234 ALASKA. 



cial couimunicatious intrusted to their agent for transmis- 

 sion. (5) 



Does lie desire to communicate with the cutter during her 

 annual visit, (if he is fortunate enough to live in Ouualashka 

 when she does come,) he knows that a year must elapse before 

 any result can be attained, and meanwhile he will be subjected 

 to ill-treatment from the agent of whom he has complained, 

 intensified by the knowledge that complaint has been made.(6) 



In old times each village had a tyone or chief elected by 

 suffrage, whose duty it was to be present at all trade, and arbi- 

 trate between the traders and the natives, and prevent any 

 cheating of the latter by the former. Now, the tyone is the 

 creature of the company, paid by them ; if there are opposition 

 traders there are two tyones, and it is evident how impartial 

 must be their arbitration, and what is the character of the pro- 

 tection they afford. 



The Eussians left these people Avith their self-reliance en- 

 feebled, but their intelligence and morals elevated to some 

 extent above their original condition. We have done nothing 

 to sustain them in this position, nor to cultivate their self-reli- 

 ance. 



I think I may say that inquiries on jgxxv part in relation to 

 specific acts of oppression would be quite fruitless. Those na- 

 tives who may have suffered have long since learned by experi- 

 ence that complaints result in nothing unless in an aggravation 

 of the original diflSculty, and the tyone paid by the company 

 can always bring forward evidence such as his employers may 

 desire. I must again repeat, that it is not a question of punish- 

 ing actual offenses, but of providing against the perpetration 

 of them ; and to await outrages so gross as to force their way 

 to our ears, before extending protection, is to wait till the stable 

 is empty before locking the door. 



I do not blame the traders for doing little or nothing to ele- 

 vate or improve the natives.(7) It is not their business ; and,, 

 even if they were willing to work against their own pecuniary 

 interest in this way, it still should not be left to them. 



The description of men who gain their livelihood as fur- 

 traders arc, with rare exceptions, unfit to be trusted with abso- 

 lute power over unresisting natives, notwithstanding the pos- 

 sible high character of the distant heads of the company who- 

 employ them. 



