The Wrangell sentinel., 1952-12-05
THROUGH
THE SENTINEL
PERISCOPE
0. Again. On Again

e
Off Again. On Again
Like Finnegan, the shipping tie
up which is crueifying Alaska was
off and ON again this week Early
In the week report came from
Seattle that regular service would
be resumed in a few days Word
was that the Maritime Commission
had authorized the Alaska Steam
ship Company to sail its vessels
OUT of another port and the plan
was to clear from Tacoma. Then
came again the fly i'm the oint-
ment. In the so-ealled open port OF
Tacoma it developed that there
were not enough longshoremen
available to work the ships. Re
suit: No ships clearing for Alaska.
It's probably true that Tacoma is
no exception Very likely the same
situation would prevail if effort
was made to clear from Bellingham.
Portland or any of the Pacific
Northwest ports: there just would
not be enough men available
Make Weisbarth, the longsRore
boss in Seattle, rules with an iron
hand
1t becomes more and more evi-
dent that an injunction suit, as
now proposed. to enioin the unions
from holding up Alaska shipping
is about the only alternative for
the lie ritory.
Key to the Trouble
Comes a press release from Seat
tie. signed by II ship and dock
foremea IN That port. which re-
veals, if the story is correct, thal
it is strictly a union fight. The
ship and dock foremen in their
statement say they are not ON
strike. They say they have formed
a union of their own choosing
named the Snip and Dock Formen's
Union of Washington, Independent,
and that the liza which dominates
the port, had thrown up a he ct
line to prevent them from going to
work. One paragraph of their state
ment reads:
All we want is to be allowed TO
continue to work on our own jobs,
under the same wages and working
conditions that are at present in
effect, and belong to union of our
own choosing. Our employers have
been informed of this, and we have
no dispute with them whatsoever.
So, while a couple of union
groups fight among themselves for
power and control in the Port of
Seattle, some 100000 people in Al
aska, including many union men,
are in the position of having to
plead with longshore boss in
Seattle to send up a few of the
necessities of life.
Mckay Amendment
The appointment by President
elect Eisenhower of Gov. Douglas
Mckay of Oregon to be Secretary
of Interior when the new admins
tration takes over in January,
BODIES well for Alaska which is
largely controlled by the Interior
Department A western man with
a keen knowledge of western prob
lens, the new Secretary is likely
to have a feel of Alaska and
broad understanding of its many
problems which are directly tied
in with his department.
A native of Oregon, born in
Portland, Mckay is a graduate of
Oregon State College and a veter-
an of both world war l and II. In.
private life he is in the automobile
business in Salem and has a long
background of successful business
experience He's said to be the
most potent political figure in Ore
gon.
Must Know Ernest
George Dixon, nationally known
eolumnist who covers the Wash
ington scene for the Hearst papers,
had this comment about the Alaska
scene in one of his recent columns:
Zone of the New Deal followers
whose future I worry about least
is Gov. Ernest Gruening of Alaska.
Actually he doesn't need me to help
with the worrying; he is doing
sufficiently well all by himself
1.-THE small man who let it be
known all over the North country
that he was a big shot in Wash
ington, but was left to sit in the
capital corridor for days like lit
tie bum on a park bench when he