18973 Tragic Neglect of Alaska 



resources 



promulgated twenty years before, when that mag- 

 nificent animal was even then rapidly verging on 

 extinction. Unfortunately, also, the Secretary's 

 jurisdiction reached only to the three-mile limit. 

 Shooting in the open ocean continued therefore until 

 191 1, when a treaty to which I shall later refer 

 brought the Sea Otter under international pro- 

 tection. I have recently learned from Mr. Hanna 

 that it has increased in numbers by about 25 per 

 cent since 1910; in his judgment, however, it will 

 take fifty years to reestablish the species. 



The. tragic neglect of all national resources in our Costiy dis- 

 Russian Purchase led me to utter a public warning '''^''!''^ °f 

 as to the future colonial policy of the United States. 

 Under the title, "Colonial Lessons of Alaska,"^ 

 I dealt with the evils of "governmental pathology, 

 as exemplified in the history of Alaska." I then ex- 

 plained in detail the nation's disastrous neglect of 

 the Salmon, Fur Seal, and Sea Otter, and its utter 

 disregard for the welfare of the natives. As already 

 stated, my paper chanced to attract the attention 

 of Roosevelt who, after becoming President, de- 

 voted himself with characteristic energy to the 

 betterment of conditions. 



During our run from Belkofski to the Pribilofs, 

 the only happening of note was the captain's dif- 

 ficulty in finding Unimak Pass in the dense fog 

 which enveloped the islands, an incident leading us 

 to appreciate more keenly the amazing geographical 

 instinct of the Fur Seal. 



Upon landing us at St. George, the Alhaiross 

 returned at once to southeastern Alaska, where 

 Moser and Townsend began an investigation of the 



^ The Atlantic Monthly, November, 1898. 



C 583 3 



