The Wrangell sentinel., 1952-04-18


 Jackson dinner up in Juneau Ern- est Grueniug is reported in his talk to have said that if creeping or or gaIloping socialism is act ually what We have. then it is what the people want
 Some Clambake
 Under the caption, The J-J CIambake." the Daily Empire in Ju- neau summed it up in the following interesting and enIightening way: . lFrom the Daily Alaska Empirel .
 Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson must have turned in their respective tombs Saturday night when the club bearing their names put on it's pre-primary kickoff din- ner at the Baranof Hotel
 As every American schoolboy knows. Jefferson and Jarkson were. both true Demolrats. capable statesmen and. more important. good Americans-devoted to the American way of life and pledged to the support of the Constitution of the United States. How totally NElAhE LAE1E AEdA AAAEA al e ---E handful of tinhorn Juneau politi- cians who would cloak their ectiY- itfes in the dignity of these great names.
 Ne recall that. last year. when the Jefferson-Jackson club was or ganized. it was declared to be a non-politicaI organization. Since il was. and is. bt its very nature political body. reading of the Hatch Act to the assembled mem- bers created such anxiety among the Federal iobholders present that the uon-politicaI' subterfuge was chosen to relieve that anxiety.
 Despite the smoke-screen. how ever. the Jefferson Jackson club should be identified for what it is an organization of Gruening Democrats whose sole purpose is to advance the interests of the Gruen- ing administration by effecting the election and appointment of indiY- uals sympathetic to it.
 Main spring in it's organization was one Mike Haas. whose colorful political career in Alaska was ter minated temporarily by the voters in the 1922 election and whose ac- tivities as Territorial Commissioner of Labor were investigated by a Senate Committee whose findings were far from flattering. Sole dis senting voice on that committee was that of Joe Kehoe. later ap- pointed to a judgeship at Nome which he relinquished last year to serve as Secretary of Alaska.
 Saturday nights gathering was typical of previous J-J conclayes. . Most of the 12O present were Fed eraI and Territorial jobholders or would-be payrollers. Also typical was the uncalled-for booing of the Attorney General of Alaska. J. l Gerald Williams. for his stand a. Rainst the legality of the contro- versial Reorganization Act"
 Williams, long a thorn in the Gruening side. took exception to the remarks of young Yern Met calfe who defended the "ReOrgani-I ! ration Act" Williams pointed out that it was contrary to the Consti- tuition as well as the Organic Act of the Territory just as he had stated officially in a written opin- ion for the governor at the time of the bills enactment.
 We consider it disgraeeful that a public official be booed from the floor for having the courage to supp port the law in defiance of mach . inc politicians We consider it . equally disgraceful for an organiz- | ation to condone such hoodlumism and still have the gall to identify i itself with the Democratic party.
 Although the meeting was held ostensibly to permit candidates for office to be heard (and several were heard) the end result was a mass declaration of fealty to the Gruening regime. One Gruening creature, Robbie Sheldon, criticized his opponent for the office of aud- itor, saying that Auditor Moore had "let the party down." Presumably, l he referred to Moore's adherence tol the law and his refusal to ignore his duty at the whim of party ad- | herents.
 After the candidates had been heard, the assemblage was treated to a ten-minute talk by Governor Gruening. His Excellency, as he was affectionately addressed. bray ed happily about the successes en- joyed by the Truman administra- tion and his own and went on to take few pot shots at a group of Juneau citizens whose views are apparently at variance with his own.
 We refer to the fifty-odd men and women who cause to be pub lished at frequent intervals. in paid advertisements. pleas for a return fn fha Amarfnan nrfnnfnIea of anif-