as at present administered, it will not be lclg before all of the salmon rivers and streams of Alaska will be absolutely depleted, and this great source of wealth will be cut off from the people of Alaska and of the United States.
 'sThis condition of affairs has again and again been brought to the atten- tion of the Congress of the Unite States and the responsible heads Of the bureau and department having to do with Alaska fisheries. A num- Der of bills have been introduced i'll Congress. But in spite of the agita- ticn fer change n existing laws so as to adequately protect the salmon streams of Alaska. Congress has talk on no action. All of the people or Alaska are represented in the Al aska Legislative Assembly; the mem. bers cf the Legislature come from the people. know their needs and are responsible to the people. The people of Alaska are familiar with the fish cries of Alaska and, if permitted, would, through the Legislature or Alaska, enact Jaws that would at once protect and preserve the salmon streams from depletion, permit Of proper fishing of salmon, and pro tect the rights of all engaged in the industry This can never be done from Washington. Long distance gov ernment is always intellectual and often worse. and men thousands Of miles away cannot be made to under stand the changing needs of an in dustry like the fishing industry
 where. in order to protect and pre- serve certain streams from deple- tion, new legislation must from time
 to time be enacted without delay Unless the control of the fisheries is turned over to the Alaska Legs
 lature, we despair of any solution
 by Legislation, autocratic department al order, or otherwise, and have only 10 look forward to the disappearance of the salmon from the waters of Alaska.
 l Alaska, and the people of Alaska, have suffered much from reserves. The reserve of the coal and oil lands of Alaska paralyzed development and almost depopulatcd the Territory. Those reserves were unjustifiable in principle and could not be defended even upon the ground of expedfency, and, however the situation may ap- pear to the department or bureau heads at Washington, the high mo- tives and good intentions of all of whom is recognized and admitted, the reservation of the fishing regions is on precisely the same basis as the other reservations heretofore made and, from the viewpoint of an Alas kan, they cannot be justified or req sonably defended.
 "Whereforc. your memoriahsts, re- spoctfully pray that no further fish reserves be created in Alaska; that those which have already been ere atod be immediately abolished, and that the Alaska Legislative Assembly be granted full power and authority to manage and control it's fisheries.
 And so your memorialists will ever pray