The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1905-09-13
OREARY ISLE RICH IN RESOURCES
pussia Wants sakhalin for It's Oil, Japan for It's
Fisheries A Territory Nearly as Large as
Ireland and Useless for Farming

provided harborS that boats drawing
twenty feet of water can safely enter.
For four months of the year, to be
| sure, those harbors are ice locked, but
the ice can be broken by specially
constructed steamers known as "ledo-
kol." The war promised to do Won
| ders for the oil business. As coal
couldn't be got for love or money from
| England or Japan, Admiral Rumgin-
whisky (as the DOgger Bank fisher
men still call HIM was to supply his
| armada with oil fuel from Sakhalin.
| Under government auspices the Rus
| sian Sakhalin Oil company came sud
denly into existence, glorious monop-
oily that proposed to employ cheap
Russian, Chinese and Korean labor,
turn out from 100000 to 100000 tons
of oil year and drive Mr.. Rockefeller
out of business in the far east
Meanwhile another sort of game will
fall to the Japanese-in the north a
fine menagerie at large, composed OF
bear, foxes, sable, antelope and rein
Deer: in the south an occasional tiger;
on the coast q remunerative profusion
of seal, sea lions and d0lphins, not to
mention a species Of plebeian whale
little priced by blubber hunters.
But the chief source Of wealth in the
Sakhalin of today is the fisheries. The
rivers TEEN with salmon, the waters
along the coast with herring. In a
single year Sakhalin yielded $1,500,00O
worth of fish and this in spite of the
most discouraging conditions. The
Russians wouldn't give the JaDs o free
hand nor would they themselves de-
yelop the full possibilities of the fish
cries. AS long as the island remained
a sort of Siberian back yard, into
which eXileS were constantly to be
thrown, it was bad policy to encourage
fleets OF fishing boats to come prowl-
ing along the shore. The boats might
thin out the population. But when
once the penal colonies are withdrawn
and Japan takes control the Sakhalin
fisheries will have a chance at normal
progress. Some day, unless all tray
elers are liars, they may rival those of
Newfoundland.
Now the moment you begin to talk
about fish the Japanese prick up their
ears. No fish, no rice; no rice, no
JapS Every year SakhaHn sends Il
million dollars worth Of fish fertilizer
to the japanese rice fields. The fer
tilzer. nee herring, is SO Indispensable
TO rice growing that when the war cut
OH the japanese fishermen from the
SakhaIin coasts two Japanese towns,
Hokkaido and Otaru, petitioned the
| mikado to send troops to seize the is
land or, il that could not be done, 10
permit the two indignant towns to fit
out an expedition of their own. The
director general Of prisons asked per
mission TO organize an army OF Japa-
nese Jail birds for service in Sakhalin.
Such overtures as these met with gov
ernmental encouragement, but the
seizure of Sakhalin by trained troops
was undertaken as soon as practicable
Nor did Japan fail to perceive that a
SakhaIin i'll the grip of Il foreign power
would constitute Il standing menace
! to japanese agriculture. 1t was the
case of Korea over again, only with
| herring substituted for grain as the
! vital point