The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-12-23

output Is almost inexhaustible; that 1t
possesses the richest placer and quartz
gold mines in all the world; and that
on the lower Yukon and in that vast
region that lies to the northwest and
reaches the far Westward Islands, all
capable of raising immense crops Of
within American territory, there are
many millions Of acres of arabic land
wheat and oats and illimitable ranges
| for cattle, horses and sheep. And yet
all these are plain facts about Alaska,
demonstrabe by q visit there and ver-
flied by the recorded observations Of
perfectly candid and credible men. I
myself have seen most of these things
with my own eyes and the others have
been vouched to me by those whose
! knowledge and veracitv are beyond
question. And these physical facts are
in entire accord with natural condi-
tions and with accredited achieve
ments under similar conditions else
where.
The Climate.
"The latitude of Juneau. Sitka,
| Skagway and Valdez Is practically
the same as that of Christiana and
Copenhagen, and the well developed
| agricultural regions of Norway and
| Sweden. Finland Is six degrees further
north than Alaska and its climatic con-
| ditions are far more favorable; and
yet that little realm produces annually
for export 100000 head of horses. 3,000,-
900 cattle, 100000 sheep. 100000 hogs
| and ducks, chickens and geese innumer-
able. In the last five years 1t has ex-
ported 1913, T43216 pounds Of butter and
| 1,972,1S4 pounds of cheese. And Finland
| has no gold mines, no furs, no fisheries
| no lumber, in all of which products
Alaska is unequaled by any country.
II do not hesitate to declare that in
Alaska the United States possess a
storehouse of every form of material
| wealth that cannot be surpassed and
| hardly equaled by any like area of land
and water on the face Of the globe. The
country has been neglected and misun-
derstood its conditions have been mis-
| represented and disparaged, its sturdy
| pioneers and dauntless miners have
| been unustly taxed and unnecessarily
burdened by the government, and even
it's territory has been pilfered and its
| political integrity menaced by the ag-
eressions Of British greed and the ig-
norance or Indifference of American
| diplomacy. The time has come when
| the facts should be known and justice
| should be done to that splendid coun-
try and it's enterprising, intrepid, mas
terful pioneers.
What Alaska Needs.
"Men and women who have the hard
| hood to travel to that far-off land and
! to endure the privations and perils of
| the struggle necessary to explore and
develop such a vast and unknown
region, certainly deserve to be treated
justly and generously by their own gov
| ernment. They have enough to bear
and to do without having the heavy
hand of needless taxation laid upon
| them, and without being perpetually
harassed by pitiful system Of official
| and legal dispotism All they ask, and
| it is as little as they deserve, is that
they be allowed some voice in framing
| the legislation that is to govern them,
| that they be given few wise and just
| laws--the fewer and simpler the bet
ter-and that they then be permitted
to work out the destiny of their great
| country with as few restrictions and as
| little interference by tax-gatherers and
legal functionaries as possible. That
| was the way the great West and South
west We're developed, and that is the
way that Alaska can attain her true
destiny.