mediately for Victoria and will forward written report from San Francisco. No cutter should be dispatched without largely increased force and medical officer. Gatling gun required."

Captain Selden stated to me, as I was leaving Port Townsend, he would address me another communication upon the subject to San Francisco.

The situation at Sitka is now changed. A vessel stationed there may have sharp work to do. For mere intimidation the Wolcott would be an admirable scarecrow; but if there is any fighting to be done, or offensive operations to be conducted, then a vessel of a different class must be selected. My views on this subject were fully set forth in my report of April 14 last, when discussing the armament and crew of the cutter Rush.

Collector Berry is very earnest in his statement of the defenseless condition of our citizens, who have been left wholly unprotected and liable at any time to be murdered by the savage tribes. He does not concur in views of the department, that "an occasional visit of an armed vessel is deemed all that is necessary," and I am constrained to agree in this opinion.

A cutter should be stationed permanently at Sitka, unless it is determined to abandon that portion of the territory altogether, and she should be provided with a steamlaunch, as Captain Selden suggests.

Let a vessel go there now, and possibly everything at the surface might appear to be calm, and the officer making the inspection might call those who have agitated this question “alarmists"; but this will not do. The inhabitants of Sitka are slumbering upon a volcano, as it were, and some day it will belch forth and ingulf them. It is a question of slow growth, but many of these Indians have wrongs to redress and injuries to be made good, inflicted upon them while the country was in the hands of the military.

Major Berry says the destinies of the whole town are in the hands of a single chief, who, if he says "kill," not a white man will be left alive.

I cannot speak from my own personal observation, but for three years past I have given this northwest coast patient study and investigation. It is my firm conviction the department does not realize the situation, and the sooner it recognizes fully the importance, condition, and responsibility of the legacy bequeathed to it by the War Department, so much the sooner will it become convinced of what is requisite to be done, and that speedily. Some sort of government must be had; and as, to my mind, the Treasury being the most proper bureau for its administration, should at once enter upon the task and evolve some kind of order out of this impending trouble and present chaos.

I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,

Hon. JOHN SHERMAN,

WM. GOUVERNEUR MORRIS,

Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C.

Special Agent.

On August 4, off Chetko River, Oregon, I spoke at sea the revenuesteamer Thomas Corwin, Capt. John W. White commanding, en route to Alaska. This officer remained some time in those waters with his vessel, and although during his stay the Indians made no signs of violence, I am satisfied his visit had a very healthy effect and quieting influence upon the natives, and prevented any outbreak, as portended by Major Berry. One thing must be continually borne in mind, that the Indians are not going to begin hostilities while a gunboat is lying right before their villages. They will make all manifestations of good conduct, even if they contemplate throat-cutting and blood-letting as soon as the vessel is out of sight.

Major Berry continued to grow worse at Victoria, and, being at the point of death, his resignation was accepted by the department and successor appointed. When his special deputy, Mr. Harvey, reached Portland, Oreg., I had an interview with him and advised him by all means to proceed to San Francisco and make settlement with the department, and deposit his funds with the assistant treasurer of the United States. He left by the first steamer for that purpose. I advised him also to seek the advice and assistance of the accomplished auditor of the San Francisco custom-house, J. Frank Miller, esq., in the preparation and rendition of the final accounts of Collector Berry.

452

ADMINISTRATION OF COLLECTOR BALL.

This gentleman entered upon the discharge of his duties in July last, and is bringing to the task ability and judgment. My correspondence with him has been of a satisfactory character, and in a recent interview with him at this port, on his return to Alaska, I am convinced he fully understands the gravity of the position in which he is placed and the responsibilities of the office he has assumed.

One great trouble in enforcing the revenue laws properly in Alaska and maintaining order is the insecurity of the term of public officials. No sooner has a man mastered our intricate customs revenue system, or at least become tolerably conversant with its practical workings and numerous contradictions, than he is supplanted, made to walk the plank, and politely invited to step out and make room for his successor.

In older communities this, per se, does not invariably cause loss to the revenue or bring about the pernicious state of affairs which advocates of civil-service reform are wont to preach, for the reason, sufficient experienced clerks and deputies are retained to carry on the public business properly. But in Alaska, when the fountain-head departs, it usually results in a clean sweep of subordinates. Aside from the mere routine of collecting the revenue, the collector of customs and his deputies, as matters now stand, are the only semblance of or really the de facto law in the Territory.

These reflections do not apply to the present collector, who legitimately succeeded to a vacancy caused by resignation, nor to his deputies, for reasons before given. If they prove equal to the occasion, it is to be hoped more stability than heretofore will be had in their case.

THE PORT OF WRANGEL.

Wrangel, or more generally known as Fort Wrangel, is situated on the north end of Wrangel Island. Illustration No. 1 will give a correct idea of the present appearance of the place. The view is presented from the harbor directly in front of the town, with the cutter Wolcott in the distance.

The military post at Wrangel was established in 1867, and abandoned in 1870. This garrison cost many thousands of dollars; it had a large hospital, good quarters for officers and men, guard-house, bakery, storehouses, post well stockaded, stables, and such other buildings as arè usually found at a one-company post. The erection thereof was necessarily most expensive, yet, notwithstanding the immense sums of money expended, the War Department in 1870 disposed of the whole thing for the insignificant sum of $500 or thereabouts. The purchaser was William King Lear, esq., sutler and trader at the post and village. Soon after the troops left, at the request of Mr. Lear, the deputy collector then stationed there vacated the miserable shell of a building then occupied as a custom-house and moved into one of the buildings of the fort. This building was used and occupied as a custom-house and warehouse, free of rent from the year 1870 to 1874, at which time the discovery of gold at Cassiar, in British Columbia, caused houses at Wrangel to become valuable and in demand. Mr. Lear, in consideration of the fact he had furnished for a period of four years a whole building rent free for government purposes, asked that he be allowed compensation for the use of one room. Upon the representation of Collector Berry, the sum of $30 per month was paid.

In January, 1875, the War Department re-occupied Fort Wrangel and stationed troops tuere, taking possession of all the former buildings and

allowing Mr. Lear the sum of $80 per month rent, which he continued to receive under protest until the final abandonment of the post in July, 1877. Illustration No. 3 shows the fort as vacated by the troops. When the military regarrisoned the post the deputy collector was directed to surrender his room, which was done. Upon the requisition of Major Berry the department authorized an allowance of $200 to put the old custom-house in a habitable condition. This was done in February of that year, and it has ever since been used for customs purposes. It is the property of the United States, is in full repair, and answers all requirements for office business, but it is at an inconvenient distance from the only wharf and warehouse at the village.

Finding the Indians made a thoroughfare of the premises to and from their village, and were stopping constantly in throngs in front of the building, intruding their filthy persons and stench even inside the office, and impeding the public business, I directed Mr. Dennis to construct a cheap fence of palings and logs and inclose the lot, which has been done.

There is a great lack of warehouse facilities at this port. The United States own no building which can be used for this purpose, and the trade at present will not justify the erection of one. It was a great mistake this random sale of government property. Had these buildings been turned over to the Treasury Department, like those at Fort Kenai and Kodiak Island, we should now have abundance of warehouse accommodation.

The present and only warehouse at the port cannot be bonded, for two

reasons:

1. Because the entire building cannot be had.

2. It being the only warehouse in the place, the owners would not consent to part with it for this purpose.

Merchandise which goes into bond now in transitu is destined for the Stikine River in British Columbia, and only remains a few days. It is piled up indiscriminately, domestic and foreign merchandise all in one. conglomerate mass.

Illustration No. 2 gives the location of the warehouse and wharf. The building in the distance is the old United States hospital. The two canoes lying at the dock are the first which were loaded during the present year with merchandise for the head of navigation on the Stikine. The merchandise consisted of portions of the machinery for the first steamer on Dease Lake Cassiar mines, and after disembarkation from the canoes was packed on the backs of mules for 150 miles.

Owing to the very shallow state of water this year in the Stikine, early in the season all the freighting was done by canoes. It is estimated there were 125 thus employed, requiring nearly 600 Indians to navigate them. A canoe will carry about two tons weight.

Nearly the whole of the customs business is transacted at this port. Two lines of Canadian steamers run regularly to and fro from Victoria, and American steamers likewise from Oregon, Puget Sound, and British Columbia. This is the depot where all goods are landed in order to be transported up the Stikine River to the Cassiar mines.

In order to convey some idea of the country and mineral resources which is supplied with goods via Wrangel, the following extract is made from a report upon the mines and minerals of British Columbia by George M. Dawson, Assoc. R. S. M. F. G. S.:

The Cassiar district is the latest and most northern discovery on the auriferous belt of British Columbia, being situated about north latitude 590, and separated from S. Ex. 59- -3