The Alaska Prospector
I'otill»h«<! at Vftldet, Alacka, every Ttiuriday
b>' lite I'MOMPKCTUR I'l'BLIHII INu ('«
I'iionk Main 1.
Knterol at tin* ValdM rutlofllw as mcoiiO
claxk matter.
inscription |3 per year. |2 lor s>tx month
single copied 10 cent*
THAT SALMON TAX.
A. E. Anderson of Unga objects to
a statement by a speaker at the Calo
meeting in Valdez in June, quoted iu
the Prospector, alleging that all I). H.
Jarvis ever did for Alaska was to lob
by through congress a bill to use the
tax 011 canned salmon for the encour
agement of hatcheries, thereby taking
away a large revenue from the Alas
ka school and road fund. Mr. Anderson
or Miss Anderson, as the case may bo,
who evidently has something to learn
about law, asks:
"Will you kindly explain to me how
that can be. Alaska has three classes
of school. The native schools under
the supervision of the Bureau of Ed
ucation, supported by a direct appro
priation from congress. The Terri
torial school under the supervision of
the CJovernorof Alaska and supported
by an appropriation from congress.
The Schools within the limits of in
corporated cities and supported by
one half the revenue collected from
liquor licenses? 1 believe it is true
that the appropriations for the school
funds these last two years have been
larger than at any time before.
"It seems to me that Alaska would
stand a far better chance of obtaining
recognition at the hands of congrsss
it the newspapers would stop their
petty <piiltbiing, cut out personal
spite, and devote flic columns of then
papers to the discussion of the prin
ciples of the issue which effect the
country at large "
The Prospector wishes to he fair
with A. E. Anderson because A. E.
may stand for Amelia Elizabeth, or
something like that, ami the owner
of t he name may wear a Merry Widow
hat and with a mouth full of hair
pins dress before a glass in the morn
ing. It will therefore refer A. E. to
the act of congress of January 27,
1MU5, which reads as follows:
"That all moneys derived from and
collected for liquor licenses, occupa
tion, or t radc licenses outside of in
corporated towns in the district of
Alaska shall be deposited in tint
Treasury Department of the United
.States, there to remain as a separate
and distinct fund, to he known of the
"Alaska fund," and to be wholly de
voted to the purposes hereinafter sta
ted in the district of Alaska. One
fourth of said fund, or so much there
of as may be necessary, shall be de
voted to the establishment and main
tenance of public schools in said dis
trict; five per centum of said fund
shall be devoted to the care ami main
tenance of insane persons in said dis
trict, or so much of said per centum
as may be needed; and all the resi
due of said fund shall be devoted to
the construction and maintenance of
wagon roads, bridges and trails in
said district."
Uih1ur thin provision half the tax
of I cents a case upon cutinod salmon
went into the school and road fuiu! of
tho territory. Tho hilllobhioilthrough
by ('apt. Jarvis transfers thin 4-cent
tax to a fund to be tilted for tho en
couragement of private salmon hatch
eries. It gives the packerH a rebate
of 10 cents for oaeh thousand red sal
mon fry liberated from their alleged
hatcheries. No proviHiou in made for
official supervision of this hatch
ery induHtry and reports of its
output aro loft to tho packerH thom
hoIvoh. Tho grand jury of the Janu
ary HK)H term of tho district court oj
tho Third diviHioti reported that tho
haImon packers arc! apparently using
the law to nwoar themselves out of
the Haimon tax altogether. It found
that the Alaska Packer's Association
in 1007 paid a balance of .'{2 cent* into
the oflleo of tho elerk of the court as
the amount due at 4 cento a cbho af
ter deducting the rebates claimed for
the liberation of fry from its purpor
ted hatcheries, offering no proof of
the name.
Hven though tho packer* honestly
report, on tho work of their hatcher
ies those industries benefit nobody by
themselves, ami tho diversion of the
Halmou tax in a bounty to the pack
era at the expenne of tho AlaHka
hcIiooI and road fund.
Thin, of oourso, ban nothing to do
with "tho prluciploH of the IbsAc,
which effect tho country at large."
Two or throe otiltHH noWHpapern con
tinue to mpoatthatthc United HtatoH
mutate rofuaod to conflrm Judge Wlok
orHham for a Mooond term ah judge In
Alatika. Kvorylxwly oxcopt a f<-w
Ignorant odltorn known that more
than eighty nonator* out of ninety
were In fnvor <»f Wlckoraham'fl con
firmation and that it wah avoided
only hy ttio throat of Nelaon and the
North Dakota HenatorH to block all
legislation If neeenHary to prevent a
vote on Wlokenham. The preMidont,
Attorney-(Joneral M<w>dy, now Jtmtloe
of tiw> mprimo ootirt, and Attorney*
General Bonaparte allntood hy Wlek
■ham until ho resigned.
THE FOOTING OF ALASKA
(From the Great Northwest.)
This Magazine has devoted hero to
fore and herein mueh space to the
end tliut the citizen of the United
States might l>e brought to a realiza
tionjof tiie vast importance of Alas
ka as a wealth-producing possession
in which ho haH a personal interest.
Without going into repetitions as
to the amounts of Alaska's yearly
production in gold, copper, furs, fish
and the enormous future importance
of her coal supply, we desire to call
the attention of all citizens and of
the United States Government to 0110
startling fact. By the time that we,
as a nation, have condescended to
give Alaska ofllcial recognition, it
will have passed front us, in so far as
its products are concerned. By spec
ial coucessions—thoughtlessly given—
by force and bloodshed, by the brut
ish oppression of wealth and every
knavish trick and cunning device
known to their astute kind, a well
known and powerful Syndicate is si
lently, stealthily but surely gathering
In'o their pawnshop the railroad fran
ehests, the water rights, the coal, the
the gold, the copper and all kindred
plunder in the territory. They have
many methodsof attaining all desired
ends in this far-away land which Un
cle Sam has not yet honored with as
much of personal attention as he has
given Hawaii. They have threatened,
bullied and starved competing inter
ests lute 'submission and they have
bribed and pilfered and lied. When
it has come to serious opposition they
have not hesitated to employ cut
throats and sharp-shooters to take
human lives and they are going mer
rily on unenrhed and untramineled
and even encouraged by the (Jovern
ment, whose riches! resources they
are filching and preparing to filch.
These Shj locks are about ready to
take their poui.d « I flesh and, when
they do, Aki.ska will .« bleeding
corpse.
The Great Norfhw* st, the magazine
publishing the foregoing, is a N« \v
York publication. I!:. edil< there
fore have opportunity lo be in touch
with the desires and designs <>l the
great corporations and the editorial
in question is accordingly potent with
food for reflection.
I
| CHANGE ELECTION DA'lE
The present ami coming delegate
from Alaska ought t > start next win
tor an ••(Tort to change thedate <»f the
election for representative in congress
from the territory. II. does not mat
ter who fixed early August as the
dale. The fact is patent that no time
in the year would llnd more genuine
Alaskans away from their residences
and remote from any polling place at
all.
Whether or not that was the design
in llxing the date, holding the election
in early August gives every possible
advantage to the summer Alaskans.
June and July alone are as had for
the miner and prospector who live in
Alaska the year round.
Alaska miners engaged in remote
interior districts leave the towns
where they spend the winter cither
on the snow in late winter or as soon
as the snow is off in the spring. Many
of them do not return until late in
the fall Those who go in merely to
do assessment. work return late in the
Hummer but not before the middle of
August. It would seem that fixing
the second Monday in August as elec
tion day was specifically designed to
give every advantage to the towns
and the Hummer visitors. Since elec
tion day a dozen men who have lived
in Alaska a long time and who reside
in Valdez thrce-fourths of the year
have returned, barely missing their
votes.
If the election were held on the
same day as the general election in
the states, t he first. Tuesday after t he
first Monday in November, it would
give a vote to practically every man
who lives in Alaska summer and win
ter. If held in the middle of October
it would give most of tliem a vote
and offer opportunity also to the men
who do a great deal to develop Alaska
by summer work but go outside for
the winter. That ought l<» be fair
enough for everybody.
The Cordova eorreai»oiu1ont of tho
K at alia Herald aaya tho work of the
Guggenheim crowd in tho election lit
Cordova wan eoarao. That ia where
lie Ih wrong. It wiih fine work, ho
elever that about MM) l»ir<l« of passage
slipped in illegal votes almost with
out friction. Taminatiy or the re
publican machine of I'hilidc iphia
couldn't have done a allcker Job.
The Hkagway Interloper dug tip all
the alime ever thrown at WiekerHhatn
hIiicc he caino to Alaska and pasted
the HtufT over the aheet. Then Hkag
way voted 104 for Wlekernham to '19
for all othera. That paper mimt. be
niuat be atroug at home.
Admiral Rojoatvenaky denlea that
he la dead, hut then he alao denied a
year or two afterward that the Jap
aneae destroyed Ida (leot In the battle
of tho Heaof Japan, no It la plain that
you can't alwaya bank on hla denials.
STICKS TO THE GROUND
Major Strong, one of the ablest and
most widely known of Alaska news
paper men, now editor and owner of
the Katalla Herald, announces in
starting the second volume of the
paper that he will stick to the spot,
pinning his faith to the limitless
wealth buried in the everlasting hills
adjacent to tho town rather than to
the fatuous favor of railroad builders.
He admita that results may come
slowly but insists with truth that
they will bo permanent wheu they
arrive.
Every man who thinks knows thit
a railroad alone cannot build a town
though it nan start one in a hurry.
Towns and cities grow irom indus
trial development. It is the long
payroll that makes the town. Many
a mining camp has a population of
several thousand before it has any
railroad.
Home day capital will quit juggling
with Alaska and when the money
that comes north is devoted wholly
to legitimate development the coal
and oil holds of Katalla will contain
at least one big town and several
small ones and will produce more
wealth than any equal area so far
explored in Alaska. Placer camps
may come and go, as railroads do in
l Alaska, but coal mines go on forever.
The Almighty forgot to make a har
! bor at Katalla but the resources for a
big town are there.
Within live years Seward, Cordova
I
I and Katalla have bourgeoned liko
Jonah's gourd and faded almost as
quiekly, and now Cordova is bursting
with railroad vitality again. Skag
way has been going back ever since
it exchanged its trail for a railroad
although it is still a good town out
will never l>e a bigger one without an
imlustrial payroll outside of the rail
road.
A railroad enterprise floundered,
lloppcd and flattened at Howard,
w 11 i«-11 has one «»f the lhiest harbors,
tin* handsomest waterfront and town
silo and tin* best climate on tire
southern coast, and the town is now
dow n to lir<lr<.<-k hilt is lighting on its
own resources, which are vast and
varied, and it the railroad tears up
its track the town will some day he
bigger and richer than t he railroad
ever made it.
The largest towns in Alaska today,
outside the big placer camps of Nome
and Fairbanks, are Juneau and Val
dez. Neither has ever had a railroad
although Valdez has solemnly turned
over a little dirt on a dozen or two
paper lines, yet both have grown
steadily, though slowly.
There is room for all the towns
now building on the coast and the
rivalry ought to be friendly. The
best town will finally be the one
which has the greatest resources
near by.
CIIANCK FOR REFORM
Now that the election is over the
Juneau Iteeord has a chance to re
form. In its excitement, during the
campaign it smoked one of t he queer
est pipes ever sported in a nowspaper
olllee. Just read this fake published
by the Record:
"Valdez, Aug. (1—Wiekersluim will
carry Valdez by over one hundred.
The promise of capital removal is hav
ing effect and is being used here to
secure votes for Wiekersham. A let
I tor is being shown to voters from
Wiekersham in which he goes on rce
' ord as being in favor of having the
j capital in the westward portion of the
territory and says ho thinks Valdez is
the place for it."
Nobody in Valdez ever heard capi
tal removal mentioned during the
campaign, yet the Iteeord day after
day, editorially and in its "news"
columns, pcnldled the lletion that Val
dez was for Wiekersham because he
had promised to move the capital to
this town—ah if the delegate could
put it on a scow and tow it around at
his pleasure.
If the Iteeord will give the Valdez
cable ofllee permission to publish a
copy of this alleged message the
Prospector will have It lithographed
and spread broadcast.. Also if the
llecord can induce any reputable
Corson supporter to say that he ever
heard of the alleged Wiekersham let
ter in Valdez the Prospector will pro
sent. the Record an oil painting of
Ananias in the act. of swearing oil his
church collection.
The Juneau Record has discovered
that Jolin Corson was the candidate
of the anti lloggatt men at Ketchi
kan. Funny isn't it, that his dele
gates voted throughout, with the Hog
gat t bunch and that as part of the
deal t he Juneau outfit swallowed Cor
son's territorial government plank
which they immediately ofterward
repudiated.
Jim Hhorman Imn boon notified of
hlw nomination forthe vloo prcRldonoy
nml will probably novor bo board of
again ovon If bo Hbftuld bo oloctcd.
Tbo FnirbankH psi|x<rH aro unbbiHh
ingly trying f-o prove that, tliolr town
Ih tho only plaoo to outfit for Valdoz
crook. Woll the man who won't
nblnny on IiIh own wide outlbt to bo
put out of the church.
E
(Inc)
Bankers and General Merchants
(Inc)
Visit our IMG STORE while in the city and look over our line
of Dry Goods, Groceries, Ladies' and Gents' Furnishings, Boots, Shoes,
Hats and Caps, Rubber Goods, Furniture, Carpets, Linoleum, Mats,
Draperies, Glass and Crockery Ware, Hardware, Stoves, Miners'
Supplies, Etc.
Wc receive a largre shipment of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables on
every steamer. Special attention is called to a line of S. & W.
canned Goods, which arc the highest pitch of perfection.
E,
v
Capital
r
Capital
TAFT FINDS PLEASURE
IN STUMP SPEAKING
Hot Spring!*, Va., Aug. 22—Candi
date Taf( has decided 111;11 In- finds
joy in h(milp speaking and it is |»r«»1 j
able Dial he will reconsider Ids deter
mination to remain in Cincinnati j
during the campaign. Tail's friends!
and political managers have been j
nrgingnpe.n him the advisability of ;
making addresses in the larger cities :
of the country and it is now believed J
that ho will go to those parts ot tin
country where it is decided that he
will be most needed and where lu
can do the most good to the cause he I
represents.
While expressing the possibility of
his bowing to the demands ot his
managers, Mr. Tad, however, math
it plain that he will not consent to
any whirlwind campaign and that lie
will not make any speeches from the
rear platform of any railroad car.
POSTAL SAVINGS BANKS
WILL LIBERATE WEALTH
San Francisco, Aug. 22—That more
than 58 per cent of all the money in
the United States is hoarded and that
it will bo released for circulat ion once
the government establishes postal
savings banks is the opinion expressed
by Chief Postal Inspector McMillan
during an address made last nighl be
fore a meeting of the Presidential
Postmasters' Association now in ses
sion in this city. The speaker de
clared that, his figures are estimates
made by leading students of I he finan
cial situation as it applies to the per
capita circulation of money and that
his opinion with regard to the confi
dence that will be accorded postal
savings banks should they Is* created
is based upon t he result in other coun
tries.
It is believed that if the present
conference results in a resolution ad
vocating postal savings banks thai
the chance for congress creating such
institutions will be greatly advanced.
ChincBC Become Warlike
Fivo ChincHO employed atthoAli
tak Hay Cannery on Kodiak inland
became involve*! in a Hhootiug Herapo
Hcveral dayn ago, according to a re
port brought te Valdcz l»y the atcum
Hltip Portland. Ho far an i« Known no
HcrioiiH injury reunited from (he brief
engagement and the federal authori
ties in Valde/, have received no noti
fication of any arrest* having been
made in connection with the affair.
Cordova Io Cleaning Up
"HeerctarlcH" liave bad a hard time
of It In Cordova during the lant few
days and a« the rcsidt of I he efforts
of Deputy Marshal Deoley live of
them have wedded their employers
ami Mix have paid flues of $20 and
cost* each. The latter contingent
also accepted blue tickets and will
sock other fields of operation on the
flint boat.
Another Point of View
"1 pay as I go," declared the pom
pous citizen.
"Not while I'm runningthcao apart'
monts," declared the janitor; "you'll
pay an you move in."— Washington
Journal.
Telegraph mid Mail Town in Itself. Hlasksinith Shop,
Slat inn. • etc., etc.
Wortman's Roadhouse
FOOT <>l' SUMMIT, TWENTY MILKS KltOM VALDKZ
Accommodation for 40 horses. Warm Doghouses
A FULL STOCK OF GENERAL SUPPLIES
.'no!';vafTii^/iV/?hOSPontius Magnuson Prop
The Teikhell Roadhouse
48 Miles From Valdez
On Government Trail.
Most-of accommodations for man and beast. Kresli Moat
always on hand. Horse and Dot? Food All tlie latent
improvements. PRIVATE ROOMS.
Mrs. Ed. Wood, Proprietor.
DRY CREEK ROADHOUSE
J,. G. and G. II. RORKR, ProprietotB.
1 IS MILKS ON FAIRBANKS
KltOM VAliDIOZ AND EAGLE TRAILS
Company.
SEATTLE - VALDEZ ROUTE
FROM VAIyDE2:
Santa Clara August - 5
Yucatan - - - - - 12
Pennsylvania - - - - 19
Santa Clara - - - - 27
Hlcmnor horn cull* from Howard the 1f>tli of
ouch month for I'liiilnxkn mill wiiy porta.
J. II. Hunch, Vammcz Dock Oo.
F. & P. A., Soaitlo. Local Agent.
ALASKA COAST CO.
I''.quipped with Wireless
THIS "INSIDE" ROUTI5
To Juneau and All Puget Sound Ports
»m s. S. PORTLAND HUB. 25TH
fUtflit rrMcrvotl to clinngo HtonmorH or Hailing (liiton without notloo
il. V. ALEXANDER, A. 8. DAUTRIOK,
(lUNKHAI. MANAOKn, TACOMA. (IRNKflAIj AdKNT, VAI,DK7.
VALDEZ HOSPITAL
Knflorvfilion Ave. noar Court Houne
Private Rooms for Patients Graduate Nurses
Hospital Tickets, #1.50 per Month.
"Phone 77