Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1901-01-04
Facts of the Mining Con-
ditions There.
STANDARD ELECTRIC COMPANY CAMP REMOVED
The Bucket and Cable Parted in the
Shaft of the Defender, but No
one Was Injured.

| El6cJlOn D6ng Jnlng OF Tue
past, l wish to say little about the
conditions, under which this thinly
settled, isolated but rich region, is
struggling toward the position it de-
serves as part of great nation. And
no party has any right to accuse the
other on this subject, for both have
covered themselves with discredit in
their management of Alaskan affairs
for more than 80 years.
Instead of encouraging and assisting
the hardy pioneers who were Drawing
hardships unknown to those who went
to California so years ago, the Govern
ment has treated them more like the
people of conquered province, indeed
far worse than it treated the men who
surrendered their arms at Appomattox.
The officers are appointed from Wash
ington as personal favors to the ap-
pointees without regard to their fitness
or the wishes of the people. For in
stance, last spring practically unani-
nous request was sent to President
Mckinley from the Republicans of
Alaska that Governor Brady should
hold his Office no longer. By return
mail came Gov. Brady's re-appoint-
ment for two years. Petitions for a
Territorial form of government are
not even replied to. Another abuse
most maddening to the sons of those
who fought in re, is the oppressive
taxation without representation,
carried on all over Alaska. Last year
Skagway alone paid nearly forty thou
sand dollars in taxes to the u. S., a
thing unheard of since the thirteen
colonies risked everything in seven
years war rather than submit to such
tyranny. Had England succeeded in
collecting all the taxes she tried to
exact in ITO, the amount would have
been less than Alaskans are paying
now. A few blocks from here, a
woman who was supporting her four
children, all under ten years, by taking
boarders, had to take down her sign
because she was unable to pay the fifty
dollar tax our great free government
exacts from all who feed the hungry in
this Arctic region where all eatables
except fish and game, have to be
brought a thousand miles or more.
This year some of the best mining dis
tricts have been given disastrous set
back by the power-of-attorney loca-
tions now held to be legal, instead of
allowing each district to manage its
own affairs as in early days in Cali
fornia. At Nome one man located
more than eight hundred claims of 20
acres each, none of which were worked
and nobody can touch them until Jan.
l, 1902. Such wholesale tying-up of
claims was the main cause of the slow
development of Nome and other places.
The Porcupine district, less than
fifty miles west of here, promises to be
very rich, but most of that has been
given over to Canada through the
shrewdness of Brstish diplomacy,
which has cut the thlrty-three mile
strip the 2. s. bought from Russia,
down to less than eight and thus gives
England more than two thousand
sqnare miles of rich territory for two
years with the advantage that possess
ions always carries. A Canadian Gus
tom House stands at the water front
in Skagway and the officials take no
pains to conceal their contempt for the
weakness of Uncle Sam in allowing
such Infringement. An American doc
tor or lawyer is not allowed to practice
in Canada but Canadians or any one
else may freely practice here and these
facts are often quoted as evidence of
inferiority Of American Institutions.
Gan this be the caseD
The past season several prominent
officials were in Skagway and when
their attention was called to these
abuses they promised to use their in
fuence to have them corrected. Sem
atOr Mason was most emphatic in his
promises and we hope he will not for
get them.
Two ships have been wrecked be-
tween here and Juneau this fall for the
want Of proper lighthouses. The
channel is narrow and dangerous, the
days in December less than hours in
length and such Indifference to safety
on the part Of the Government is moth
ing less than criminal.
One other point and I'll stop growl-
ing. A cable between the Pacific
Coast and the Philippines is necessity.
The distance from San Francisco by
the Sandwich Islands and Guam is
much greater than Seattle, touching
several points along the coast of Alaska
Russia, japan and China. To prove
this take globe and a string and see
for yourself. The Alaskan route would
also have the advantage Of shorter
spans SO that smaller cable would be
sufficient, the expense would be much
less, and the local traffic and strategic
importance would be great advantages.
The promoters of the Sandwich Island
route ask subsidy of (S4OO, 1000 four
hundred thousand dollars yearly, those
of the Alaskan route ask no subsidy at
all, but simply the government pat
ronage. The subsidy item accounts
for the milk in the cocoanut and the
"push" is straining every effort to
crowd the job through before the sub
i loot 10 fully nndarSt00d hu tho. nonntru