YUKON, TERRITORY OF. 



807 



which ran from 50 cents to $1.50 less per ounce 

 than the $16 which the banks gave for it. The 

 only reason they stayed in the territory was the 

 never-dying hope which characterizes all miners. 

 An urgent appeal was made to keep Chinese from 

 coming to the country, and all laborers were ad- 

 vised to stay away from it. The object of this 

 pessimistic and exaggerated picture of conditions 

 is difficult to understand from a distance. In a 

 letter written on May 27, 1901, to the Charlotte- 

 town Patriot, by a Prince Edward Islander who 

 had gone to the Yukon, the following statement 

 appears: "Labor is in good demand this year; 

 mechanics get $1 an hour and the ordinary laborer 

 $5 and $6 a day and their board; and it looks as 

 if it would hold good for the summer. A labor- 

 ing man saves money if he is steady and econom- 

 ical." Eggs, which once sold for $10 a dozen, now 

 retail for 50 and 75 cents. Meat sells at from 40 

 to 60 cents a pound, butter 50 cents, while pota- 

 toes, onions, beets, cabbage, and vegetables gener- 

 ally are fairly cheap, as they are now grown on 

 the spot. Barley, oats, and hay are also grown 

 successfully, but wheat has not been tried. 

 Canned goods are sold at reasonable prices. In 

 the Christmas (1900) number of the Klondike 

 Daily Nugget wages are described as having come 

 down to about $8 a day. To offset this, all food- 

 stuffs and other necessaries are described as much 

 cheaper. " In 1897 flour was retailed at $60 a 

 sack. To-day it is to be had for $6 a sack. Other 

 commodities have decreased in price at about the 

 same rate." 



Finances. The total revenue in the fiscal year 

 1895-'96 was $18,516. In 1899-1900 there was re- 

 ceived from royalties, miners' certificates, mining 

 fees, land sales, rentals, timber dues, placer grants, 

 and similar sources of local taxation the sum of 

 $1,130,965; from customs duties', $613,191; from 

 the post-office revenue, $21,550; from public 

 works, $33,716; and from fisheries, $4,601. The 

 total revenue for 1899-1900 was $1,804,026, and 

 in the four years it amounted to $4,376,673. The 



mining royalties increased from $287,423 in 1898 

 to $575,812 in 1899, and to $730,771 in 1900. For 

 the first six months of tho new fiscal year to Dec. 

 31, 1900 they amounted to $440,184. The ex- 

 penditure increased from $32,112 in 1896 to $1,- 

 306,949 in 1899-1900. The latter sum included 

 $331,850 spent upon matters connected with the 

 mines, $112,368 upon the post-office, $118,544 

 upon public works, $4,492,427 upon the mounted 

 police, $173,266 upon the militia, .$22,073 upon jus- 

 tice, $24,457 upon railways and canals, $30,561 

 upon customs, etc. 



Law and Order. The mounted police main- 

 tained an excellent record of work during the 

 year 1900, according to the annual report. Week- 

 ly patrols were maintained between Bennett and 

 Dawson; day and night patrols were kept up in 

 Dawson and White Horse; constant patrols 

 passed along the trains, to and from the mining 

 camps and up and down the creeks that were 

 being worked. In April they took a census of 

 the whole scattered population, which was found 

 to be 16,107 whites and 350 Indians. They aided 

 in the work of the Crown timber and mining de- 

 partments, as well as of the customs. At White 

 Horse alone they went through 20,000 tons of 

 freight within four months, in search of contra- 

 band liquor. The settlement of this latter place 

 caused a small outburst of crime, and five cases 

 of murder and one of manslaughter occurred dur- 

 ing the year in the territory. By Dec. 31, 1900, 

 one of the murderers had paid the death penalty, 

 one was under sentence of death, two were await- 

 ing trial, and the man guilty of the lesser crime 

 was undergoing his sentence. 



In February, 1901, orders were received from 

 the Minister of the Interior at Ottawa to close 

 up all gambling and dance houses by March 15. 

 These instructions involved about 300 persons, 

 who, however, had been expecting something of 

 the kind and were not taken by surprise. The 

 time was subsequently extended to June 1, and 

 on that date the persons concerned departed. 



