The Alaska citizen., 1917-02-19

called Stewards Folly" Neyerthe- less. calmer reflection ani able and eloquent advocacy by Senator Chss. Sumner, Of Massachusetts. brought about the ratification of the treaty i Toward the close of his speech. touch ing on the name of the newly aC- quired possession. Sumner said
 ! As these extensive possessions, i constituting corner of the conti- nent, pass from the imperial govern ment of Russia they will naturally ! receive new name They will no | longer be Russia America How | shall they be called' Clearly any name borrowed from classical his ! tory or individual invention will be little better than misnomer or "a nickname unworthy of such an 1 occasion Even if taken from our own history it will be of doubted | ldSle. hc HdlllS SuOulu CoLle HUH the country itself It should be in- digenous, aboriginal, one of the au- 1 tochthons of the soil Happily, such a name exists. which Is as proper In 1 sound ss in origin. It appears in the report Of Cook. the illustrious naviga- tor, to whom have so often referred, i that the euphonious name now ap- piled to the peninsula which is the continental link of the Aleutian chain was the sole word used origin ally by the native islanders when spea king of the American continent in general. which they knew per, { fectly well to be a great land It only remains that. following these natives. whose places are now ours. we, too, shall call this great land Alaska"
 And Alaska 1t was called New Archangel, later known as Sitka. was the principal settlement under Rus sia It long remained the principal settlement under the United States. Very little was heard of the territory after interest in the purchase sub sided, until the gold discoveries on Klondike creek, tributary of the Yukon, on August l6, 1896, or for nearly a generation after the signing of the treaty of purchase Then there was wild rush of prospectors, min CTS and adventurers into the new country; villages, towns and cities sprang up over night, and within two years the klondike region alone low metal It is estimated that, to date, the mineral production of Al aska aggregates about s350,000,000, but mine production constitutes but a single item in the Alaskan indus trial account of the present day. A statement of the commerce of the territory for one year. the last of which We have a full report, shows miscellane ous shipments from the pc ninsula to the United States of a total value of $27O39,470 This is ex- elusive of shipments of gold and silver worth $2O,O35,S94 The value of the salmon product alone for a single year is almost equal to three times the price paid for the country.
 After the transfer of the peninsula to the United States. Alaska was organized as non-contiguous posses, sion. It was made civil and ju- diCial district on June 6, 1900, and was organized as territory on August 2i, 1912. It's present capital is Juneau, where. in March. It's legis- lature will assemble for the third biennial session. The population does not exceed 75,00O. Development along private corporate lines was arrested a few years ago, and now awaits the construction of a govern ment railway system, and an allot- ment of lands which will insure l the possession of the countrys re- sources to settlers. The territory Is one of the naturally richest sec tions of the earth. and is the only possession of the republic, thus far. that has been held sacred for the benefit of the people Sci ence Monitor
 WHAT EDES SAYS.