Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-03-02

To the Editor of The Evening Star:
Two or three items appearing in your COL
umns with reference to the government school
teacher, Charles II. Edwards in Alaska, have
fallen under my notice, and am constrained
to make answer to the communication signed
Emory NJ Foster.
The difficulty in Alaska is that the govern
ment is, for the most part, in the hands of
those who sympathize with evil doing In
seeking to excuse Commissioner Rogers for ex-
onerating the slayer of Edwards by ruling
that as the latter was not peace officer he
was guilty Of an act of piracy, Mr.. Foster sees
fit to strengthen his case by referring to
Edwards as missionary, and says 1.-The United
States commissioner at Sitka has no power to
create government official cut of an Alaskan
missionary"
Beyond all question Mr. Foster knew that
Edwards was not in Alaska AS missionOry
but as q duly commissioned government school
| teacher. Furthermore, he was the only white
man at the settlement Of Kake and besides that
was sent there by the government as its repre-
sentative to care for and protect and educate
the natives.
Under the circumstances he would nave rem
dered himself liable &c q charge OF cowardice
and would have betrayed the trust reposed in
him by the government had he stood idly by
and permitted those men to debauch the natives
under bis care with their whisky,
While the law is rather rigid thing, never
theless 1t has been found many times neces
sary to take into confederation. the environ
| ment in passing judgment upon any question
| II the United States Supreme Court could ms
| tify the use OF greenbacks as currency under
| the view that II was a war measure surely it
would not have been very wrong for Mr. Com
missioner Rogers to have held that Edwards
| was, constructively, peace officer
| The administration OF justice 70 in Alaska is
responsible for the death Of Edwards Case
| after case has arisen in which effort has been
made by those who wished to see the laws up
| held to punish evil doors and in which
their efforts have been made to work to
| their injury and to the exonera-
| ton Of the violators Of the Law 1t il
| no wonder that men who willing to accumu.
late wealth by debauchins and degrading the
| savage bslow bis savage state are en- boldened by
| this lax and worse thhE lax, method Of admin
! istering the lave TO .beir open violation ana
to resisting to the death any interference with
! their nefarous conduct
| The yoang man who did tie shooting NAV
have IAN excellent reputation in juneau his
| home" but, unfortunately an excellent repu-
tation at Junesr would not count &c. very much
| in any other section, ard the fact that he him
self admitted the killing OF a NAN who was
/ seeking to prevent him from committing a
crime would indicate that any excellent repu-
tation he may have had rested upon Q very
poor foundation
| was not ct Sitks at the time these men
| brought the body OF the murdered man to that
place, but I was there for se yera. weeks last
summer and had a good opportunity for
observing how affairs are conducted did not
know the young man Of excellent reputation
| from juneau. but I did kuoe Mr. Edwards
| very well, and 1t makes my blood boi. to feel
that such q life has been cut of at the COM
mencemsnt OF its usefulness by Q man who
was confessedly violating the laws of the
land for the purpose Of degrading the innocent
4 children OF nature whose guardianship we have
assumed, and especially when the slayer is ex-
onerated from all blame. and to that end the
character Of the murdered man II DETAINED
Was it not enough that the nobis young fellow
representatives Of this country follow IN the
| crime Of the murderer by blaekeninR the chAr.
actsr Of the patriot he has slain?
| Louo Z. 0uEsox.
| Chieaxo Feb. rs. 1891. - ;.