The Alaska prospector., 1908-05-21

tentions, for we have never conferred with him on the subject.
 "The Joslyn Railroad has been mentioned here, but the governor could not tell you who the present owners are. Let me enlighten you. It is link of the great Alaska sys- tenn, and the same people who now control the White Pass railroad and the shipping interest along the Alas ka coast and on the Yukon also con- trol the Joslyn road. It is a narrow guage affair.
 'The name of gentleman known as Mir. Birch has been introduced here, in a somewhat offhand manner, l admit, as the man of general utility for the Morgan-Guggenheim syndi- cate, and it has been stated by the governor that he "assembled'' all "these perties"-whatever that may mean. I know Mir. Birch slight ly and know something about his re- putation as an all-around schemer. When you go to Alaska to make your inquiries, the doings of this man Birch will make pretty big and exciting chapter. He is sort of Doctor Jame- son for the syndicate and paid for taking chances. In my opinion the fact that this man is still alive is the best proof of the law-abiding charac- ter of the people of Alaska. Well, this self-same MT. Birch is the man who assembled" the Bonanza mines, which once belonged to us and right full belong to us now.
 "We paid for the property; in fact, our men, men in our pay as prospec- tors, had located it, and all went well untill Mir. Birch ran against these men. The rest was bribery, intima- dation and perjury.
 ''The case rocked with every crime in the calendar, and it was the inves- tigation of this very case that took me to Alaska and finally tied me up with the Valdez-Yukon people.
 "Mr. Birch has made an open boast that he would put us out of the rest of our property, and by way of set ting warning example, he started in on the Hubbard and Elliott people at Chicago and trumped up a lawsuit against one of the partners by digging up an old divorce case, finally carry ing his point. Az understand, they had to make terms with him.
 "Now, gentlemen, MT. Birch, the accredited syndicate manager, is cer- tainly not in favor of a railroad built with government aid, and, like all men of his kind, he abhors investiga- tion.
 'I think it is one of the best req sons why you should act at once. 1 am in touch with good many sub stantial and law-abiding citizens in Alaska, and know they are anxious for you to go up there and make an end of system of plunder and piracy that means the ultimate ruin of the best interests of the country,
 "I want to say right here that I have no specific charges to make against the Messrs. Guggenheim, whose names have been mentioned here repeatedly. They apparent ly have no hand in the skin games that are going on out in Alaska. They simply deal with finished pro- ducts and with results, and probably ask no questions how these results were obtained. They buy what they can buy at their own price with the complications choked off. It is the understrapper with whom we are dealing-the fellow who acts as the go-between and lies and falsifies in both directions. He Is the man who should be suppressed and put out of business, and it can only be done by thorough investigation made by men like yourselves, trained lawyers and practical business men. Turn on the light of publicity, prove up few glaring examples of rapacity, and there will soon be an end of all black mailing schemes. If things are allowed to go on in Alaska as they have gone on for the past three or four years, individual enterprise, as well as all attempts of the smaller corporations to gain foothold, will squelched. And finally you will come down to @ government of the syndi- cates, for the syndicates, and by the syndicates.
 "The Chairman. For the purpose of the information of the committee, in regard to telegraph lines will you state to the committee where the tele- graph lines in Alaska are located?
 About Telegraph Lines
 "Mr. Barring. The telegraph lines consist of cable from Seattle to Sit ka and Valdez. Telegraph stations