The Alaskan. (Petersburg, Alaska) 1926-1932, 1928-03-23
TuE PET MEASURE OF GOVERN
OR PARKS is KNOCKED OUT
IN CONGRESS

tho Governor of Alaska Is, comes 10
10 clearly illustrated in the consid-
Grafton of the Curry (of California
pi,, that came up before the 7Oth
CONGRESS- on March 5th last.
The bill reads as follows: Be 1t
enacted. ETC., That neither section
1S55 of the Revised Statutes Gu. s.
Code GAS. par. 1457) nor any oth-
or Act of Congress shall be con
strued to prevent payments Tor
clerk hire, Office rent and other ex-
nanses of executive Offices Of the
Territory Of Alaska, including ad-
ditlonal compensation, not to exceed
$4,000. per annum, to the Secretary
of the Territory, under approprla-
tions heretofore or hereafter made
by the Legislature Of Alaska for
said purposes.
This bill was advanced by Curry
bt California-one of the enemies
of Alaska-as a pet measure OF
Governor Parks. In fact Curry re-
marked, during the bills consider
alton, that it had the approval Of
the Governor of Alaska.
In the Congressional Record OF
March 9Th, pages 4216, 4217 and
421s blouse Records) we have the
complete arguments for and against
the bill Really, Curry was the on
ly one for it, but many questions
were asked by different House mem
bers. Curry admitted, on questions
from Cooper (Wisconsin) that the
Courts could not do otherwise than
declare the payment of Territorial
funds to Bureau officials illegal still
w "a
he knew would be declared illega?
what he knew, himself, was wrong
and what the Governor of Alaska
knew was not right.
Parks is a Coolidge appointee and
is for bureaucracy first and Alaska
some other time when it suits his
convenience. He couldn't go before
Congress personally with the bill,
so he had a backbiter of the Terri.
tory to do it for him. We got Parks
over the votes of the Territory for
our own choice of another man. The
wishes of the Territory were not
given much thought. We think
they were hardly considered, even
The aim of Parks was to drive a
bureaucratic javelin into the heart
of the Organic Act of the Territory
He failed, miserably.
1t strikes us that Parks had
deal Of nerve, albeit he was backed
to what he thought was an atmos-
phere of success by the Territory's
own Legislature. Since the Legis-
lature couldn't pass the Controller
Bill, he imagined he'd have fair
sailing with the U. S. Congress- He
didn't.
Immediately after the bill was
read by the House Clerk, La Guard
ia, New York, demanded second
After Curry had stated his case and
advocated the passage of the bill
on the strength that only Indians
halfbreeds and chronic Office seekers
opposed it, La Guardia got the floor
and suggested that Dan Sutherland
be allowed to speak on the matter.
Sutherland spoke briefly and point
eddy. He took up the matter of
past conflicts in territorial affairs
of the United States and led directly
to our own Organic Act. He con.
cluded his statement with:
Nov, gentlemen of the House,
in closing I want to say that this
Organic Act is our Constitution of
Alaska. 1t bears the same relation
to the Territorial Legislature OF
Alaska that the Constitution Of the
Unite States bears to Congress, and
an even better analogy is that of
the State Constitutions, which are
held to be stable instruments. They