﻿FISHERY 
  INDUSTBIES. 
  39 
  

  

  of 
  red 
  salmon 
  in 
  the 
  Bristol 
  Bay 
  region, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  a 
  good 
  share 
  of 
  

   the 
  entire 
  pack 
  of 
  all 
  species 
  in 
  Alaska, 
  was 
  completed 
  this 
  season 
  

   before 
  the 
  tax 
  measure 
  became 
  effective. 
  At 
  least 
  one 
  company 
  

   has 
  already 
  paid 
  the 
  new 
  Territorial 
  tax 
  on 
  this 
  season's 
  business. 
  

  

  POLLUTION 
  OF 
  WATERS. 
  

  

  An 
  act 
  of 
  the 
  legislature 
  which 
  has 
  a 
  direct 
  and 
  considerable 
  

   bearing 
  upon 
  the 
  fisheries 
  question 
  is 
  that 
  prohibiting 
  the 
  pollution 
  

   of 
  certain 
  waters 
  by 
  means 
  of 
  sawdust 
  and 
  other 
  lumbering 
  waste. 
  

   This 
  is 
  an 
  excellent 
  measure 
  which 
  ought 
  to 
  be 
  enforced 
  diligently, 
  

   as 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  doubt 
  but 
  that 
  sawdust 
  is 
  very 
  destructive 
  to 
  fish 
  life, 
  

   particularly 
  when 
  it 
  is 
  deposited 
  in 
  waters 
  where 
  it 
  will 
  settle 
  upon 
  

   spawning 
  grounds. 
  This 
  measure 
  is 
  in 
  line 
  with 
  similar 
  acts 
  now 
  

   effective 
  in 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  States. 
  

  

  ALIEN 
  FISHERMEN. 
  

  

  The 
  legislature 
  passed 
  a 
  bill 
  to 
  prohibit 
  the 
  taking 
  of 
  fish, 
  whales, 
  

   or 
  other 
  marine 
  animals 
  in 
  Alaska 
  waters 
  by 
  aliens. 
  On 
  the 
  last 
  

   day 
  of 
  the 
  session, 
  Gov. 
  Walter 
  E. 
  Clark 
  vetoed 
  this 
  measure 
  on 
  the 
  

   ground 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  not 
  within 
  the 
  province 
  of 
  the 
  legislature 
  to 
  act 
  in 
  

   the 
  matter. 
  Gov. 
  Clark's 
  veto 
  message 
  sets 
  forth 
  in 
  very 
  able 
  

   manner 
  certain 
  facts 
  affecting 
  vitally 
  the 
  fishery 
  matters 
  in 
  their 
  

   relation 
  to 
  the 
  Territorial 
  legislature, 
  and 
  in 
  connection 
  therewith 
  

   the 
  following 
  excerpt 
  from 
  the 
  message 
  is 
  herewith 
  reproduced: 
  

  

  So 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  fisheries 
  are 
  concerned 
  the 
  subject 
  of 
  this 
  bill 
  is 
  not 
  one 
  for 
  the 
  Territory, 
  

   but 
  for 
  the 
  Nation; 
  and 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  interests 
  of 
  aliens 
  are 
  affected, 
  the 
  matter 
  is 
  pecu- 
  

   liarly 
  one 
  for 
  the 
  Nation, 
  because 
  of 
  its 
  international 
  character. 
  Thus 
  two 
  very 
  strong 
  

   reasons 
  are 
  interposed, 
  either 
  of 
  which 
  alone 
  would 
  make 
  it 
  impossible 
  for 
  me 
  to 
  

   join 
  in 
  the 
  passage 
  of 
  the 
  bill. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  a 
  popular 
  notion 
  that 
  the 
  Alaska 
  fisheries 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  Territory, 
  but 
  they 
  

   will 
  not 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  Territory 
  prior 
  to 
  statehood. 
  The 
  doctrine 
  that 
  the 
  fisheries 
  

   in 
  navigable 
  waters 
  of 
  the 
  coast 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  sovereign 
  power 
  was 
  established 
  even 
  

   prior 
  to 
  the 
  independence 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  The 
  control 
  of 
  the 
  fisheries 
  which 
  are 
  

   not 
  within 
  the 
  State 
  waters 
  belongs, 
  therefore, 
  to 
  Congress, 
  and 
  this 
  control 
  has 
  not 
  

   been 
  delegated 
  to 
  the 
  Territorial 
  Legislature. 
  Indeed, 
  it 
  is 
  specifically 
  provided 
  in 
  our 
  

   enabling 
  act 
  that 
  "the 
  authority 
  herein 
  granted 
  to 
  the 
  legislature 
  to 
  alter, 
  amend, 
  

   modify, 
  and 
  repeal 
  laws 
  in 
  force 
  in 
  Alaska 
  shall 
  not 
  extend 
  to 
  the 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  Q^h 
  

   * 
  * 
  * 
  laws." 
  The 
  act 
  of 
  June 
  14, 
  1906, 
  the 
  provisions 
  of 
  which 
  are 
  distinctly 
  

   modified 
  by 
  this 
  bill, 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  principal 
  fishery 
  laws 
  passed 
  by 
  Congress 
  for 
  this 
  

   Territory. 
  It 
  is 
  wrong 
  from 
  every 
  point 
  of 
  view 
  to 
  pass 
  a 
  bill 
  in 
  violation 
  of 
  the 
  

   enabling 
  act 
  on 
  the 
  theory 
  that 
  Congress 
  will 
  not 
  affirmatively 
  disapprove 
  it. 
  Besides, 
  

   the 
  probability 
  of 
  such 
  inaction 
  by 
  Congress 
  in 
  the 
  present 
  case 
  does 
  not 
  exist. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  Legislature 
  of 
  Alaska 
  ought 
  not 
  deliberately 
  to 
  pass 
  an 
  act 
  calculated 
  to 
  

   embarrass 
  the 
  Federal 
  Government 
  in 
  its 
  international 
  relations, 
  and 
  such 
  an 
  action 
  

   is 
  not 
  worthy 
  of 
  our 
  better 
  judgment 
  and 
  of 
  our 
  trusteeship 
  of 
  legislative 
  authority 
  

   and 
  power 
  granted 
  by 
  the 
  Nation 
  for 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  the 
  Territory. 
  If 
  this 
  bill 
  provided 
  

   for 
  the 
  exclusion 
  of 
  aliens 
  from 
  oin- 
  boundaries, 
  no 
  person 
  would 
  question 
  the 
  gravity 
  

   of 
  the 
  action, 
  even 
  if 
  authorized 
  by 
  the 
  Congress 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  Yet 
  the 
  bill 
  

  

  