The Daily Alaska empire., 1933-01-23
HICKMAN ON THE FISHERIES.

Former Senator J. R. Hickman of Ketchikan struck responsive chord when he publicly declared recently that conservation of the Alaska salmon fisheries has borne too heavily on the local fisher men--Indan and white. Anyone who has seriously studied the system prevailing here in the past par ticularly in Southeast Alaska, cannot help but be impressed with the trend toward elimination of seiners from the fishing industry The waters In which they have earned their livelihood for many years are more and more being closed to them and each succeeding year finds it more difficult for them to earn anything like enough to provide them and their dependents with the bare necessi- ties of life.
 That we are convinced, is the major factor in the intense antagonism that now prevails in many sections against the of fish traps as fishing appliance Packers more and more. depending on the traps for their supplies to the detri- ment of the sener.
 For the past two seasons the situation has been aggravated, it must be admitted, by the market conditions with which the packers have been con tending Confronted with abnormally low prices for their own product they have been forced to cut their own prices for fish to the point that seine operations not profitable. In fact many traps that paying propositions in prior years have been operated at loss abandoned by their hold CTS, since 1880.
 It remains true, however that without the effect of the depression seiners would be confronted with undesirable conditions. Closures of sening grounds have been too extensive for them to exist even In comparative comfort and unnecessary hardship has resulted The movement MT. Hickman seeks to launch is timely and ought to be given more than passive support. His counsel in the matter is wise and moderate. There is room for both sener and trap in Southeast Alaska. Each is valuable to the industry Surely it is not impossible for the authori- tn on,ta hal between them that will open up opportunities for the fishermen to earn a living and still permit the retention of the traps.
 Upon one point made by MT. Heckman there will be universal agreement in the Territory The people of Alaska, who the owners of the re- sources upon which the packing industry is founded have the right to expect to be able to earn living therefrom. The packers pay large amount of taxes to Territory annually constituting major share of it's revenues, but this does not cancel the right of Aaskans to the chance for work, to fish they and their forebears have fshed in the past that they can be independent and self-supporting mem- bers of the community
 To deny them that right is to force them to re- main idle to become charges on the public treasury which means higher taxes for the industry itself They do not want to live that way. They do want to work and pay their own way as they go Ana that desire is typcaly American. To refuse 1t to them is to create enemies to Democracy, endanger property and cast a shadow over invested capital for, Gov. Clarence D. Martin, recently inaugur- ated Governor of Washington said in his message to the State Legislature, Democracy property and capital safe only as long as our people have decent chance for honest employment"
 In addition to advocating decent chance for Alaska labor MT. Heckman declared that the sal mon packers ought to do great deal more of their buying from Alaska business men. That point has often been urged before. But it has not been productive of many concrete results. The packers and MT. Hickman prominent in that fraternity, would be well advised to give due weight to his words and adopt such 8 policy both toward labor and business in the Territory he has outlined