YUKON TERRITORY. 



majority as a Liberal and supporter of the Laurier 

 Government. Major Z. T. Wood, of the mounted 

 police, acted as Commissioner pending a definite 

 appointment. Meanwhile, the other members of 

 the Council were E. C. Senkler, Gold Commission- 

 er; J. E. Girouard, Registrar; H. H. Newlands, 

 Legal Adviser; C. A. Dugas, Judge; and Messrs. 

 Wilson and Prudhomme elected members. On 

 Jan. 17 the Dominion Government received a peti- 

 tion from the Yukon Council making the follow- 

 ing requests: 1, Representation in the Senate; 2, 

 the addition of 5 elected members to the present 

 Yukon Council; 3, the division of the territory 

 into electoral districts and the setting apart of 

 money for election purposes and members' travel- 

 ing expenses ; 4, control of the liquor traffic in the 

 Yukon; 5, the nomination of an inland revenue 

 officer in the Yukon ; 6, the right to establish brew- 

 eries ; 7, the setting apart of a fund for the mainte- 

 nance of schools ; 8, the setting apart of a fund to 

 maintain roads: 9, the right for the Yukon Coun- 

 cil to adopt all ordinances relative to Yukon mat- 

 ters independently of the Ottawa Government, 

 which, however, should retain the right of veto on 

 Yukon statutes. 



Railway and Trade. The all-important ques- 

 tion of railway rates was hastened toward a solu- 

 tion early in 1902. In the previous year the Do- 

 minion Government, through its Railway Depart- 

 ment, had fixed a tariff on the White Pass and 

 Yukon Railway of about $18 a ton for fifth-class 

 goods between Skagway and White Horse, but the 

 company refused to accept this or the proposal 

 that no overcharge should be made on the Ameri- 

 can end of the line to compensate for this Cana- 

 dian reduction. Finally President S. H. Graves, 

 of the railway, came out from England, met Mr. 

 Tiffin, of the Government Railways, and after ne- 

 gotiations accepted the following arrangement as 

 to rates: Class 1, which at present is $2.85 per hun- 

 dredweight, was reduced to $1.90 per hundred- 

 weight; class 2 was reduced from $2.84 to $1.66; 

 class 3 from .$2.82 to $1.42; class 4 from $2.80 to 

 $1.19; class 5 from $2.75 to 95 cents; class 6 from 

 $2.74 to 90 cents; class 7 from $2.73 to 75 cents; 

 class 8 from $2.72 to 73 cents; class 9 from $2.71 

 to 73 cents ; class 10 from $2.70 to 70 cents. Gov. 

 Ross said that " about 60 per cent, of the goods 

 .going into Dawson was Canadian, and the per- 

 centage was steadily growing." In a report to the 

 Canadian Manufacturers' Association, made pub- 

 lic in October, 1902, S. Morley Wickett gave the 

 figures of Yukon trade in certain years, ending 

 June 30, as follow: 



Foreign IroporU. 



1900 $2,678,121 



1901 2,823,633 



1902 2,019,782 



Foreign Export*. Total. 



$9,095,954 $11,774,075 



13,914,676 16,738,309 



14,083,487 16,103,269 



Financial Conditions. It was expected that 

 the assessment of Dawson for 1902 would fall sub- 

 stantially below that of the past year. The clos- 

 ing of the gambling-halls, the lowering of prices 

 for building materials, and the springing up of 

 several villages in the creeks promised such a re- 

 sult. But the returns finally received and giving 

 the revised assessment figures for 1901 and 1902 

 showed very little difference. Realty, 1901, was 

 assessed at $4,154,840; in 1902 at $4,145,090; per- 

 sonalty in 1901 was assessed at $6,293,700; in 

 1902 at $5,866,800; income in 1901 was assessed 

 at $1,199,100; in 1902 at $6r,G.r>50; the total in 

 1901 was $11,647,640; in 1902 it was $10,658,440. 



The lower personalty valuation was accounted 

 for by many shipments arriving in 1902 unusual- 

 ly late and after the assessment had been made. 



Further evidence that Dawson was well holding 

 its own was found in the extent of the money- 

 orders. In October, 1902, orders to the value of 

 $148,807 were sold. The Yukon has not been a 

 charge on the Dominion, and its indirect value to 

 Canada as a nation has been undoubtedly great. 



The Federal Government appropriations for 

 1902 amounted to $1,092,800, which it was esti- 

 mated would be met by the revenue. Of this sum, 

 $178,500 was for roads, $25,000 for buildings, and 

 $125,000 for postal service. In 1901 the revenue 

 was $1,993,983, including $592,661 royalty in gold; 

 $125,861 from free miners' certificate; $225,595 

 from various mining fees and leases; $88,297 from 

 the sale of Government reserved claims; $74,894 

 from timber dues; $630,959 from customs duties; 

 $108,272 from telegraphs. The expenditures were 

 $1,671,085, including $30,548 on customs; $319,761 

 on salaries, surveys, and contingencies; $74,788 on 

 justice; $498,825 on mounted police; $117,915 on 

 postal service; $386,064 on public works; $215,- 

 576 on river improvements and maintenances of 

 telegraph-lines and federal buildings. 



Mining. By official figures, the production of 

 gold in the Yukon was $2,500,000 in 1897; $10,- 

 000,000 in 1898; $16,000,000 in 1899; $22,275,000 

 in 1900 ; $18,000,000 in 1901. The total since sta- 

 tistics were kept in the matter was $70,313,513. 

 In April, 1902, Mr. R. G. McConnell, of the Do- 

 minion Geological Survey, published a report of 

 explorations in the preceding summer, which, upon 

 the whole, showed a satisfactory condition in pro- 

 duction and resources. George E. Hees, of Toron- 

 to, paid the country a visit in the summer of 1902 

 and published impressions and statements which 

 aroused considerable criticism. In Industrial Can- 

 ada of August he wrote as follows: "Since 1897 

 hundreds and thousands of prospectors have been 

 exploring and prospecting every creek and moun- 

 tain in that country, and no new discovery of im- 

 portance has been made for more than a year. I 

 have permission from Mr. Senkler, Canadian As- 

 sistant Gold Commissioner, to use his name as 

 saying the output of gold in the Klondike last 

 year was over $24,000,000. The production of the 

 coming year, according to the Government's esti- 

 mate, will not exceed $14,000,000. The reason for 

 this very large decline is, that the old creeks or 

 finds are being worked up, and no new discoveries 

 have been made for more than a year. The hope 

 of the Klondike now is the discovery of gold-bear- 

 ing quartz of sufficient richness to pay to work. 

 So far no such quartz has been discovered." Sev- 

 eral authorities contradicted this. 



In the summer of 1902 Mr. Morley Wickett, of 

 Toronto, was appointed by the Canadian Manu- 

 facturers' Association to visit the Y'ukon and re- 

 port upon its resources, conditions, and develop- 

 ment. Summed up, his elaborate data may be 

 given as follows: The gold-bearing sands are of 

 immense area, and the camp will remain impor- 

 tant for many years. While the yields are not so 

 striking as in the early years, the cost of produc- 

 tion has fallen fully 50 per cent, since 1899. He 

 pointed out the immense area yet to be prospected, 

 but at the same time sounded the warning that 

 geological investigations do not warrant the belief 

 that another Eldorado will be found, and that 

 public opinion has settled down to the belief that 

 the rest of the country is largely made up of lower- 

 grade gravel. Dawson City is* in a state of tran- 

 sition between the old order of things and the 

 new. Credit is no longer given promiscuously, 

 and consolidation is going on. If mining suffered 

 no temporary relapse there should be no change 

 in business conditions in the near future. 



