374 FUR-SEAL FISHEKIES OF ALASKA. 



" tbiit the i-clatious between tTie natives and the Government officers liave always 

 l>eeu of the most friendly and trustworthy kind ; " that he had never known a complaint 

 from the natives or a failure on the part of the company to siipply their wants or dis- 

 charge their obligatious to the natives; that the natives were more comfortable than they 

 had ever been under auy previous condition ; that they never were compelled to work, 

 but did so voluntarily and under the directions of tlieir own chiefs; that their pay 

 was certain, regular, and fair; that their whole compensation was paid to their chiefs 

 and distributed among themselves according to their own rules and according to 

 classes of their own forming; that they were never charged extravagant or unreason- 

 able ijrices, the company uniformly charging 25 per cent, profit on the San Francisco 

 Avholesale prices; that the law and all regulations are published in the Russian lan- 

 guage, which the natives understand, and filed with the chiefs, so that they are con- 

 stantly informed of all their rights; that they have a school eight months in the year; 

 and that many of the younger children are reading simple sentences in English and 

 learning simple arithmetic. 



He adds: 



"We encounter in the teaching of the English language some opposition from a 

 portion of the natives; or rather a fear exists among them lest by teaching the En- 

 glish language we shall entirely supersede the Russian language, and thereby they shall 

 lose their connection with the Russian Church. * * * The old people ask us, with 

 a good deal of reason, ' Who, when we are dead, will read the prayers over our graves, 

 if onr children can not read Russian?'" (H. R. Report No. 623, Forty-fourth Con- 

 gress, first session, p. 101.) 



Mr. H. W. Elliott, before referred to, stated before the committee, under oath, that 

 he was on the islands of St. Paul and St. George from the 28th of April, 1872, until the 

 10th of August, 1873, continuously, and was again there <m the 5th of July, 1874, and 

 left on the 4th of August, 1874, and that whilst there he sought by inquiry and ob- 

 servation to inform himself as to the condition of the natives, and further adds : 



"And to more thoroughly do that, I studied the Russian language, and acquired 

 sufficient knowledge of it to converse with them, and to read and write it, and I am 

 free to say that those people have talked to me in a very independent, and, to my sur- 

 prise, a very intelligent manner." (Report No. 623, p. 79.) 



When asked by a member of the committee what was the feeling of the natives 

 toward the lessees, he answered: "Their feeling, independent of their testimony to 

 me, is one of gratitude and thankfulness." (Page 79.) 



Mr. Bristow, then Secretary of the Treasury, was also, called before the same com- 

 mittee to testify in regard to the alfairs of the company, and, among other things, he 

 stated the following: 



"I ought to add that Mr. Bryant, the special agent, who was appointed by Mr. 

 Boutwell at the time of the commencement of this cont'-act, has been here during 

 most of the winter (I think he has, perhaps, just left within the last few days), and 

 I have talked frequently and very freely with him on the subject, and he gives the 

 most positive assurances that all these charges are false ; that they are made in the 

 interest of rivals and irresponsible persons. So that I have not been able to discover, 

 from any source at all, otiicial or unofficial, any responsible person who is willing 

 even to father the charges that are made." (Page 69.) 



The Committee on Ways and Means, as w^ell as Congress itself, came to the conclu- 

 sion, on the evidence before it, that there was no just ground of complaint against 

 the Alaska Commercial Company or any of the officers of the Government intrusted 

 under the law with the power to make the lease or see to its performance. That was 

 in 187G, after six years had expired from the making of the lease, and when the whole 

 system and mode of action of this company was completely established. The same 

 methods and course of proceeding have since continued without change. 



In October, 1884, Lieutenant Lutz, of the United States Marine Service, in obe- 

 dience to orders from Capt. M. A. Healy, of the same service, commanding the reve- 

 nue steamer Corivln, made a report to the same efl'ect, now on file in the Treasury 

 Department, to which we beg leave to refer. In the appendix hereto we present 

 some extracts from the same. (No. 1 of Appendix.) 



In the fall of 1885, Captain Healy himself made a report to the Hon. Daniel Man- 

 ning, Secretary of the Treasury, also to the same effect, giving his own personal ex- 

 perience and knowledge, beginning in the year 1868, extracts from which we also 

 append hereto. (No. 2 of Appendix.) We also call attention to his several reports 

 on file, and especially lo one which we are informed has just been made to the Treas- 

 ury Department. 



We also respectfully and especially refer to our correspondence with Mr. George R. 

 Tingle, the present agent of the Treasury Department, hereto annexed, which we 

 feel assured will, from his high character for integrity and intelligence, command at 

 the hands of the Department the highest respect. (Nos. 3 and 4 of Appendix.) 



It will thus be seen that our treatment of the natives, from first to last, has been 

 uniform and consistent. Probably as complete an answer upon our part to any 



