The daily morning Alaskan., 1900-01-01

lng clear Utlo 70 our homes oetoFo tne year Is out.
 skagNay Will be to the fore. too. in sundry appropriations that will bo made by this Congress for distribution In Alas ka. It does seem. judging from the mess age. that the President must have beea impressed by the high intelligence ana modest demands of the citizens of Alaska In convention assembled. and it was skag- way that suggested the convention. and Skagway's delegates who did most of the work. the result of which so impressed the President. Also. it 10 a citizen of Skagwa. who was chosen to represent Alaska L. Washington City. and there Is a probabil- lty of his being seated In Congress. bu. not sufficiently strong to base an abso.uts prediction upon. for the wind blowsth where it listeth." and Congress is breezy place.
 HAVE POWERFUL FRIENDS.
 It might be an advantage to us to have ar. Price seated: but let that 70. we have now plenty of friends in the House as it is. The chairman of the Committee on Territories has broken bread with us and drank of our vintage. and he Is A power in Congress. and will not forget us. We have also the whole congregational del- egatlon of the State of Washington. be- aide other powerful friends high up in na- tional influence: 60 let us plan it thls way:
 We Will have A court house beyond i1 doubt because our friend Mir. Mckinley told them to give us that. In all proba- olllty. however. it Will be an appropria- tlon for a public building to house all the federal ofnees. the court. the customs and the postofiee. For this wo will put down sse.OO0. The Government inspector who was up here was much impressed by a- certain lot as a site for a school build Ing. and for such school building We will appropriate. say ylO.OO0. Then this Ia to be the military post of Alaska. Capt. Robinson aS good as said that when he was here two months ago with insIrue- ,ions from the War Department to select site. These appropriations are pretty safe predictions.
 But there Is no glory In being rated as sure thing" prophet; let us go step further. We will predict that skagway will be made the capital of Alaska: or of Southeastern Alaska if they divide the district. That may be bold. but it certain v Ia not unreasonable when VIC consider that all those Senators and Congressmen who were here last summer saw Skagway. or parts Of it. in three days. and all Of sitkain three minutes. and are able to com pare the two. They know that it may take couple Of weeks to go from here to Sitka and back. and also that the number Of legal cases from Skagway Is as hur- lred to one from the present capital. Juneau has a good chance. of course; but hose Senators and Congressman were SO ieeply impressed with the great port skagway will become. They all said SO. This Is therefore only a second-rate Tro- lhecy after all. for it has more reason .bleness about it than prophecies are enti- lied to.
 Those are the substantialiues we are to receive thls year: Of such ethereal mat CTS as laws we shall probably get nor nan we want. as we did In the last Con ;ress. but they will probably be Of a fresh r brand and less gratty flavor.
 ROOM IN BUSINESS.
 Now. to tear the prophetic eye from th lome of the capitol and bring it to bca. ln matters nearer home. Every vase. hat belches black smoke against the blue ky of Bennett this year will be a bond d carrier Every pack on man or beast lr boat or scow may go to Nome customs rec. The owner will simply have to put ID a cash deposit with the Canadian ofi- ials to the amount Of the customs due md this will be returned to him In full y the United States customs officer at :agle. This Is great convenience in nore ways than one. and the other way Is hat the money you deposit for customs Is not subject to being lost or stolen from you during the trip.
 This will make a merry. merry time Tor ,very merchant and hls wife when he bal lnces up his books next Christmas. For ill the men planning to go out with the lrst Ice will buy their outfits here. and very man going by steamer will take al east l5O pounds with him. whether h. reeds lt or not. for that much he can take IS free baggage. and sell it for much higher figure in Dawson or Nome if h. loes not need i,. Suppose there arc only twenty thousand people who choose this route to Nome. and each one buys only lsJ pounds. That will be pretty fair business In itself But thls Is not pro- lheey. It Is too buslness-llNe.
 The handling Of the enormous quantity lf freight and number Of passengers also ifiords no scope for prediction. Moore's wharf has been extended SO that it has 900 feet of deep water doekage. where i've ihips can tic up and unload at once. and he company is providing all sorts Of spe- .ial facilities for the speedy trans ,hipment of goods. The railroad train will meet returning Klondikers with their bring clean-ups below White Horse some lme in July. and then where will the st ilehaers route be? There are other great .hings the railroad will do. but it does not talk about doing things; lt does them.
 A COMPETING RAILROAD.
 We may. hossever. do little predicting lbout a competing railroad line. and a competing wharf. and a new competing Inc of steamships to this port This means he Chilkoot tunnel proposition. It was ,romoted In the first place as Dyea pro- ,osition. but it was soon seen that as sueh it could not possibly pay. because it ,ould never hope to have any local trade. MI the trade is here. and it Is firmly es- ,ablished here. So the promoters were compelled to base their project at this