The Daily Alaska empire., 1930-05-07
BLOCK VOTE IS UNBROKEN.

The Empire has maintained for several years that until education of the Alaska Indian has pro- gressed much farther than it is today, there is no hope of in any effort to break up the block voting which characterizes the Indian villages. This position, which still occupy, to have been proven sound by the returns from the recent Re- publican primary election.
 Those who have differed from The Empire on this question have claimed that it unjust to the Indian voters It contended both by Indian leaders and by others who seemed to be in at least good a position to judge The Empire was, that what was termed "the opposition candidates made real effort to obtain votes from the Indian villages that no literature mailed them; that none of the so-caled opposition went into the villages and personally campaigned; and that the Indian leaders and the candidates supported by them did circularze and make personal cam paigns.
 If this state of facts did exist, it no longer does As a matter of record in the primary cam paign just ended exact opposite state of affairs did prevail MT. Rustgard and those affiliated with him the regular slate of the Republican Party not only crcularized the Indian voters but they went into the towns held public meetings and were assiduously attentive to them they were to the whites. In the matter of personal contact they went farther than their opponents did because the latter did not carry a personal campaign in the
 
 The results speak for themselves With the ex- cepton of Klawock there was no defection by h. dans from the ticket approved by their organization chieftans and submitted to the several camps. And at Klawock, the election returns merely reflect a dissention among the villagers which made its ap- pearance when the Alaska Native Brotherhood held its annual convention at Haines last Fall In other words the vote at Klawock does not represent political divergence of views but factona di- vision within the ranks of the Indian organization itself
 The average Indian voter does not speak or understand the English language sufficiently to per init him to understand the issues, to vote on the candidates on merit basis were there no racial or other influence brought to bear. This is evidenced by what transpired at Klawock during the recent campaign, MT. Rustgard spoke there in his own behalf and for other members of his slate. On the theory that the Indians of that village were above the average in education and intelligence MT. Rustgard had not planned to inter- preter. However, those who had arranged for the meeting Indians themselves, insisted on inter- preter being used saying that few would under stand the speech if that were not done. And he did speak to the village through an interpreter
 This depicts a condition that very likely exists nowhere else in the United States. Here hun dreds of men and women unable to understand the English language well enough to permit speech to be made to them with any hope that they would know what it about, yet those same people are entitled to go to the polls and vote. Naturally they vote as someone else dictates And that con- dition is sure to continue for number of years
 The element of the Republican organization that is opposed to domination of the party primaries by the Indian organization nearly sue cessful in combating that force this year than is usually true. But it's partial was made pos sible by the abnormal primary vote of Juneau and a few other towns and not by any defection of the Indian vote. The victory of c T. Gardner for the Senatorial nomination and Walter F. Scott for one of the House nominations was due to the heavier anti-Indian vote and nothing else As a a matter of fact if other towns in Southeast Alaska had voted their full antiIndian strength it would have resulted in the defeat of at least two other cand dates backed by the dominant Indian element
 Of course, voters attend to that detail in the November election. It would have been far simpler and great deal more satisfactory to every one if the job had been completely done in the primary Since it was not. however. it should be attended to next November