The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1895-11-02
ALASKA BOUNDARY DISPUTE
What Coast Survey officials Say
Of II.
General Dum.ia's statement OF Grea,
hritain's sudden Interest How
the Msttef Must lie settled
-Jpneau City Alarmed.

wit - ~ wv %Vs"@ ~ y
ports from Alaska show that the inhab.
state Of alarm over the settlement of tn.
Alaska boundary question. The wa
cry. Ter marine leagues of fight" ha:
been sounded once more.
In point of fact the officials of thu
coast and geodetic survey state tina
the people of Juneau have not the
slightest ground for alarm. inasmuch a.
there is no danger of their ever waking
up some morning and finding them
selves in Canadian fertility. The ques.
ton of the Alaskan boundary is one O,
long standing. which the United State.
government inherited from Russia. A
commission was appointed several years
ago, a representative of the British gov,
eminent and the superintendent of the
United States coast and geodetic survey
to ascertain the facts involved in the
contention, which were to be submitted
to their higher authorities as a basis
for reaching a final decision.
General Dufield, the superintendent
of the survey. said that the work of the
American surveyors, while not complete
was still in a very forward state. Two
years ago the northwestern extremity
of the disputed line was settled at the
l41st meridian, up which the line then
runs to the Arctic ocean. This point is
very close to Mount st. Elias, which, &C
cording to estimates, of American rep.
resentatives. is well within h territory
of Alaska. This year the southern ex-
tremity of the line was located. and In
view Of the contention raised by Great
Britain there would be small use in com.
p!eting the line which run northwest
and separates the southern extremity of
Alaska from British Columbia. The
reason that 1t would be unwise to go to
the trouble of settling this line Is that
the claims of Great Britain and the
United States as to where 1t should run
are greatly at varience and a survey
would not help the matter in the slight
est.
liow the Question Must He Settled.
The boundary line between Alaska
and British Columbia must be settled
by an Interpretation of the terms of the
treaty by which the United States got
possession of the territory. According
to that treaty the line Is to start at the
southern extremity of the Prince Of
Wales Island. 81 degrees 40 minutes
north, east to the Portland canal, which
it Is to follow up to a point where the
canal crosses the 56th parallel. From that
point 1t was to run northwest, and the
terms Of the treaty stated that If there,
were a range of mountains parallel TO
the coast, the line should follow the
crests of the mountains; or IL there
were no mountains 1t should run along
parallel with the coast and at a distance
Of ten marine leagues up to the 141st
,oartI{ar II, pn{rf or Haot thara ie 40
such range of mountains there, and the
whole question reduced itself to a con-
test as to what was meant by ten
marine leagues from the coast" :,
According to q prominent official,
Great Britain never worried very much
over the line, and let the whole matter
lie in allegiance until it happened that
gold vas discovered in the territory.
Then as he expressed it. "the inter-
est Of Great Britain flashed up like
powder in O pan just as it always does
under similar circumstances. Great
Britain has a great liking for gold"
The bou.siary line as claimed by
Great Britain is 10 run parallel and at a
distance of ten marine leagues not from
the coast of the mainland, as the United
States understands it, but from the
outer edge of the outer islands. Such a
claim as this throws the boundary line
completely out of the mainland in
places, and would give the United
States only the possession of the
islands, and not even all of them. For
instance, the line passes directly
through and almost bisects Chicago
Island. Under this claim Juneau would
be in British Columbia.
In the Nature OF n Blur.
Il 90 not really think" said General
Duhield, that Great Britain is in ear
nest in making this claim. l regard 1t
largely in the nature of a bluff and the
good people of Juneau may be satisfied
that the United States Will never re-
gard the outer edge of the outer islands
as the seacoast of Alaska. The people
of Juneau are laboring under a misap-
p%rehension in thinking that the final
settlement of this question rests with
the boundary commission. This COM
mission has no power in the matter and
was only intended to supply the state
department and the foreign office with
data on which to base their agreement.
In other words, the commission night
be compared with the surveyors who
would furnish a court with information
bearing upon a question where the
boundaries Of a piece of land were dis
puted. One of the most important
questions to be decided is the point
where the 141st meridian crosses Forty
Mile creek. which flows into the Yukon
river Forty Mile creek Trains the
gold country, and 1t is toward that
point that all h miners are h~urrying.
The mouth of the creek is very close to
the 141st meridian, and it is a ques-
ton of considerable Importance to
know whether it is in American or Brit
ish territory. AS a result OF the com,
putations made by the surveyors 1
think l am safe in saying tina the
United States annot claim the mouth
Of the creek. which is slightly across
the line"
FRENCH CABINET RESIGNS.
The Railway Soundai the C.u.. os a..