The Daily Alaska empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1926-1964, 1943-03-20
FISH TAX IS
CRITICIZED
BY GOVERNOR
Bill Becomes Law Without
SIGNATURE Of Chief
Executive


today that he has allowed the new
war fish tax bill to become a law
without his signature. The bill pro-
vides for an additional five cent
per case tax, regardless of species,
on all salmon packed in the Ter
ritory and authors of the bill esti-
mated it will bring in an additional
$500, 900 during the next two years
it will be in effect.
The Governor stated in part:
TT has been reported to me that
statements have been made on the
floor of the House and elsewhere
by members of the Legislature that
1 would veto this revenue measure.
I find it difficult to understand
how such a thought could have
arisen. We should be grateful for
small favors at all times and ac-
cept them with thankfulness and
humility.
However, am not signing this
bill, first, because it makes a curl
Gus exception to all previously en-
acted tax measures and thereby
establishes a new precedent in that
it levies the tax for the calendar
years l943 and 1914 only. In other
words, the 1945 Legislature. which
could of course, repeal this, and
any other taxes that were enacted
in the usual way, once they had
been made part of the tax legis-
lation of the Territory would be
obliged to reenact this bill if it
desired to continue the tax.
Il can see no justification for
levying this as purely temporary
tax, for although no one can fore
see the future with accuracy, one
does not have to be a prophet or
the seventh son of seventh son
to forecast that in 1945 the Ter
ritory will be more in need of reve-
hue and have fewer sources to
draw upon than it has today.
Second, 1 am not signing the
bill because of the preamble. So
small tax measure seems hardly
worth preamble, and also dis
agree with the presentation of the
facts in the preamble.
The preamble states: Whereas,
on account of the war and the dis
ruption of normal business in the
Territory and the suspension of
gold mining for the period Of the
war, resulting in a loss of revenue
in excess of 100000 per annum.
> The fact is that the suspension
of gold mining alone has caused
loss of revenue, but not the dis
ruption OF normal business. Bust
ness is not normal, it is true; it
is far better than normal. Wages
are at an all-time high, and mer-
chants and businesses generally
have had their most profitable year
in a long time. A more realistic
preambling might read somewhat
as follows:
Whereas preceding Legislatures
have never considered it necessary
or desirable to reform our obsolete
and inadequate tax structure. under
which practically all Of our tax
revenue was derived from gross
taxes on the two products extracted
from the Territory--namely gold
and salmon and
Whereas. it has long been OBJ
vious that If anything should hap
pen to either product, the financial
situation Of the Territorial Treas
ury would be seriously impaired,
and
Whereas precisely this situa-
ton has arisen as one of the re-
suits of the war, namely the sus-
pension of gold mining, but
Whereas likewise as a result OF
the war the salmon industry is
selling its pack to the government
and is receiving the highest prices
for that pack in history, having
been presented by a generous Of
ficialdom in Washington with sew
eral dollars more a case than last
year and indeed several dollar:
more a case than even the salmon
industry anticipated, there is there
fore an easy way of raising a lit