The Wrangell sentinel., 1946-03-29
THROUGH THE SENTINEL PERISCOPE

Alaska, held a Jackson Day din- ner in Juneau last Saturday night. They eulogized Andrew Jackson as their patron saint They spoke well of Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roos- evelt. One speaker even dragged Abraham Lincoln over to the Dem ocratic side for a moment, al though unintentionally But there were two forgotten men"
 They were Harry s. Truman. President of the United States, and Ernest Gruening, Governor of AL aska. Mir. Truman, in case the Golf fey Democrats have overlooked the fact is the titular head of the Democratic party in the nation Dr. Gruening, as Governor of the Territory and a Democratic presi- dential appointee to that office, holds similar political distinction in Alaska.
 Governor Gruening was not in vited to the party. President Tru- man had more important en- gagement in Washington where he addressed the nation from a Jack son Day dinner in the national Capital. The Coffey Democrats didn't even have a radio around to listen to the Presidents address. Not a single speaker mentioned his name during the entire two hours of dinner
 Some Democrats were incensed at the shabby treatment accorded the Governor; felt it was the height of discourtesy; stayed away. It boded i'll for a united front in majority party ranks There was talk of unity by some of the speak CTS but everybody knew it was breech which, if not healed, was a play directly into the hands of the Republican party. National Com mitteeman Howard Lyng of Nome touched on the business of unity, but was cut off by Postmaster Si- mon Hellenthal when by implica- tion he hinted there should have been hundreds at the dinner in- stead of the limited 96. Toastmas- ter Hellenthal warned the National Committeeman to confine his re- marks to two minutes. It was the only limit placed on any speaker during the evening. Incidentally. the National Committeeman had been ignored entirely when plans for the banquet were drawn up Il was significant that neither he nor Territorial Chairman John Walmer were at the speakers ta- ble. Chairman Walmer was called upon only after the suggestion of National Committeeman Lyng. Both Lyng and Walmer pointed to the future, urged support of the ticket in the coming elections. They were out of tune with the Coffey gathering, theme song of which appeared to be to dwell 1n the glories of the past: not on the perpetuation of the Democratic party as the majority party in the Territory.
 Senator Norman R. Doe" Walk CT of Ketchikan was the speaker Doe avowed Andrew Jackson was a great Democrat and great President. Everybody appeared to agree Some, however, wondered if Harry Truman wasn't doing a good enough job to gain mention at an Alaska Democratic gather ing. If National Chairman Robert Hannigan had happened to stick his head in the door he probably would have been amazed to learn that there were people known as Democrats who apparently had never heard of the man he put over at Chicago. If they knew the name, they were keeping it a sec. ret.
 Tickets sold for five dollars and if everybody paid, the 96 present contributed S480 to the pool. After the cost of the dinner was sub tracted there would not be muct left toward that s20,00O Finance Chairman Coffey had said he pro posed to raise in Alaska Where the twenty grand was coming iron still remained a mystery lIayb, the Coffey Democrats knew tn, answer. It was a cinch hundred of Democrats in the Territor. didn't because they hadn't ever been asked.
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 NJ P. Mullaney, Territorial Ia Commissioner who succeeded O Sullivan when the latter resigne because of i'll health, will continu to be Tax Commissioner althoug he won't have the blessing of eign members of the Territorial Senat 70. D Cochran of Nome, Grenol
 Collins of Anchorage, Joe Green c
 Juneau, Leo Rogge of Fairbank!