The record-union., 1899-12-06
TERRITORY OF ALASKA.
Necessity of Immediate Legislation
Pointed Out.

| A necessity for immediate legislative
action exists in the Territory of Alas
ka- Substantially the only law pro-
viding q. civil Government for this Ter
ritory is the Act of May II, 1884. This
is meager in it's provisions, and it is
fitted only for the administration of
affairs in country sparsely inhabited
| by civilized people and unimportant in
trade and production, as was Alaska at
the time this Act was passed.
! The increase in population by immi-
grafton during the past few years, con-
sequent upon the discovery of gold, has
produced such a condition as calls for
ample facilities for local self-govern-
ment and more numerous conveniences
of civil and judicial administration.
Settlements have grown up in various
places, constituting in point of popu-
| lation and business cities of thousands
of inhabitants, yet there is no provision
of law under which municipality can
be organized or maintained.
| In some localities the inhabitants
have met together and voluntarily
formed municipal organization for the
purpose of local government, adopting
the form of a municipal Constitution
under which paid officials have been
appointed, and ordinances creating and
regulating police force, a fire de-
! partment, a department of health, and
making provision for the care of the
insane and INDECENT poor and sick and
for public schools have been passed d.
| These proceedings and ordinances
passed by such municipality are with
out statutory authority, and have no
sanction, except as they are maintained
by the popular sentiment of the COM
munity.
| There is an entire absence of author
| ity to provide the ordinary instrument
of local police control and administra-
ton, the population consisting of the
usual percentage of lawless adventur-
| ers of the class that always flock to
the new fields of enterprise or discov-
! cry, and under circumstances which re-
| quire more than ordinary provision for
| the maintenance of peace, good order
and lawful conduct.
| The whole vast area of Alaska COM
prises but one judicial district, with
! one Judge, one Marshal and one Dis
trict Attorney. yet the civil and Grim
! ina1 business has more than doubled
within the past year, and is many
times greater both in volume and i'm
portance than it was in 1884. The
duties of the Judge require him to
travel thousands of miles to discharge
his judicial duties at the various
| places designated for that purpose. The
Territory should be divided into at
! least two districts, and an additional
Judge, District Attorney, Marshal and
There is practically no organized
| form of government in the Territory.
There is no authority except in Con-
gress to pass any law, no matter how
| local or trivial, and the difficulty of
conveying to the Congress an adequate
conception and understanding OF the
various needs of the people is easily
| understood. I see no reason why 4
more complete form of territorial or
ganization should not be provided.
| Following the precedent established
| in the year 1905, when a temporary
government was provided for the re-
Gently acquired Territory, then known
under the name of Louisiana it seems
to me that it would be advantageous to
| confer greater executive power upon
| the Governor, and to establish, as was
| done in the case of the Territory of
louisiana legislative council hav-
| ing power to adopt ordinances which
| shall extend to all the rightful sub
| jects of local legislation, such ordi-
nances not to take effect until report
| ed to and approved by the Congress,
| if in session, and if that body is not
| in session, then by the President.
| In this manner a system of laws pro-
| viding for the incorporation and gov
| eminent of towns and cities having a
certain population, giving them the
| power to establish and maintain a sys-
| tenn of education to be locally support
| ed and ordinances providing for police,
| sanitary and other such purposes
| should be speedily provided. I believe
| a provision of this kind would be sat-
| isfactory to the people of the Terri
tory It is probable that the area is
| too vast and the population too scat
| tered and transitery to make it wise
at the present time to provide for an
elective legislative body but the con-
ditions calling for local self government
will undoubtedly very soon exist and
will be facilitated by the measures
| which 1 have recommended.