The evening times., 1898-08-17
NEAR A REVOLT.
MiRcrs on the Yukon Oppressed By
the Government.

the GOveFnment.
Echoes Of the complaints OF the thous-
ands who have gone to the klondike
| against the demands of the Canadian
| government have reached the States
from time to time. The situation Is be-
coming serious. A letter from Dawson
under date of July Il, to the Chicago Rec
ord says: ut is confidently hoped that
the Canadian government before long will
adopt a more liberal policy toward the
miners. The reason for this hope is that
when matters get to the limit Of endur-
ance there is bound to be a reaction-an
upheavaL Already, within a week, two
| mass meetings to protest against the
laws and against official abuses have
been held. 1t Is q noteworthy fact that
Americans. although they are In large
majority, have taken no part in these
demonstrations, the speakers and origi-
| nators Of the movement being British
subjects. The speeches were moderate in
tone. although some charges of official
corruption were made of which no proof
has been yet submitted. and a set of reso-
lutions was adopted asking for the re-
peal of the royalty law and other oppres-
sive measures.
Most of the owners OF producing
mines say they will shut down work un-
til the royalty is taken away. and no
doubt a great many will do so. An addi-
tional incentive for delay lies In the fact
that wages are expected to be lower.
''It is fairly estimated that IOOOO per-
sons are walking the streets In Dawson
or sitting on the river bank lost in won
der as to why they ever came into this
country If they came tn dig gold fbav
seem to have forgotten 1t, for it Is said
that fully one-half of the lot never leave
the river to prospect and never stick a
shovel into the ground. The majority Of
them look discouraged and aggrieved-
After all the trouble We have had to
get into the country-after all the hard
ships in reaching the gold they seem to
say, II turns out now that we have TO dig
H. That Is a contingency they never
considered Those who have mined in
other places know in a measure what to
expect, but OF the crowd in Dawson hard
iy one in ten ever saw a mine before and
now that they see the vulgar earth that
the gold comes from they are awfully
disappointed They want to go home
1t would be disappointing to have to take
mine that was not as good as the best.
and there is a doubt of there being
enough of that grade to go around. And
then, II you do go out and dig hole.
there may not be one chance in a dozen
that II will turn out mine. II you de-
eide 10 dig in one place you will probably
wish within an hour after beginning
work that you had started in somewhere
else. So It hardly seems worth while to
kill yourself at work till you find out
more about the country.
There is always In all crowds of new
corners mere disposition. yearning TO
go somewhere else. 1t Is the same dis
satisfied pioneer instinct that discovers
all the new places of the earth. These
men hope that over toward the Rockies
or down in American territory would be
better. And at this moment there are
thousands down the river in Alaska who
are striving 10 get there The flood of
people from the passes and the tide from
st. Michae! meet here and overlap. Daw-
son is always the goal until it is REACHED.
and then another. still forward, is con-
jured up. Now they are talking the Nc.
Question. the Tanana and Seventy Nile