The
ALASKA SOURDOUGH
Published for the Sourdough and
the Chechako as well, by A. B. Calla
ham.
Subscription price, $3.00 a year;
Six Months, $1.60; Three Months, $1.00.
Single Copies Ten Cents.
Issued Every Tuesday
Entered at the Post Office at Doug
las, Alaska, as second class mail mat
ter.
Home Office, Old Methodist Church
Building, Douglas, Alaska. Tel. 36.
COMMISSIONERS UNDERPAID
‘ ‘ The present fee system is entirely
wrong, ’ ’ declares the Valdez grand
jury in a report wdiich has just been
received at the Governors office, re
ferring to the method of remunerat
ing U. S. Court commissioners. Out
side of the larger places, the grand
jury thinks, “It can only result in the
holding of the positions by incompet
ent men, as the fees in outlying places
are not sufficient to induce competent
men to accept the office.
“We find that as a result the gov
ernment has been forced to incur a
large expense by reason of the ignor
ance and incompetence of commission
ers who have bound over men charged
with crime on insufficient evidence,
resulting in the bringing of witnesses
to this court and the dismissal of
charges against the defendants on mo
tion of the district attorney, without
presentation of cases to the grand
jury.
“We therefore recommend that the
present lawr be amended so to pro
vide salary of one thousand dollars a
year for United States commissioners,
with additional compensation up to
three thousand dollars a year, provid
ed the income of the offices reaches
that amount, the surplus to be turn
ed into the treasury of the United^
States. ’ ’
Cutter for Deputy Marshal
“We would suggest also that as at
present there is no representative of
the federal court west of Unalaska, at
the head of the Aleutian islands, the
revenue cutter on its trip to the Arc
tic in the spring be placed at the dis
posal of the deputy United States mar
shal at Unalaska and used to convey
him to the islands of Atka and Attu,
in the Aleutian group; the same
course to be taken in the late fall on
her return from the Arctic.
“The distance from Unalaska to At
tu is some seven hundred and fifty
miles. On both sides of these islands
there is a considerable native popu
lation, and the presence of an author
ized officer of he law would have a
good moral effect. In February of the
present year an attrocious murder was
committed at Atka. but it was some
months before the marshal at Unalas
ka learned of the facts and was able
to take the murderer into custody. ’ ’
The grand jury also recommends
that the marshal at Unga be given a
power boat, so that he can make the
rounds of the Indian villages and look
for whiskey peddlers and other viola
tors of the law’s.
The grand jury also recommends
that a new’ government laind office be
instituted at Valdez, apd a register
and receiver be appointed to relieve
the Juneau office w’hich it believed is
be overworked.
HITCHCOCK ON ALASKA
Senator Hitchcock of Nebraska pro
nouncedly friendly to the interests of
Alaska as he is, yet cannot get away
from the idea of the East and of the
Middle West on the subject. He is
not satisfied with any proposed legisla
tion which contemplates merely the ad
vancement of the interests f the Pacific
coast and of the people of Alaska
through the utilization of the natural
resources of Alaska, but he insists also
that legislation should give tire fedpr%l
treasury an income at the expense of
Alaska, a territory which already pays
a greater proportionate amount of fed
eral taxation than any other section of
the United States. He cannot recog
nize that the people of Alaska who
have explored that territory and who ■
have given them their sole pecuniary
value have any rights superior to those
of the people of New York or of Ne
braska in the territory which they are
making.
It may be impossible to combat this
view. Tt looks as though it is impossi
ble.—Seward Gateway.
A FORECAST
rl he concensus of opinion among he
leading Democrats of the terrtl.'ory 's
that Robert W. Jennings will be the
i iminee of that party for delegate to
congress from Alaska.—Cordova Alas
kan.
TAKEN TO SPIRIT CITY
The Nome Democrats have held their
caucus, elected forty delegates to the
territorial convention and allowed a
Seattle attorney to pocket all of the
proxies and take them to the “spirit
city, ’ ’ where they can be .hawked about
in the framing up of a ticket to .be
nominated by the “ unterrified ’ ’ of Al
aska.—Cordova Alaskan.
BUSINESS BETTER
The industrial conditions -n Cordo
va show a steady upward tr«nd repots »'i
the Northwesterh Realty & Trust Co.
says the Cordova Alaskan.
All of the contractors and carpenters
in town are busy doing repair w'ork and
building. The Copper River & North
western railroad has almost completed
its big oil tanks, and besides its new
machine shops is constantly making
other improvements on its terminal
grounds. There is work for every man
in the city who wants to work.
^Tiile the volume of business, gen-'
erally speaking, is steady, it is still
short of being enough to go around, aud:
therefore the margin in favor of the
credit side, save in very few instances,
is too small to make for prosperity.
Howrever, there is a better feeling in
business circles and it is realized that
bedrock has been reached and that con
ditions will gradually improve.
CONSOLIDATING AT NOME
There seems to be good foundation
in fact for the report that a consolida
tion is pending which will affect the
three principal mining concerns of the
Nome district—the Wild Goose Mining
company, the Pioneer Mining company
and the Consolidated Dredging com
pany. Officials of the company refuse
to make statements but not any of
them deny the rumors outright.
NEW LIFE AT CIRCLE
For the first time since its early days
—1894-5-6-7—Circle City is beginning
to feel the effects of modernism.
On the cueks all is activ.tr for the
fns'. time in ten yea-3 the gold output
wOl increase from the usual average of
between $250,000 and $300,000 to from
50.000 to $400,000
AS TO THE MINING LAWS
“What does it take to do the annual
assessment work on a mining claim? ’
queried a miner of a commissioner of
a neighboring district. “Two maga
zines and a plug of Westover,” laconi
cally answered the. official.-;—Seward
Gateway.
A MATTER OF PUNCTUATION'
Secretary Fisher was confronted ;n
A1 ask a,' by banners and badges bearing'
the legend: - . A .. ,
“I^ef US mine our own coal.”
Fine, but needing to be punctuated
as follows:
‘Let U. S. Mine our ovfti coal.”
"Wq’^e got the men, we’«; got the’
slips, we’ve got the money, we’ve.gob
coa. aqd the .consumers,. . Sp trot out
yrui pick and shovel, IJncie Sam, and
get busy.—Eastern Exchange.
t WANTS HELP
The residents of Valdez and .the
Reservation have expended between'
$75,000 and $100,000 in. the construc
tion of temporary dykes in the divert
ing of the glacial stream. We earnest
ly recommend that the the War de
partment construct a permanent dyke,
as this is absolutely necessary for the
protection of the valuable government
property situated in the community.—
Valdez Grand Jury.
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