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Entered as secona-class matter Au
gust 29th, 1923, at the postoffiee ai
Tokotna, Alaska, under the Act ol
March 3, 1879.
Meaning of the
Controller Bill
((By Dan A. Sutherland, Delegate to
Congress.)
The Controller Bill, so-called, tha!
■was introduced at the 1927 session oi
the Alaska Territorial Legislature
provided for control of Territorial af
fairs by officials to be selected bj
•the people of Alaska.
It was essentially a step in the ad
vancement toward self-government
It proposed to restore to the people oi
Alaska a voice in the administratior
«of their government.
The fundamental right of the
Alaska people to select their own ad
ministrators has been withheld from
them by their legislative representa
tives since the Organic Act was first
given to By Congress. At first
it was a matter of expediency tc
place the responsibility for adminis
tration of Territorial affairs with an
organization composedprincipally ol
Federal officials. Entering upon Ter
ritorial government it seemed to be
the expedient and the convenient
thing to accept the services of ap
pointed Federal officials. The or
ganic act of all the Territories con
tain provisions that are intended tc
keep the local government separate
ami distinct from the Federal gov
ernment. The constitution of virtu
ally every state in the Union pro
vides that Federal officials shall not
have any part in the State govern
ment, and this inhibition extends tc
United States Senators and Repre
sentatives in Congress. In all othei
Territories of the United States the
spirit of the laws of Congress seerr
to have been followed by their legis
lators, for promptly at their first
legislative sessions they set up the
machinery for conducting their Terri
; torial business, and I believe in the
case of every Territory the officials
' selected were free and independent of
any connection with Federal adminis
tration.
session laws of all past Territories
that the natural thing to do was to
establish a government organization
that was responsible to the people
■ only, either by popular election ir se
lection by the legislators.
| Doubtless the members of the first
session of the Alaska Legislature be
' lieved that the imposition of Terri
torial duties upon Federal officials
1 was a matter of economy, inasmuch
i as office rentals would, to a large ex
1 tent, be saved, but with the gradual
I expansion of administrative work and
: the requirement of more officials and
clerks, this saving in rentals is a
very minor item of expense.
The Federal officials thus con
: cerned in Territorial power are per
j fectly willing to continue in this ser
! vice and to receive compensation
i for it. In fact these Federal officials
are greatly averse to relinquishing
the powers they now enjoy. They are
more than reluctatann to yield up
these powers; they do not propose to
I do so without a contest such as that
witnessed at the last session.
The defeat of the Controller Bill
i came about through the enort s ot
Federal officials to perpetuate them
selves in Territorial offices. It is my
purpose to show herein that the ef
forts of Federal officials to perpetu
ate their tenure of control in Terri
torial affairs is a repetition of Teerri
torial history.
The history of the early American
Territories is, in considerable part,
the story of the friction between the
people or their representatives and
the officials appointed from Washing
ton, D. C., who insisted upon retain
ing certain powers that should have
j been exercised by the people of the
! new Territory.
The road ug^m, which self-govern
ment in the early Territories ad
vanced was a rough one indeed, and
its milestones mark the occasions
when their people received transfers
of governmental powers from Fed
eral officials to themselvs.
The early Territories were ruled by
j governors and judges until such time
i as legislatures were authorized by
j Congress. The powers of the early
1 legislatures were greatly limited,
and Federal officials exercised auto
cratic powers. In many cases these
powers were usurped without author
ity of law.
The Ordinance of 1787 (the first of
the Organic Acts) authorized the
governor and judges to adopt such
laws of the origisal States as they
deemed best suited to the circum
stances of the district, and these laws
were to remain in force until disap
proved by Congress. It was found
that many of the laws of the States
were not adapted to the Territory,
Takotna Pool Hall
i
i
Fresh Fruits
Tobaccos
Apples
I
Candies Soft Drinks j
Cigars Cigarets \
Oranges \
Mutchler Cold Storage Barge
Pork Beef Veal Mutton
Boiled Hams Pickled Tongues
Sausage in variety Head Cheese
DAVE MUTCHLER
PROP.
.—u.
aiul so the governor and the judges
took it upon themselves to enact
laws. This system evidently met
with the approval of Congress, for on
May 7, 1792, Congress enacted “That
' the laws of the Territory Northwest
of the River Ohio that have been or
hereafter may be enacteed by the
governor and judges * * * and
that the governor and judges are au
thorized to repeal the laws made by
! them.”
The Territory south of the river
Ohi was the first to organize a legis
lature, and this legislature was the
first to elect a Delegate, to Congress, j
, Considerable debate arose in the
House when his credentials were pre
! sented upon the propriety of admit
ting such a “nondescript member,”
but he was finally given a seat with
the right of debating but not voting,
and the status of Delegates in Con
gress has remained the same to the
present day.
The Ordinance of 1787 provided
that when the Territory had 5,000
free male residentts it could have a
general assembly of its own. The
governor was givees absolute veto
! power to convene, prorogue and dis
i solve the assembly.
The first restriction on these pow
; ers by Congress came with the Or
| ganic Act of the Territory of Mis
| souri, and in this case the. power to
' prorogue the assembly was taken
; from the governor. Professor Far
rand, of Yale, an authority on legis
lation for government of the Terri
tories, says that at this period (1812)
j “there had been many complaints
previously in the Territories that the ,
powers of the governor were too |
great, and Congress had often con
sidereed the advisability of restrict
ing them, hut nothing had come of it
before."
The Organic Acts of the Territories
from 1789 to 1836 had as a basis the
Ordinance of 1787 of the Northwest
Territory, but each Act contained!
some provision curtailing the powers :
of Federal officials and making Terri
torial government separate and dis
tinct from the Federal government in
their administrative features.
With the year 1836 came the Or
ganic Act of Wisconsin, and this Act;
was a departure from the old Ordi- J
nance of 1787. The Wisconsin Act
was the mode) for future Territories,
and is the Act upon which our,
Alaska Act is based.
The Wisconsin Act provided that
no one holding commission under the j
United States, except officers o fthe I
State militia, should be eligible for
office under the Territorial govern
ment.
In 1839 the Legislatures of Wis
consin and Iowa were authorized to
overrule the governor’s veto, and the
governor was compelled to return
bills within three days. Thus by j
gradual advancement in self-rule the
powers of Federal officials have been
curtailed throughout the history of
Territorial government.
The Territory of Utah was organ
ized in 1851 and one of the first leg
islative acts was to provide for the
j election of a treasurer and an auditor
“by joint vote of both Houses of the
Legislative Assembly.” It is clear
that the Utah Legislature imposed no
duties upon the Federal officials, nor
is it recorded that any other Terri
tory did so. All powers ever exer
cised by Federal officials in the Ter
ritories were those authorized by
Congress. In Utah the efforts of the
Legislature were directed toward
placing Territorial powers in the
hands of men selected by themselves,
just where they should be. The first.
memomorial passed by the Legisla- j
ture of Utah, just seven days after1
convening of the first assembly, was
addressed to President Fillmore pray
ing for the removal of the Secretary
of the Territory and the appointment
of a new one. The reason for this re
moval is interestingly set forth in
following from the" memorial: •
“Immediately consequent upon the
settlement of this colony, a large and
heterogeneous emigration followed
■J3W11L.„II.'"1. _JLJ- UUU^-Xl _L_1!J
upon our heels, remaining here a
shorter traits requiring the establish
ment of an efficient government, for
the speedy protection of life, peace,
virtue ami property. In addition to a
transient and ungovernable emigra
tion, almost constant Indian depre
dations have plead like the irresistible
mavr tt£ death for the'institution of
some formidable order, and power of
govczxmieru among us. A provisional
government was accordingly formed
which, has met the exigenciese of the
people, and secured general tran
qaiiitjf, artier, and satisfaction, and
when the announcement of a Terri
torial government, under your foster
ing hand, reached us, it was hailed
with shoutings and firing of cannon.
* * * Thus, sir. when he have
looked far the fostering aid of such
a functionary as the Honorable Sec- j
retary. and, for a fellow citizen,
worthy the honor conferred by our
illustrious Chief Magistrate, we have
been annoyed with the technics of
legal gum: aery, and our respectful
adilresn far stationery, etc., has been
responded to, not as to legislators of
the undivided choice, and sole rep
resentation of a sovereign people,
who know the right of franchise, and
self-government under the Constitu
tion, but as to men who ape authority
that docs not belong to them. Al
though we are ipse facto honored
with t.h«* choiie of a sovereign and
free people to be their represents.
tivep it* Legislative Assembly, and
the refusal of a captious stranger to
accredit us with the fact, does not
shake the truth, still a studious vio
lation of etiquette when it is de
signed to convey burleque, contempt,
and indignity upon a legislative
body, is calculated to alienate a peo
ple from s eh functionaries ”
It is headily seen why, just 75
years ago, the people of Utah set up
their newly authorized government
free from interlocking administrative
functions.
(Continued Next Issue.)
1
r
Over 119,000,000 animils- were
slaughtered in the United States' for
food in 1925.
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Flat City
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