January 17, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



93 



fish, and it seems that an annual supply of 

 the best fish food like that is worth pre- 

 serving; but if the work is to be put into 

 the hands of the lowest class of political 

 appointees, instead of intelligent experts, 

 making the offices will not save the fish. 



In the matter of furs we may regard the 

 fur seal fishery as doomed. It is probable 

 that few of the pelagic sealers will pay ex- 

 penses after this season, and two or three 

 years are likely to see the end of the busi- 

 ness. It is costing us much more than the 

 catch is worth now, and the most sensible 

 way of ending the matter is generally felt 

 to be the destruction at one fell swoop of 

 all the seals remaining on the islands and 

 the abandonment of the business. 



The continental furs, owing to competi- 

 tion between traders, are now selling for 

 nearly their full market value, and little 

 profit can be expected from them. They are 

 also growing more and more scarce, as the 

 high prices stimulate trapping. The nat- 

 ural and satisfactory oifset to this would be 

 the establishment of preserves, such as the 

 ' fox farms,' of which mention has been fre- 

 quently made in the daily press. Many of 

 these have been started, and the multitudi- 

 nous islands oiier opportunities for many 

 more ; but the business is hazardous, since 

 there is no protection against poachers, and 

 a very ill-judged attempt has been made by 

 the Treasury, I am informed, to impose, in 

 addition to the annual sum for which the 

 island is leased, a ' tax ' of $5 on each fox 

 killed over twenty from each ' farm. ' It is 

 doubtful if the Treasury is entitled to tax 

 anybody without the explicit authority of 

 Congress, and a tax of 50 per cent, on the 

 gross value of the product not only is 

 oppressive and exorbitant, but will put 

 a stop to a business which should be en- 

 couraged. 



The timber of Alaska, though by no 

 means insignificant, is not likely to be much 

 sought for, except for local j»urposes, for 



many years. I may point out, however, 

 that there are millions of acres here densely 

 covered with the spruce best suited for 

 wood pulp, and plenty of water power for 

 pulpmills, so that this resource is not with- 

 out a future. 



A forthcoming report of the United States 

 Geological Survey will treat of the existing 

 and prospective mining industries. 



To sum up, it may be said that the whal- 

 ing and sealing industries of Alaska are 

 practically exhausted, the fur trade is in its 

 decadence, the salmon canning in the full 

 tide of prosperity, but conducted in a waste- 

 ful and destructive manner which cannot 

 long be continued with impunity. The cod 

 and herring fisheries are imperfectly de- 

 veloped, but have a substantial future with 

 proper treatment. Mineral resources and 

 timber have hardly been touched. No busi- 

 ness-like experiment with sheep or cattle 

 on the islands has been tried by competent 

 hands, while the introduction of reindeer, 

 though promising well, is still in the ex- 

 perimental stage. Socially, the Territory is 

 in a transition state, the industries of the 

 unexploited wilderness are passing away, 

 while the time of steady, business-like de- 

 velopment of the more latent resources 

 has not yet arrived. The magnificent 

 scenery, glaciers and volcanoes make it cer- 

 tain that Alaska will in the future be to the 

 rest of the United States what Norway is 

 to western Europe — the goal of tourists, 

 hunters and fishermen. Agriculture will 

 be restricted to gardening and the culture 

 of quick growing and hardy vegetables for 

 local use. The prosecution of most Alaskan 

 industries being in untrained hands, fail- 

 ures and disapointment will no doubt be 

 frequent, but when the pressure of popula- 

 tion enforces more sensible methods, the 

 Territory will support in reasonable comfort 

 a fair number of hardy and industrious in- 

 habitants. 



Wm. H. Dall. 



