Evening journal., 1915-05-05
New News Of Yesterday
How Charles Sumner Aid
ed the Alaska Purchase
By Holland,

Among the treaties filed away in the
archives in the State Department with
which Professor John Bassett Moore
who was twice assistant secretary of
State-is so familiar that he can al
most repeat many of them verbatim
is the one entered into between Sec
rotary Seward and the Car of Russia,
through his representative, for the
purchase of Alaska, or, as it was then
known, Russian America. Professor
Moore must recall, as he thinks OF
that treaty, the difficulties which Sec
rotary Seward had in persuading the
Federal Senate TO ratify it. Further
more, he must have been particularly
impressed as he read recently that the
administration of President Wilson, by
authority of Congress, is TO eypend
S26.OOO.O00 in the construction of A
railroad from the seacoast to the rich
coal deposits of Central Alaska, some
400 miles from the coast.
Seward, who was the most patient
and forbearing of men, nevertheless
was somewhat annoyed when his pro-
posed purchase of Russian America
was described by Senators as Sew
ards folly" Some of the Senators
ventured to say that Seward wanted
the United States to pay S7.200.000 for
/ the most barren tract of land in the
world, consisting of nothing but boys.
tundra, glaciers. a tract where the
/ land is usually frozen so deep in the
/ winter that the brief summer sun
only melts two or three inches of the
surface. All sorts Of fun was pOked
at Seward because of his desire that
i the United States buy Russian Amer
lea.
Seward might have failed in secur-
ing a ratification of the treaty had it
not been for Charles Sumner. Freder-
! lex W. Seward, who was Assistant
Secretary of State under his father
said to me just after his return from
an excursion to Alaska, which he made
shortly after the discovery of gold
there, that had il not been for Senator
Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, who
was chairman of the Foreign Relations
Committee. it might have been difficult
to secure a ratification of the treaty
Sumner seemed to be really fascin-
ated by the study of Russian America,
as IL was then called said Mr.. f. w.
Seward. "Hc got everything procur-
able in the Congressional Library or
elsewhere which would furnish him tho
information respecting that then I'M
known region of North America At
last, Sumner was persuaded that il
was wonderfully rich in mineral de-
posits and that in addition to its pO-
litical value it would some day prove
to be of immense material value to the
nation.
Sumner took very tactful and what
proved to be successful method of per-
suading some Senators who had been
disposed to sheer at the proposed pur-
chase that there were good historic
precodents for it. He asked the Sena-
tors to meet him at his house. He
heard all they had to say about the
barrenness of Russian America and its
worthlessness. When they we're
through he quietly turned to some
newspaper files which he had collected
and called their attention to similar
charges which we're made when Pros
ident Jefferson was negotiating with
Bonaparte for the purchase of Louisi-
ana Territory for S15,0000 900. Senators
al that time said that Louisiana was
nothing but one vast swamp and that
its atmosphere was so poisonous white
men could not live there They also
asserted that Jefferson. who was seek
ing TO have treaty ratified with Spain
by means of which the United States
could secure the Florida Peninsula
was badly misled. because the Flori-
das we're a region in which white men
could not live since it was infested
with rattlesnakes and moccasins.
| Summer rnaJ fhrca ovfr.a,t- e.
Senators and then pointed to the stu
b pendOus advantages which the United
States had secured through the pur.
chase of Louisiana and the obtaining
Of the sovereignty over Florida. The
Senators were persuaded and the
Alaska treaty was ratified"
!, Copyright. 1915. by +. ]. Edwards
All rights reserved).
> Tomorrow Mr. Edwards will tell