446 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



not see how it was possible for a fish to ever pass them to the spawn- 

 ing grounds. 



Remonstrating with the foreman about such flagrant violation of the 

 law and of his own promise, made in 189-1, that such methods should 

 not be continued, he replied: "I was sent here to take fish; my orders 

 are to take them wherever I can find them, and I am going to obey my 

 orders." 



He afterwards explained to me how, during the storms when the 

 water is too rough to allow the spreading of nets, enough salmon pass 

 into and up the river to supply twice the quantity of spawn required 

 for perpetuating the stock. 



His rival across the river indorsed him in all this, but added: "As 

 soon as the storm ceases the fishermen follow the salmon upstream to 

 the playground and capture every one of them."^ 



Exhibit H, which accompanies this report, is a copy of a bill which I 

 would like to see become law, for I believe it would, if enforced, put an 

 end to the present wasteful methods of salmon slaughter in Alaska 

 without doing injury to any honestly conducted enterprise in the 

 Territory. 



Exhibit G is a detailed statement of the salmon pack in Alaska for 

 1895, showing the number of fish taken, the number of cases put up, 

 and the number of men — white, native, and Chinese — employed ; also the 

 cost of the tin consumed in the business, the amount invested in each 

 plant owned by the Alaska Packers' Association, and other data as per 

 instructions. The only item of prime interest I have been unable to 

 secure is the selling price of the product of each cannery in the market 

 to which it is consigned. 



Through the kindness and courtesy of the Alaska Packers' Associ- 

 ation 1 have learned that the average selling price in 8an Francisco, 

 where the greater bulk of the whole pack is sold, is as follows: Silver 

 salmon, 82 cents per dozen; red salmon, 92J cents per dozen; king 

 salmon, 92^ cents per dozen, and barrels of 200 pounds net, $4.75. 



Considering that only very few silver salmon are taken and packed, 

 it is safe to say that the whole number of cases put up in 1895 averaged 

 $3.60 per case, or a sum equal to $2,229,704.40, which, added to the 

 price of 16,857 barrels at $4.75, makes a grand total of $2,326,968 as 

 the price realized on Alaskan salmon in 1895. 



Exhibit F is a summary of the salmon pack of the Pacific Coast and 

 Alaska for 1895, showing a grand total of 2,040,016 cases of 48 pounds 

 each, the largest yearly catch on record. An examination of the figures 

 shows that about one-third of this catch was taken from the streams of 

 Alaska. 



That adequate protection should be given to these streams by which 

 the salmon may be perpetuated indefinitely goes without saying, and 

 yet I find it the hardest part of all to make men believe there is any 

 danger in the present methods of fishing. 



That I might not be accused of setting my own individual opinion 

 against men of practical experience, I addressed letters of inquiry to 

 many gentlemen who are deeply interested in Alaska, whose homes 

 are there, and who have everything at stake in the success or failure 

 of the Territory. 



To Mr. William Duncan (Father Duncan), of Metlakahtla, I sent a 

 series of questions which I requested should be submitted to his peo- 

 ple for consideration and the answers given to me when I called at the 



' The playground is that part of the stream where the salt and fresh waters meet 

 and mingle, in which the salmon prefer to live for several weeks before spawning. 



