, 1880-04-22
ALASKA ONCE MORE.
To THE EDITOR OF TIE "NATIoNAI
REPUBLICAN"

) cam Of the 18th instant, in a com
muncation signed Alaska" find
denial Of my estimate Of the popu
lation Of the territory of that name.
given in my article published the
day before, as also insintatiuns de
signed to ridicuIe nv knowledge Of
the country, and charge of inten.
ton to create false impressions.
To sustain his denial Of my esti
mate the writer pretends 10 give the
census taken by Capt G. W. Bailey,
OF the revcnae marine, in his cruise
last summer. These may be cor.
rectly given, though the deliberate
misrepresentation of the writer in
two other citations might justify
doubts vs. to all his statements, and |
am not able to SEQ tho rep ort to. day,
as it is in tho printers hands. But,
admitting them to be correct, they
do not give "shs population of Alas
ka down 70 octcbur, 1879" as the
writer states; for the report shows,
and he knew that Captain Bailey did
not touch at single port in all
Southeastern Alaska, after May 20,
1879. The residents Of Wrangel
wore theu away at the Cassiar mines.
Had he really been there in October
lS79," he would have found 500 in
stead Of seventy-Gve whites and
many of them occupying apd build
ing houses on land to which they
have no means Of acquiring title till
some law is given them. Al Sitka
be reports seventy-cight, but at that
time the terror Of M Indian outbreak
was still fresh, aad il was not known,
If there was to be speedy protection,
armed or civil, for that locality.
since both has been assured, settlers
have focked in by every steamer
down to and since ''October, 1879"
and there are now not less than 500
whites in and around Sitka eager de.
string "governor, etc." and a land
com missioner, etc., tnat they may
pre- empt homes there and develop
the country.
Besides this, CAPTAIN Bailey's con,
sus does not include the people at
either of the settlements Of Chilean,
; Klawak, Silver Bay or Port Hunter,
at neither of which he touched, and
at all Of which there are white resi-.
dents, and in two of them quite
number. And if ho really gives
4,300 as the entire Indian population
he is certainly much below the cor
rect estimate, for it is we'll known
that there are more than that mum
! ber within one hundred miles Of Sit
ks On rr::s,::s twen.y.three aid
twenty four Of The pamphlet of tes
timonY taken by the Senate sub
committee on Alaska, will be found
some carefully prepared tables Of
Mr.. Ivan Petroff, a gentleman Of
that intimate personal knowledge Of
the whole territory, which the writer
"Alaska" thinks so essential, and
very guarded in his statements. He
concludes thus: "We have a total
of members Of the Russian church
OF 5000, without counting the mis-.
sion on the Yukon river, and some
settlements on Norton Sound, from
which we have no returns" Now,
Mr.. Petroff takes and credits Capt.
Bailey's report in his rsturns---in
fact, they are based upon it---aad it
will be seen that my estimots is cor
rect, even without the two settle
meuts just mentioned, and the four
previously mentioned, and the in.
crease at Sitka and Wrangsl since
May, 1879. am not required to
"gainsay" Capt. Bailey's report in
order to show there are 5000 civil
lized people in Alaska. And let ne
say here, since it 10 customary to
speak slightingly of the creo les and
Aleuts, that their character is entire.
ly misunderstood. Many designated
creoles in the population tabIss are
apparently pure white, and among
them refined and educated families,
that have furnished wives TO our
military and naval officers and scien
tifc explorers, The assertion that
these people, now absolutely with
out any form Of law for their pro-
lection, shave no interest in" a bill
which proposes to give them a law,
is too prsposterous for argument.
The writer has further charged that
] attempted to give the impress
sion" that these 5000 are the people
who pay into the Treasury tho an
nual revenue of e317,009. Yet here