6 



ALABAMA. 



ALASKA AND ITS FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY. 



Confederate army. In 1841 he was elected 

 solicitor of his circuit ; in 1875 he was a raern- 

 her of the Constitutional Convention, and in 

 1880 one of the Hancock electors from the 

 State at large. 



The Independent- Greenback State Conven- 

 tion met in Birmingham on the 5th of July, 

 and nominated the following ticket : 



For Governor, James L. Sheffield, of Mar- 

 shall; for Secretary of State, A. H. Town- 

 send, of Butler ; for Attorney-General, Paul L. 

 Jones, of Madison; for Treasurer, John W. 

 Montgomery, of Jefferson ; for Auditor, John 

 B. Shields, of Walker ; for Superintendent of 

 Education, Dr. Ira G. Wood, of Jackson. 



On the 6th the Republican State Conven- 

 tion met in Montgomery, and indorsed the 

 above ticket ; but Charles P. Lane, of Lime- 

 stone County, was subsequently substituted 

 for Mr. Jones. The following platform was 

 adopted, which is substantially that of the 

 Birmingham Convention : 



Be it resolved, by the Eepublicans of Alabama in 

 convention assembled : 



1. That we favor such amendment or revision of 

 the present election law of Alabama as will give each, 

 voter of the State assurance that his ballot will be 

 counted as cast, and that the real result of every elec- 

 tion will be honestly declared, and will remove the 

 existing inspectors and other officers of election, and 

 render it impossible to defeat the will of the majority 

 by making fraudulent returns. 



2. That, while demanding that adequate punish- 

 ment shall be meted out to every violator of the law, 

 we favor such changes in the convict system both 

 State and county as will at least tend to reform as 

 well as punish criminals, to humanize rather than 

 brutalize them, and also such other changes as will 

 put an end to the conflict now existing, in some por- 

 tions of the mineral districts of our State, between 

 cheap convict-labor and the working-man. 



3. That we favor a liberal support to tbe free 

 schools of the State, and an enactment of such laws 

 as will foster and cherish our school system. 



4. That we favor the enactment of such laws as will 

 not only invite, but make it to the interest of, immi- 

 grants to seek homes in Alabama. 



^ 5. That we favor, as far as the same may be prac- 

 ticable under our organic law, the encouragement and 

 protection of manufactories of all kinds in our State 

 for such time as may be necessary to secure their 

 permanent establishment. This we favor, believing 

 that the prosperity of all tbe people depends largely 

 upon it. 



C. That we favor and heartily approve the protec- 

 tion of all homo industries by the Federal Govern- 

 ment, and we recognize in the principle "protection 

 for protection's sake" the wisdom that cherishes its 

 own, and in its application by the National Kepub- 

 lican party in its administration of the government 

 we recognize the statesmanship that favors the labor- 

 ing 1 1 Kin of the nation by enlarging and increasing 

 the demand for labor ; and at the same time taking 

 from their shoulders the burden of taxation and plac- 

 ing it on the wealthy. 



A State Temperance Convention was held 

 in Montgomery on the 21st and 22d days of 

 November, which agreed to ask of the Legisla- 

 ture certain amendments and new laws looking 

 to the restriction of the liquor-traffic. 



ELECTION RETURNS. The election in August 

 resulted in the choice of the Democratic ticket. 

 The aggregate vote was as follows : For Gov- 



ernor, Edward A. O'Neal, 100,591 ; James L. 

 Sheffield, 46,386. For Secretary of State, Ellis 

 Phelan, 103,153; A. H. Townsend, 44,798. 

 For Treasurer, Isaac H. Vincent, 102,780; J. 

 W. Montgomery, 43,639. For Auditor, Jesse 

 M. Carmichael, 100,968 ; J. B. Shields, 45,053. 

 For Attorney -General, H. C. Tompkins, 103,- 

 562 ; C. P. Lane, 44,605 ; Paul Jones, 20. I. 

 H. Vincent received 1,031 for Auditor in- 

 tended for Treasurer. J. M. Carmichael re- 

 ceived 1,041 for Treasurer, and Jas. M. Car- 

 michael 2,247 for Auditor, all intended for 

 Jesse M. Carmichael. For Superintendent of 

 Education the vote was: Armstrong, 104,170; 

 Wood, 47,133. The Legislature stands as fol- 

 lows: Senate, 31 Democrats and 2 opposition; 

 House, 79 regular and 7 independent Demo- 

 crats, and 14 opposition. Democrats were 

 elected to Congress in November in each of 

 the eight districts. 



ALASKA AND ITS FUR-SEAL INDUS- 

 TRY. The population of Alaska Territory is 

 given by the census of 1880, by districts, as fol- 

 lows: Yukon Division, 7,000; Interior Division, 

 2,226 ; Kuskoqwim, 3,654 ; Bristol Bay, 4,340; 

 Kadiak, 2,606; Kenai, 984; Belkovsky, 669; 

 Oonalaska, 1,392 ; islands in Behring Sea, 

 1,290; Prince William Sound, 500; South- 

 eastern Alaska, 6,725; total, 31,386, of whom 

 about 18,000 are supposed to be Esquimaux or 

 Innuits. In addition to these, who represent 

 the regular population, are about 1,500 whites, 

 mostly traders and miners, in Southeastern 

 Alaska. The Aleutian population and a part 

 of the Innuits were civilized under the Russian 

 domination, and live after the European style ; 

 of these, some 8,000 or 9,000^are attached to 

 the Russian Greek Church. 



Recent surveys show that the country is 

 much more important, and its resources are 

 more extensive, than had been supposed. Its 

 area (580,107 square miles) is equal to that of 

 all the United States east of the Mississippi 

 River, and north of Georgia and the Carolinas. 

 It measures 1,400 miles in direct line from 

 north to south, and 2,200 miles from its east- 

 ern boundary to the end of the Aleutian Isl- 

 ands, and has a total of 25,000 miles of coast- 

 lines. The total area of its islands is 31,205 

 square miles. Its principal river, the Yukon, 

 may be ranked among the largest rivers in the 

 United States, being seventy miles wide across 

 its five mouths and the intervening deltas, 

 and from one to five miles wide for the first 

 thousand miles of its course. It is known 

 to be navigable for 1,500 miles, and is be- 

 lieved by Mr. Robert Campbell, of the Hudson 

 Bay Company, who has explored the streams, 

 to be, with its tributary, the Pelly, navigable, 

 when full, for nearly 3,000 miles. The 

 land abounds in fur-bearing animals ; the seas 

 yield fur-bearing seals and otters, and fish 

 in many varieties and immense quantities. 

 Three thousand tons of codfish were caught on 

 the banks off the Shumagin Islands, during 

 1879, for houses in San Francisco. Salmon- 



