Alaska sentinel., 1903-02-19

lltIttbtuit dttItHl hIipllh ltld tiGN lated by most people. Even now, in the period of Alaska's marvellous
 development. the first thoughts of many persons is that q Delegate
 would bea doubtful experiment and
 an unnecessary expense, when in
 fact. of all of our outlying Territor- ies. Alaska is the one whose needs
 in this respect are paramount. Its isolation, distance. and peculiar conditions as to climate. soil, re- sources, business and trade condi- tions, a. well as population, render | 1t impossible for Congres to fully recognize its wants and exigeneies. Alaska has an area of over 591. GOO square miles. IL would cover
 one sixth of the territory of the
 United States proper. Its resources
 are simply wonderful; with its
 mines of gold, silver, copper and coal, its mighty forests of merchant able timber, its rich wealth of fur bearing animals, its enormous tish- cries Of seal, whale, salmon. hai-
 but and cod, and its already great and commanding commercial and political importance. And then in connection with all this. comes the voice of a resistless and increasing flow of the most manly, yiriIe, and hardy people in the world, who say, Give Us the protection Of a
 sympathetic and interested Govern ment and We will not only support ourselves. but We will return direct
 into the United States Treasury revenues many times multiplying the amount of her investment by purchaSe.'
 The bill under consideration gives the people of Alaska the right to vote and elect a Delegate from Alaska to the House of Representa- lives who shall have the same rights and the same priveleges in this body as a Delegate from any of the other Territories in the United States. Alaska is entitled to that
 No one can deny that. erpeople should be heard on thi= floor. and the Alaskans want to be heard here by some of their own selection- competent to speak for them. Some one vested with authority, who will be responsible to them for what he says on the floor of this honse re- garding Alaskan matters. and who will be responsible to Congress a. we'll. No one acquainted with the facts can doubt that Alaska is en- titled to Delegate representation. It is fundamental principle Of our theory of government that none of our citizens shall he taxed without representation. and the Alaskans nave been taxed by the Federal Government for years and years without representation and without having a voice in their own intern al affairs.
 MT. Chairman, I have bee n to Alaska several times. 1 know something about that vast domain. 1 know something about the senti- ment of the people who live there, and I stand here and I stand here and declare with the confident
 knowledge that 1 cannot be success
 fully contradicted with the people
 of Alaska-the people who have
 zone there, and who have lived
 there for wears. and who are bona ide residents of Alaska. and intend
 to remain there the rest of their lives-I know what they want and
 1 declare that they want not oni Y a
 representativein in Congress, but they
 also want Territorial government. They want the right that every
 other Territory in the Union has the right to make their own laws,
 levy their own taxes, to regulate
 their own internal affairs, and to spend the money gathered up by
 the tax collector for their own use,
 for their own school, for their own
 charitable institutions, for their own
 peace and happiness. This is not asking too much in my opinion.
 It seems to me it is only fair and
 just and proper and right. Alaska
 has a population at the present
 time upward of 100000 bona fide residents. It is true they are scat tered over vast domain of territo- ". But it is also true that they are an honest, brave, sober, manly, God-tearing people, who are our kin, and who ought to be treated as American citizens.
 Theodore Thomasen is home again aiCer making d 1500-mile
 trip and return to the westward,