Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1892-11-10
THE DESIRE OF ALASKA.
Wants to lse Annexed to the State of
Washington.

IuUluB CnC 4uCoUiUu vi peUlIlOuIlk
congress to annex the territory to the
state OF Washington as county.
During the last TWO or three years
Alaska has been complaining bitterly
of the inadeduacy of her system of
laws and government. Untilrcccntly
it has been impossible to acquire IT,
tie to land there, and even today the
process Of acquisition is hampered by
many vcxatious restrictions. The
courts are scarcely fitted for dealing
with cases Of Importance; and yet
appeals to the United States supreme
court at Washington, or even the cir
cult court Of appeals at San Fran
cisco, are expensive.
The maintenance of order is today
almost an impossibilty, as the cnor-
nous amount of whisky smuggling
shows. The rough sea coast of Alaska
and the great distance between set
Elements, together with the primi-
tive means Of travel, are serious
duties. Under the present law dep
uty marsllals.arc allowed $50 year
and must pay their ow. expenses.
Under such circumstances it is sur
prising that the officers should spend
as much time and money rs they do
in the effort to capture criminals.
Like all other frontier countries
Alaska is great dumping ground for
refugees from justice. Occasionally
faint rumors come out that the
miners on the Yukon river have had
trouble, and that one or two men have
been murdered, but matters are
hustled up and no complaints are
made. Miners have returned from
some of the camps on Forty Mile
creek. which cmptics into the Yukon
river near the international boundary.
testify that more lawless characters
abound in that country than ever en-
listed in California during the palm
lest days violence.
AS matters are now, Alaska can get
little or no attention from congress
and the general government. and the
territory is so Gar from the center of
authority at the national capital that
the arm of the law is weak and ineth-
cient. The better people feel that
the legislature of this state is much
more accessible body, and would be
likely to pay much more heed To the
needs of Alaska. Then, too, there is
now constant communication between
the principal towns OF Alaska and
Puget sound, and the regulation of
the affairs of the territory would be
much easier from here than from the
national capital.
The question OF annexation has not
been agitated in this state. Though
the assumption of the burden OF
Alaska's government would be SER
ious undertaking, yet the people here
could not hesitate at it. CONNER
cially Alaska is now coming very close
to Washington. For years San Fran
cisco and Portland had complete con-
troll of her trade. But the conveying
OF railway lines to Puget sound and
the increase in the jobbing trade here
is divcrting Alaska's business from
the old channels and bringing it here.
The case with which Alaska can be
reached fIom Puget sound is also ma
tcrially aiding in the development of
the new country. Here it is that the
miners are getting their outfits. The
number Of gold diggers on the Yukon
has increased from few score of a
two years ago to over 500 this sum-
mcr. The steamer st. Paul recently
brought from st. Michael's, at the
mouth of the Yukon, some 100000 in
gold dust for buying supplies for the
miners. Next summer a regular line
Of steamers will be running from
Puget sound to st. Michael's, and
thence 1000 miles up the river.
With such means of transportation
the mines Of the Yukon will be ten
times more productive than now.
Even il a few years more should
bring the end of the seal hunting in
Behring sea, the fisheries would re-
main as a source of wealth compared
with which the sealing is insignitl-
cant. The total value of last years
catch Of fish amounted to IS, 100, 900,
and that sum can easily DC increased
several fold. In 1891 the pack of sal
mon canncries was 6SS,342 cases of
four dozen one-pound cans, the value
of which was 2,753,32s. The pack
this year will be restricted by COM
bination among the Gamers, but the
total value in the market will be
nearly, if not quite, the same.
The cod fisheries of Alaska are IN
their infancy, though the catch last
year was l 100000 fish, valued at more
than s56O,0o0. The Albatross, the
vessel of the United States fish com.
mission, has recently done much to