The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1913-11-27
THE IRON TRAIL"
Lengthy Excerpts From Rex Beach'S
Latest Novel Based on Exist.
Ing Alaska Conditions.
The Aslnine Do.Nothlng Policy of the
Government and Conservation
Is Vividly Depicted.


Iron Trail,'' by Rex Beach. It is
an Alaska story, written by one who
thoroughly understands the country
and it's conditions. The story deals
largely with the construction of the
railroad from Cordova to the Bonanza
copper mine-a mine which was dis
covered in 1900 and in which several
Princeton men figured largely as the
discoveries.
Rex Beach has little sympathy
with the rotten policy adopted by
the interior department. with refer
ence to the immense coal fields of
Alaska.
A conversation between the hero
inc and the hero of the story-Eliza
V. Appleton and Murray O'Neil-
contains more plain unvarnished
truth than fiction. Miss Appleton
had been sent to the territory by a
yellow newspaper to write up the
men whom it was claimed were en-
deavoring to grab the coal fields and
monopolize the transportation facili-
ties. O'Neil is one of the men who
does things out there-who builds
railroads and bridges rivers in the
face of almost insurmountable diff
culties. In answer to Miss Apple
ton, O'Neil is made to say:
Conservation is no more than
economy, and no one opposes that.
i It's the misapplication of the prin-
ciple that retarded Alaska and has
ruined so many of US. The situa-
tion would be laughable if it
weren't SO tragic"
''Of course you blame your troubles
on the government she querr1ed.
''That's one thing governments are
for.''
O'Neil-"Our ancestors blamed
King George for their troubles, more
than a hundred years ago, and
war resulted. But every abuse they
suffered is suffered by the people of
Alaska today, and a lot more besides.
Certainly England never violated her
contracts with the colonies half so
fagrantly as our government has
violated it's conf tracts with u.s.
Miss Appleton -"Of course you ex-
aggerate.''
O'Neil-"I don't. Judge for your
self. The law offers every citizen
the chance-in fact, it invites him
to 60 upon the public domain and
search for treasure. If he is success
full it permits him to locate the
: and in blocks, and it agrees to grant
him a clear title after he does a
certain amount of work and pays a
fixed price. Further, it says in
effect: Realizing that you may
need financial assistance in this
work, we will allow you to locate
not only for yourself, but also for
your friends, through their powers of
attorney, and thus gain their CO.
operation for your mutual advantage.
These are the rules, and they are
binding upon all parties to this
agreements; you keep your part, we
will keep ours Now then, some
pioneers, at risk of life and health,
came to Kyak and found coal. They
located it, they did all the law re-
quired them to debut did the gov
eminent keep it's word? Not at all.
1t was charged that some of them
hadn't conformed strictly to the
letter of the agreement. and there
fore all the claims were bIacklisted.
Because one man was alleged to have
broken his contract the government
broke it's contract with-aevery man
who had staked a coal plaim, not
only at Kyak, but anywhere else
. in Alaska. Guilty and innocent
were treated alike I was <one of
the latter Was our money returned
to US? No! The government had it
and kept it, along with the land.
We've been holding on now for years,
and the interior department. has
tried by various means to shake us
off. The law has been changed re-
peatedly at the whim of every theo-
rist who happened to be in power.
1t has been changed without notice
to us, even while we were out in the
wilderness trying to comply with the
regulations already imposed
Miss Appleton-''That's only one
side of the question. You lose sight
of the fact that this treasure never
really belonged to you, but to the
public. The coal lands were with
drawn from entry because men like
you and the agents of the Hide
MAINS were grabbing it ALL
O'NeiI- That's what the paper
say, but it isn't true. There art