ALASKA TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 1932 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C. The committee met, pursuant to the call of the chairman, at 10 o'clock a. m., Hon. Guinn Williams (chairman), presiding. Present: Representatives Williams (chairman), Douglass, Parsons, Gibson, Johnson, Campbell, Finley, Curry, Wolcott, Houston, and Wickersham. The CHAIRMAN. I think we had best start. We will hear from you now, Judge Wickersham. STATEMENT OF HON. JAMES WICKERSHAM, DELEGATE IN CONGRESS FROM THE TERRITORY OF ALASKA Mr. WICKERSHAM. This is a hearing on H. R. 499, a bill to repeal an act of Congress entitled "An act to prohibit the manufacture or sale of alcoholic liquors in the Territory of Alaska, and for other purposes," approved February 14, 1917. I ask to have the bill put into the record. It is very brief. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act of Congress entitled "An act to prohibit the manufacture or sale of alcoholic liquors in the Territory of Alaska, and for other purposes," approved February 14, 1917, contained in the United States Statutes at Large, volume 39, Public Laws, pages 903 to 909, be and the same is hereby repealed: Provided, That the repeal of said law shall not operate to change, modify, or invalidate any judgment entered, or to release any person convicted of a violation of said law, prior to the date of the approval of this act. Mr. WICKERSHAM. Prior to 1899 we had no license system in Alaska. The CHAIRMAN. Up to when? Mr. WICKERSHAM. Up to 1899. Everybody was prohibited, of course, from selling liquor because it was in violation of the United States statutes, but many were selling liquor. In mining camps and generally, there were saloons, and the sale of liquor was about as general as it would have been under a license system. The CHAIRMAN. Pardon me, you mean you had no law requiring those who sold liquor to pay a tax? Mr. WICKERSHAM. We had no law passed by Congress or the Territory authorizing the sale of liquor until 1899. The CHAIRMAN. They had to pay a Federal tax, did they not? Mr. WICKERSHAM. Yes. Of course there was a general law in relation to the sale of liquor in the Territory which forbade the 1 sale of liquor in the Territory to Indians or whites or anybody else. But as I say it was not obeyed. But in 1899 Congress passed an act authorizing the licensing of the sale of liquor in Alaska, and in 1900 it was made more liberal, and licenses were issued then under the act of Congress providing for the formation of government and the employment of three additional judges in Alaska. I was one of the judges appointed June 6, 1900. Going to Alaska I went to the interior district. From that time on for years we had the licensing system in Alaska. The wholesaler paid $2,000 a year and the retailer paid $1,000 a year. That condition existed up to 1915. The revenue in incorporated towns all went to the towns, but the rest of the revenue went into a fund in the United States Treasury for the support of schools in the Territory of Alaska. We got the revenue, but we did not collect it except in the towns, where it was turned over to the corporation. In 1915 the people up there became more or less aggrieved at the way the saloons were run. It was a mining country, and things were wide open, and the people got tired of it. At that time we had a legislature. Our first legislature met in 1913, and when the legislature of 1915 met, there was a sentiment in the Territory very largely in favor of doing away with the saloons. They had grown to be a menace to a great many people, so the legislature passed an act providing for a referendum vote on the question of liquor in Alaska. Mr. PARSONS. Somewhat along the line of the local option laws in the States? Mr. WICKERSHAM. Yes. This is chapter 7 of the session laws of 1915, page 7 [reading]: Be it enacted by the Legislature of the Territory of Alaska: SECTION 1. That there shall be submitted to the electors of the Territory of Alaska at the next general election held for the purpose of electing members of the legislature of said Territory, the question of whether they are or are not in favor of the sale, manufacture, barter, or exchange of intoxicating liquors within said Territory after the 1st day of January, 1918. SEC. 2. There shall be printed in large type upon every ticket or ballot prepared for said general election in each division of said Territory the words: "Vote for one"; and the following explanatory note shall be printed on every ballot setting forth the manner of marking the ballot: "NOTE.-Against the manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquors in Alaska after January 1, 1918, place cross (X) opposite 'Dry.' In favor of same, place cross (X) opposite Wet.'" Following this explanatory note the words "dry" and "wet" shall be printed one below the other, with a marginal space in which to place a cross. SEC. 3. The canvass of the returns of the will of said citizens so expressed shall be in the same manner as is prescribed for the canvassing of the returns of the election of the members of the Territorial legislature, and the result thereof shall be certified and transmitted by the governor to the next succeeding legislature on the first day of the convening thereof. SEC. 4. In the event the certificate of the canvassing board shall show that the majority of the electors voting upon this question have declared against the sale, manufacture, barter, or exchange of intoxicating liquors in the Territory of Alaska, as herein provided, no wholesale or retail license shall be issued for the sale, manufacture, barter, or exchange of intoxicating liquors in the Territory of Alaska after the 1st day of January, 1918. Approved April 13, 1915. Probably the Territorial legislature had no authority to pass the act, but whether it did or not, the referendum election was held in pursuance thereto, and the result of that election was that there were 7,958 votes cast dry and 4,431 cast wet, or a majority of 3,527 in favor of dry. |