The true northerner., 1886-07-15
THE PURCHASE OF ALASKA.
History of the resident Lincoln
Alone should Have Credit for IL.

OE ALAOhAs
History of the Purchase-PresidentL Lincoln
Alone should Have Credit for IL.
have lately seen it in print for the
first time that VIM. III. Seward said
that the one act of his life most to be
proud of was the acquisition of Alaska.
This. to those who are not ignorant of
the facts. is a remarkable claim. AS
was minister plenipotentiary from the
United States at st. Petersburg, Rus
sia, during the time of the purchase
and addition of Alaska to the Union,
and Seward Secretary of State--how-
ever, we might both claim to be the
peers of Lincoln in ability-Lincoln
was our chief and the honor of that
expansion of territory belongs to him.
1t is the general in chief who wears the
laurels OF victory, however gallantly
his subordinates may have fought. SO
far, then, as Seward and myself are
concerned, 1 lay the facts before the
world for the award of honor.
Collins, having explored the route
from America, through Alaska, the
Aleutian Isles, and Siberia to ST.
Petersburg, united with Sibley, the
President of the Western Union Tele-
graph Company, to extend their line to
the Russian capital. They placed this
project in my hands, and L got very
favorable charter from the Russian
Government, one clause of which was
the privilege of rebate" or gratuity,
in common phrase, for all words trans
mitted from the Pacific to st. Peters
burg on Russian lines. Another project
of mine was to secure TO American citi-
zens the perpetual lease of the splendid
coal mines on the island of Saghalien, on
the eastern coast of Russia. A third
was grant of the Russian Fur Com
pany's privileges-for an equivalent -.
to an American company, in the vast
regions of Alaska. Heretofore the Rus
sian Pacific coast was not open even to
foreign consulships, but an American
consuiship was now allowed.
These projects of mine were all cog
nate. The telegraph would free us
from dependence on the enemies of the
Union by lines in our own possession.
The coal mines of Saghalien were al
most a necessity of our commerce with
China, Japan, and the Corea. And our
acquisitions in Alaska would offer
combined force of Americans and Rus
slams against a war with England,
which then seemed imminent. Collins
and Sibley asked not only for right
of way through Alaska, but for land
grants for the lines and stations, all of
which were freely discussed by me and
RUSSIAN officials IN private and per-
sonal way. / found the resources of
Alaska to be beyond price in minerals,
and fisheries and forests, and furs, and
commercial promise. l wrote to Gov.
John A. Andrew, of Massachusetts, aud
other distinguished citizens and capi-
tai SITS about these projects. A COM
pany was formed in San Francisco and
1 was engaged to contract with the Rus
an Fur Company for a transfer of It's
chartered rights to the Americans
Everything was favorable, when Sew
ard opened up his unfortunate Perkins.
claim and completely disgusted the
Russian autocrat and Gortchakoff with
American projects. The Saghalien en-
terprise was cut short The telegraph
line was refused the rebate" and
dropped out, Notwithstanding Collins,
Sibley, and did all we could to have
the terms confirmed which had been
made by the Minister of Telegraphs,
Count / olstoi.
Still, the advantages of the transfer
of Alaska were so apparent that, having
sounded the Russian authorities, / had
formal meetings with the Russian Fur
Company, and the terms were all
agreed upon. When the news came that
Alaska was purchased outright by the
United States, Seward sent me a treaty
upon trade marks" which L signed
and delivered; but he negotiated the
Alaska purchase, for which he had no
more reason to claim credit than for
Jefferson's acquisition of Louisiana.
There was no American so odious to
the Russians as Seward, and / had
worked up the project and cultured the
tree until the fruit was ripe and fell,
by the necessity of the case, into his
basket. NJ clay, t'a NeW York
Sun,