The Daily Alaska empire., 1930-04-12
INDIAN SUITS
 MEASURE DEAD,
 SAYSRUSTCARD
Candidate for COP. Nom ination Takes Up Pro-
 posed Indian Suits

WRANGELL, April I2.-The Wickersham bill, introduced by Del egate Sutherland in Congress to permit Southeast Alaska Indians to sue the Government for alleged alienated rights. lis dead, so dead 1t will not even oe reported out of Ccmmittee,' John Rustgard told local audience last night, in an address to Wrangell voters.
 With c. T. Gardner, Senatorial candidate, and Walter P Scott, candidate for a House nomina- ton, all Republicans, he opened the local primary campaign. The house was well filled and the re- marks of all speakers applauded MT. Rustgard dealt at some length with the issues of the campaign, comparing his own platform for Delegate with that of his oppon- ent, Judge James Wickersham, and st1 assed the so-caHed Indian suits
 Start of Suits
 Last November, after he had announced his candidacy" said Rustgard, "the head of the Paul ticket went to Haines convention of the Alaska Native Brotherhood and unfolded to them in harrow ing terms the cruel injustice per- petuated upon them by the Amer ican government. He explained tc them that when Russia sold Alaska to the United States only the sov- ereignty over the people was trans ferred,-that the land itself was not sold, that this belonged to the native tribes, that Russia claimed no interest in it, but that never theless the United States Govern ment had unlawfully taken the land.
 He then explained to them that if they would sign contract with him and Paul to act as attorneys for them, he would have Sutherland pass a bill through Congress au- thorizing the Haida and Thlinget tribes, but none others. to sue the government in the Court of Claims for the value of all the lands oi Southeast Alaska. It was carefully explained to those Indians that huge sums, not less than twenty millions of dollars, would thus bt recovered and it was calculated that this would equal thirty-fivt hundred dollars for every man, wo- man and child of those two tribes that is to say, provided eacf adult member of the tribe puts III ten dollars each n advance to pay the expenses of the attorneys AS fee these lawyers were to re- ceive five percentum of the sun recovered or $5Oo,O0O.0o for each o1 them on the estimated minimum of $20,000 ,000.00,-a modest enougt fee. Their work, if successful would have been worth much more
 Now, let us look at this propo. lsition a little closer.
 Government Buys Everything
 "To begin with, am constrained to disagree with my illustrious op. ponent as to the claims of the Rus sian Tsar. know, and my oppon. ent knows, that the Autocrat of al the Russias claimed and exercised complete authority both over lant and sea. When he wanted som' land for his own use he simpl, { took it. He gave exclusive char ters to Russian companies to mine cut timber, fish and trade in Alas ka. When we purchased the Ter ritory he agreed to convey the lant free of such encumbrances, and w paid him the S2O0.OO0O0 over tn s7 GOO, 100000 for the purpose O reimbursing those companies fo their losses in giving up their ex clusive privileges under those char ters. When year ago Libby, MIG i ne.4 and Libby bought the canner. ] on Klawock island the purchase received in the deal the origina Russian charter giving exclusiv 1 perpetual right to that cannery t fish in the waters adjacent to tn west coast of Prince of Wales Is