44 



ALASKA. 



no better commentary on the management can be made than 

 a reference to their arcbives, where in almost any one year, 

 look, for instance, January, 1863, (Techmainov, vol. ii, p. 224,) 

 at this table showing the number and distribution of the em- 

 ployes and dependents : 



Or a grand total of 0,977 dependents of all classes, aud of this 

 number over 1,200 were paid regular salaries, from the governor 

 down to the serf. 



And yet, with this small army of servants and dependents, the 

 Russians, for the last forty years of their possession, did not 

 get one-half of the furs annually that our traders now secure 

 every year since their establishment in the Territory, while 

 there are not over two hundred men engaged in the whole busi- 

 ness at present. 



Take the sea-otter trade for instance. The Enssians called 

 it a fair season when they secured iu the course of the year, 

 throughout the whole Territory, 350 to 400 sea-otters ; many 

 years occurred in which less than 200 were taken ; but during 

 the last two years 2,500 to 3,000 have been captured each sea- 

 son in the Aleutian and Kodiak districts aloue; and I estimate 

 that not less than 500 have been taken from Cook's Inlet down 

 to Fort Simpson. This great increase iu the development of 

 the business is simply due to the active personal supervision 

 of the present agents and traders. 



In connection with this view of the trade and traders in the 

 Territory, it is proper to mention the operations of the Alaska 

 Commercial Company, as it has been the subject of comment 

 by the press. The whole matter appears to amount to this, 

 that the fur-trade of Alaska, (always excepting the Seal 

 Islands,) placed, as it is, in a fair field for competition, will 

 sooner or later be controlled by those who invest the most 

 money in the undertaking and send the best men for the work, 

 who make their stations more attractive to the natives, and 



