The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-17
HOW THE UNITED STATES
 HAVE EXPANDED. T
Chapter x.
The Territory of Alaska.
By DANA C. MUNRO.

a nations were again contending for terri tory in the north. Alaska. with its won derful resources and possibilities, was the cause of this new difference of opin- This territory had been discovered and occupied by. Russia, and har title 10 tne coast above 54 degrees and 70 minutes
 and and the s United States. But she had gain ed little advantage from its possession and regarded 1t as possible source or
 sae n rad 5ad svsat od qt a to tn. Tntd States in 1867 for $7,200000. The amount of territory thus acquired is more than
 800. 900 square miles.
 Alaska were set forth to best advantage by Charles Sumner He dwelt upon the increase of trade which would accrue to
 present treaty is a visible step in the oc-
 cupation of the whole North American
 continent As such it will be recognized can people. But the treaty involves some thing more. We dismiss one other mon- arch from the continent. One by one
 they have retired-hrst Erapnce, cnen ii giving way to the absorbing unity de-
 sIared in the national motto-"E Furious
 in Conclusion, Smuner describes the va- ried resources of Alaska. But back Of all these reasons which initiated the move
 ment to acquire Alaska was the hostility son Bay Company. Russia had granted
 exclusive rights to trade in Alaska to the
 Russian-American Company. The latter
 leased it's rights to the Hudson Bay com pany. American competitors were deter
 mined to take away this lucrative posses
 sion from. the English fur traders;
 Alaska has been most profitable ln- vestment from a pecuniary standpoint, but has involved us constantly Tn olplo- matic contests with England. Seal skins form one of the most valuable commodi- Sa fAN fArN IT, chase we acquired the small islands on the coast on which most of the seals are
 killed. From this source, the Govern ment has received a large revenue and some of our citizens have grown wealthy. But, in order to protect the herd from ex- termination, the Government has been in- voiyed in constant struggle to stop the indiscrtminate slaughter of seals on the high seas.
 An American company has the exclu-
 sive right to take the seals on the islands
 where they breed, and only males are killed. Furthermore. the number is strict ly limited by the Secretary Of the Treas
 ury. who has charge of the whole matter.
 But the Canadians, shut out from this
 lucrative trade. have resorted to sealing
 on the ocean and have killed males and females without discrimination. Accord
 over 80 per cent. of all seals killed by Canadians have been females For this reason, the extermination of the seals has been a positive danger. The question of right was a complicated one, as it was
 hard to prove property In wild animal
 on the sea. But both Governments de-
 sired to, preserve the herds of seals from
 entire destruction and after long discus
 sion an agreement was reached This
 difficulty. however. cannot be regarded as settled.
 Another great source of profit from Alaska has been in the salmon fisheries. This industry began in 1878, with two
 small canning factories in operation. Ten years later there were seventeen canne- | ries and all of these made large profits. This led to a rapid extension of tn indus try, and in 1897, there were twenty-ni nine
 600. The market value of the whole prod | uct in the twenty years has been over 1 $32, ,Q00. 900. or more than four times the | price paid for Alaska.
 The reindeer industry is as yet in its | infancy, but bids fair to be most profit able in the future. In 1890. when the
 visited Arctic Alaska, for the purpose of
 establishing schools, he found the Esh- mo population slowly dying or with star
 yation:" Their food in the past had been derived from the whales, walruses and seals. Almost all of these had been driven off or slaughtered by the whalers.
 The fish. which had been so plentiful in the rivers, was now being shipped to the American market, millions of pounds each
 year. The natives seemed doomed to SOW starvation.
 introducing tame reindeers from Siberia
 was tried. It has proved most success full and the reindeer may become the sup
 port of a large and prosperous population.
 1t is estimated that there are in Alaska at least 400,0 900 square miles unnt for ag- riculture or the raising of cattle. But
 the whole region is believed to be sup piled with the long, fibTous. white moss, the natural food of the reindeer. In fact, wild reindeer were plenty in the past.
 Taking Lapland as a basis of calculation.
 this would support over 9,00O 900 reindeer,
 which would in turn support in cOmpara-
 tive comfort a population of over quar-
 ter Of Q million. If this is accomplished. it will be remarkable example ot hu-
 manity and profit proceeding hand in hand.
 While the reindeer were first introduced 1t was done solely for the benefit of the
 starving Eskimos. But they are now proving no less indispensable to the white | man. This is due to the discovery of gold at remote points, to which equipments must be carried across the barren coun- try. In many places the reindeer is the | only available means of transportation. | no food for them. For this reason the | reindeer seems destined to become as in-
 dispensable in Alaska as the camel is in | the desert.
 Of late years, however, the great indus | try has been gold mining. Gold was dis | covered in small quantities in 1886. but it
 was not until the discovery of the Klon-
 dike, in 1896. that the great rush began: l Up to the present time large amounts of 1 gold have been brought out, partly from
 the Canadian territory and partly from l | the future of this industry. But 1t has | one important effect already in causing
 trouble about the boundary.
 l The opening words of Charles Sumner S | speech, to which reference has already l been made, were: Tn endeaVoring to es- | innate it's character l am glad to begin | with what is clear and beyond question.
 refer to the boundaries fixed by the
 treaty" Today these boundaries are in- | terpreted in many different ways. So | little was known about the country in | 1895 when Russia and England agreed
 upon the boundary line. that it was de- | scribed in a very inaccurate manner. In
 de esding of Alaska to the United States.
 Of course. it Is impossible here to go min l utely into the main points which are in | dispute The subject was admlrably dlS- l cussed by Professor Moore in The North | American for October. 1899. But the most
 important of the disputed points can be
 clearly stated. The treaty declared Tn l mart that "the line of demarcatfon shall
 follow the summits of the mountains sit
 uated parallel to the coast" As matter 1 of fact there Is no range Of muontains | which answers to this definition. But in | order to define the boundary more exact | ly a second article was added. This stated
 that whenever the summits of the noun l tairs should be at the distance of more | than ten marine leagues from the ocean | inc limit should be formed by a line par | allel to the winding of the coast and not
 more than ten marine leagues distant l from the coast The meaning here seems
 to be clear. Of all English maps, except
 the most recent. the boundary Is located l at a distance of ten leagues from the in- | dented coast line. Since the discovery oi gold in the Klondike. however. the Cana dians, under one pretext or another | claim almost all of the narrow fringe of I of. vI.t