The San Francisco call., 1897-07-24

tory. For the construction of road or
| railroad, as the matter stands now, from
the ocean over the divide to the head
waters of the YUKON, the consent OF both
| Governments must be secur ed.
ALI of the overland routes followed are
| reached by Lynn canal, except The Taku
| II yer route From the head OF the Chill
| Kat arm of the canal the route goes up
| Chllkat River. over Chflkat Pass, then
| down 10 Arkell Lake and on by the TAX
keena River to join the other routes at its
mouth, or up the Klukene River and
across prairie land by an old Indian trail
now called the Dalton trail to the vicinity
of Fort Selklrk on the Yukon proper
from the ChilcOot arm seve a passes are
! reached, Chilcoot Moores Whites and
Skagaway. The great bulk of all the
nresent overland travel goes over Chilcoot
Pass, through Moores and Whites passes.
a little to the east oft are sa id to be much
| lower and more practicable as is also that
by way OF Skagaway Bay and river, by
which 1t Is In cont m platon, as noted
some time since in THE CALI, to run a
railroad over the divide TO the lake be-
| yond.
The other route, by Taku Inlet and
River. crosses the divide by a low pass to
the headwaters OF Atm Lake, or goes
| farther along to the head of the river and
thence over to Teslin Lake. This route
has already been inspected by engineers
for railroad, and a charter for the same
from the Canadian Government; has been
| obtained, with bonus of 5120 acres of
land per mile of road. This road will be
| about 165 miles long and will most likely
| be the most popular OF all, as with the line
! OF quick steamers which it is proposed 10
run in connection with it on Teshn Lake
| and Hootal. nqua and Lewis rvers to the
Yukon passengers will be able to go from
| Iaku Inlet or Juneau 10 Dawson with only
| al
| parties are interested in this road, but the
| company is said to be mainly composed of
| Can adian capitalists. Another road is
projected over Whites Pass or Moores by
the British Columbia Development Com
| pany.
Neither Chilkat nor Chilcoot Pass is
practicable for railroads, or even easy
| highways, so these parties are seeking to
seize all the practicable routes, trusting
that their Government Will stand by
| them, as it always does where its citizens
are interested. The British Government
maintains that the construction put upon
the treaty by the United States is wrong
and that a proper Interpretation would
| throw the boundary line much farther to
| the south and west, giving all the upper
part of Lynn canal, with Chilkat and
| Chlcoot lnlets, as well as Taku Inlet, 10
| Canada. The matter has ben dragging
along for some ye ars, and while yet unde-
termined as to the part south and east OF
Mount ST. Elias, they are proceeding TO
grant charters, ETC., on the assumption
that their contention will be sustained
when the matter is finally settled.
The whole question lies in the construc-
tion put upon language used in the con-
vention between Great Britain and Russia
February 2S-16, 1925. as in passing her
title to the United States by the
treaty of cession March 80, 1867, Russia
referred TO and quoted the above treaty in
fixing the boundaries. The pertinent
matter is found in articles III and ",
which describe the boundary as follows:
"Commencing from the southernmost
point OF the island called Prince of Wales
Island, which point lies in the parable 81
deg. 40 min. north latitude and between
the 131st and 133 degree of west longi-
tude the said line shall ascend the chan
mel called Portland Canal as far as the
| point oil the continen where 1t str kes the
56th degree of north latitude. From this
aforementioned p int the line of Gemarca-
| tion shall follow the summit of the noun
tains situated parallel to the coast as far
as the point OF In terSect on of The 141st de-
gree of west longitude (of the same
meridian-GreenwichD y, and finally from
the said point of intersection, the said
meridian OF the 141st degree, in its pro-
longation as far as the frozen ocean.
with reference to tho line of demarca-
tion as laid down in the preceding article
it Is understood:
"First-That the island called Prince of
Wales Island shall belong wholly to
Russia (now by this cession to the United
States).
"Second-That if the summit of the
mountains which extend in a direc-
ton parallel 10 the coast from the
tifty-ffth degree Of latitude to the
point OF intersection of the one hundred
and forty-first degree of west longitude
shall prove to be more than ten marine
leagues from the ocean, the limit between
the British possessions and the line of
coast which is to belong to Russia (that is
to say, the limit of the possessions as
ceded by this convention) shall be formed
by a line parallel TO the winding of the
coast, and which shall never exceed the
distance of ten marine leagues therefrom."
The United States Government con-
strues this 10 mean ten marine leagues
from tidewater, while the British Govern
ment contends that it means ten marine
| leagues from the outer or western side of
the islands off the coast, which inter-
probation, as said before, would give them
| all the valuable harbors and passes and
make Juneau worthless as an entry to the
| Yukon country.