Dr. DEISHER. I do.

Mr. BARTLETT. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hall.

Mr. TAYLOR. I have one question on this case you just mentioned. Was there a doctor's diagnosis or clinical chart or record of any sort sent with him when you took him to Anchorage?

Mr. HALL. He was indicated to be very ill at the time we took him into Anchorage, and it was so diagnosed on the chart.

Mr. TAYLOR. So if he would have gotten to Morningside, which he did not, the doctors down there who received him would have had some record of why he had been sent down?

Mr. HALL. Among other things, before we even left from Seward we checked through the various agencies so as to notify the family, and it was ascertained he would be in Morningside 48 hours later, and 10 days lated he died in Anchorage.

Mr. TAYLOR. Died in jail?

Mr. HALL. In the hospital. But he was just removed from jail to die in the hospital.

Mr. BARTLETT. There would have been plenty of time to notify the family and have them by his side.

Mr. HALL. This is something that grinds me very much because the family practically held me personally responsible for not informing them.

Mr. BARTLETT. And you knew nothing of it?

Mr. HALL. I knew nothing of it.

Mr. BARTLETT. Thank you, Mr. Hall.

Dr. Deisher will proceed for Mr. Billens. The subject is Federal judge in Seaward.

Dr. DEISHER. I will have to read this. It is very short.

Mr. BARTLETT. All right, Doctor.

STATEMENT OF RAYMOND K. BILLENS, SEWARD, ALASKA (AS READ BY DR. DEISHER)

Dr. DEISHER (reading):

Subject: The need of an additional Federal Judge in the Third Judicial District, the feasibility, and why it would be more beneficial and economical for the additional judge to be appointed in Seward, Alaska.

PART 1

First let me thank you for this opportunity to present to you this request on a subject of most importance to the people of the Third Judicial District of the Territory of Alaska.

At the present time there is one Federal judge in Anchorage. This Federal judge is required to handle all of the civil and criminal cases in the Third Judicial District. It is a matter of common knowledge that one man cannot handle the amount of cases that are on file in the city of Anchorage alone.

The Third Judicial District covers the following: Anchorage, Palmer, Seward, Kenai, Homer, Soldotna, Seldovia, Kodiak, Bristol Bay area, Prince William Sound.

The Federal judge in Anchorage has over 1,500 cases on the calendar. This is over 2 years' work for the 1 judge.

PART 2

The present Federal building in Seward has been condemned. It is the opinion of the investigator who condemned the building that there should be no more Federal funds put into the maintenance of this building. And that Seward should

be given a new building as soon as possible. Seward will be getting a new Federal building shortly. With the construction of a new building, it would be a simple thing to include judges chambers, a courtroom, and the necessary rooms required at a minimum of cost.

CONCLUSION

In the Third Judicial District, excluding Anchorage, there were in the past year 780 civil and criminal cases. Of this figure we can add 20 percent of cases that originated outside of Anchorage, but were filed in Anchorage due to convenience-for example, if the lawyer for the surrounding area was in Anchorage, he would file his cases there.

The need for another Federal judge in Anchorage is obvious. But it would benefit the people of Anchorage only. It would be of absolutely no help to the people of the Third Judicial District as a whole.

Whereas a judge holding court outside of Anchorage would be of immeasurable aid to the people of the Third Judicial District as a whole.

A Federal Judge holding court outside of Anchorage could handle all of the civil and criminal cases originating outside of Anchorage. He would also have time to go on circuit throughout the district and serve his district regularly. Also he could go on circuit to Anchorage and relieve the situation there.

Because Seward can have a court room, judges chambers, et cetra, constructed with their new Federal Building economically and where Seward is so easily accessible to all points of the Third Judicial District, it would be more beneficial to the people in the Third Judicial District and more economical to have a Federal Judge appointed to Seward, Alaska.

Mr. BARTLETT. Thank you, Doctor.

Mrs. Prost. I would like to ask what is the population of Seward? Dr. DEISHER. The population of the town itself is approximately 2,500, but I am sure there are more than 3,000 in this area, which includes the economic area.

Mrs. Prost. In this immediate vicinity, what other large town is close by and easily accessible if a judge were placed here?

Dr. DEISHER. There is no-well, he would be able to go to Kenai, Homer, and Seldovia with little difficulty because those are on the Kenai Peninsula. We have air, railroad, and water transportation into Seward, which would allow him to leave by any of those routes. Mrs. PrOST. Are the other towns that you mentioned quite goodsized?

Father CILAPP. Might I answer that.

Mr. BARTLETT. Identify yourself.

Father CILAPP. Father Cilapp, St. Peters Episcopal Church.

I can't speak too authoritatively. We made a survey of Kenai some time ago. Kenai, of course, isn't a town or anything else; it is just there. They have about 1,500, not counting the Army post and so forth. Probably close to 300 children in school this year, if not a little more. That gives you a rough idea.

Homer is again one of those scattered communities. I would hate to estimate what it would be, possibly 700 if you take in all that area. I think the population of Seldovia in wintertime, when none of the canneries is operating and the population is dispersed, is about 400. Dr. DEISHER. I believe the idea would be to headquarter this man out of Anchorage and have him on circuit throughout the district rather than have him in Anchorage, where he would probably improve the administration there, but we in the outer areas would not feel it so much.

Mrs. PrOST. As it is, the judge remains in Anchorage at all times! Dr. DEISHER. As far as I know, that is the way it works at the present time.

Mr. BARTLETT. I think he is on circuit occasionally.

Dr. DEISHER. But it is only rarely; is it not?

Mr. BARTLETT. Yes.

Dr. DEISHER. He is so busy he can't go anywhere else.

Mr. BARTLETT. When he leaves Anchorage he gets farther behind there.

Dr. DEISHER. Yes.

Mr. UTT. Why is it not possible to rotate some judges from other districts? Judge Hodge is not busy like that.

Mr. BARTLETT. I should judge he comes down and spends cumulatively 3 months a year and also goes over to Fairbanks. To the best of his ability to spare time from his own district he helps out in the Third and Fourth Division, and right now he is due in the First Division which has been without the services of a judge since the death of the judge there.

Dr. DEISHER. This I believe is the most populous district of Alaska, is it not?

Mr. BARTLETT. By far.

Dr. DEISHER. These other fellows can come in to help out, but even with their help I don't believe it is adequately serviced as far as courts are concerned.

Mr. UTT. I can only make this observation: That San Diego County, with a population of 750,000 people, has only had 1 judge up to this time, and after 3 years and 30 votes in Congress from California we finally got a second judge. So it is going to be hard to sell the Judiciary Committee on additional judges, as you have found in all of your districts, I am sure.

Mr. BARTLETT. We have had this understanding, fortunately, although we don't have our additional judge yet, and that is that the Judiciary Committee comprehends that the Federal judges in Alaska perform more than a Federal function. The Congress permitted the legislature to impose Territorial duties upon the judges of the district

court.

Dr. DEISHER. I think that is important. Where you have your county and your State levels it is a different matter than here where the Territorial level exists and that is it.

Mr. UTT. And they are the recorder too, are they?

Dr. DEISHER. The United States commissioner.

Mr. DAWSON. Why don't you put the reverse on that? You say the Territory refused to assume its rightful duties, imposed them on the Federal judge. When you think of the Federal judge having to issue liquor licenses, for which they gave the responsibility to the Territory, and they refused to accept and said they wanted the Federal judge to do that, I think that is ridiculous.

Dr. DEISHER. Is the Territory permitted to do these things?

Mr. DAWSON. Not only permitted, but they directed it by act of the Territorial legislature. They refused to assume the responsibility and said, "We want the Federal judge to do it."

Mr. BARTLETT. Mr. Dawson, if you will permit, I want to associate myself with what you said. I think that a Federal judge ought to always be a judicial officer and ought never be an administrative officer. I don't think he ought to be issuing liquor licenses in the Territory of Alaska.

Mr. DAWSON. To the very people he is going to bring before this court to prosecute. It is ridiculous.

Mr. BARTLETT. Mr. Hall.

Mr. HALL. On occasion I have discussed with Judge McCarey the vast docket he has, and in January of this year he informed me there were more cases pending on his civil docket than any other single Federal judicial division in the entire continental United States or possessions. He informs me roughly 2 months ahead when he makes the circuit trip, and the pressure under which he goes is just almost unbelievable. We come in at 8 o'clock in the morning and testimony is poured out just phit, and then he is gone. This is how urgent the matter is. And when he gets back to Anchorage he is 2 or 3 days behind for having been gone 1 day. While he is here it is unbelievable how much work he had processed in the short time he has.

Mr. UTT. I might say, some of us had breakfast with the good judge yesterday morning, and today is his law and motion day and he had 146 cases to dispose of.

Mr. BARTLETT. Are there further questions?

Thank you very much, Doctor.

Do you have something further,Mr. Hardinge?

Mr. HARDINGE. Just one statement. I got to wondering about you gentlemen said they said that Seward didn't want to buy the Moose Pass plant. Maybe it is because a week ago the people from Moose Pass came down here when we called a special meeting. They wanted to talk to the council, and they came down here with a typed-up agreement proposition that they wanted the city council to sign, stating that they would buy the plant from the Moose Pass people for $30,000 if Stuart didn't pick up his obligation. That may be what they were referring to.

Now his option was for $25,200 on the Moose Pass plant, but they came to us with an agreement for us to sign that we would give them $30,000 if Stuart didn't pick it up.

Mr. BARTLETT. Thank you.

Having failed previously to do so, I will now note for the record the committee considers it a pleasure to be accompanied on the trip by Mr. Max Penrod, Director of Education for the Alaska Native Service, who is in the room.

We very much dislike having to conclude the hearing at this time. We only wish there were more minutes in the day so we could stay with you.

If there is anyone here who has not been called upon, first let me say that person will have the opportunity to send a written statement to the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs in Washington, D. C., and it will be incorporated in the record. Or if it is desired, it could be sent to me and I will transfer it to the committee.

If there is anyone in the room now who has not been called upon, whose name has not been included in the list of witnesses, who has a very brief statement to make, we shall be happy to hear from such a witness.

STATEMENT OF PHIL DURANT, CHAIRMAN, UTILITIES BOARD, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, SEWARD, ALASKA

Mr. DURANT. I am very happy to report this is the only time you won't hear a gripe in all of Alaska. I was on the small-boat harbor committee and we wanted something done, because it is very serious

down there. We get more and more boats, and we had 15 sunk last Saturday night. Thursday afternoon a representative of the district engineer's office of Anchorage came down to Seward and he was directed over to my place. He had the blueprints and maps, all specifications and things taken from the Copper River report by the district engineer of Seattle in 1951. He came down for the sole purpose of finding out if we wanted some changes made. They have $30,000 in their pocket now from the Federal Government to build a new breakwater out there to give the boats protection.

So we had a committee meeting that night and decided not to change the breakwater arrangement that the engineers had designed. They will call for bids right after the first of January, and the $111,000 project will be completed by June 1.

That is the best news I have to report.

Mr. BARTLETT. The fact is, Mr. Durant, that the Congress, on occasion, very clearly eluded the Bureau of the Budget. The Bureau of the Budget made no request for small-boat harbors anywhere in the United States, but the Congress asserted its own right and dignity and put in some money.

Mr. DURANT. Threw in another million dollars and Seward got in on it.

(Discussion off the record.)

Mr. BARTLETT. Let me, on behalf of all of us, express our thanks to you for having borne so patiently with us when we were late in coming and having given us such useful testimony in your appearances here. Thank you very much.

The hearing will now conclude.

(Whereupon, at 5:45 p. m., the subcommittee adjourned to reconvene at the call of the Chair.)

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