ALASKA. 37 



niontlis aud obtain the mail for the Territory, wliicb the reve- 

 uue-cutter stationed on Puget Sound should be detailed to 

 bring at preconcerted intervals of two or three months, and, by 

 so doing, give the Territory a mail-system. 



4. The abolition of the i)resent subsidized mail-steamer 

 which runs between Portland and Sitka. The handful of white 

 citizens there, only two of them citizens of the United States, 

 have no more right to claim the i^rivilege of a mail-steamer, 

 which 11020 rims for their hencjit exchtsively, than have the in- 

 habitants of Kodiak, Oimalashka, or Saint Michael's, or half a 

 dozen other villages of greater population or of more impor- 

 tance in this Territory. 



5. The appointment of an agent, a man of character tmd edu- 

 cation, who will have an opportunity to keep the Government 

 well informed of the exact condition of the people in the Terri- 

 tory and its resources, by reason of the facilities for travel 

 afforded by the revenue-steamer. 



G. The extension of the jurisdiction of the courts of Oregon 

 or Washington Territory over this Territory, so that when per- 

 sons belonging to the Territory, guilty of murder, arson, &c., 

 are arrested and sent down for trial, they can be punished, 

 aud not permitted to escape, as they have been in more thau 

 one case already, for want of this jurisdiction. 



7. The laws relating to our mining-lands might be so ex- 

 tended as to include the Territory of Alaska. Gold and silver, 

 copper, iron, and coal exist here, and there is no predicting 

 what the future may bring forth, for i)rosi)ectors are constantly 

 at work. 



By placing matters in the Territory on such a footing as I 

 have described, at least some deiinite approach to a system of 

 law and order would be initiated. There would be a steady 

 and prompt means of communication between all the stations 

 where life and property exist. No whisky-smuggling or o[)- 

 pression of the natives could be carried on without its speedy 

 apprehension and suppression, and the petty crimes which are 

 so aggravating and demoralizing at present throughout the 

 Territory would quickly cease. The annual revenue now 

 derived from the Territory is more than sutiflcient to support 

 the whole system recommended. 



Beyond the adoption of tbis plan, in my judgment, on 

 the part of the Government, nothing more is required by the 

 Territory and its people. Any scheme of establishing Indian 



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