Seattle to Ottawa: Hands Off Alaska

The Alaska boundary dispute, which has been officially taken up by the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, has begun to attract wide attention, and the department at Washington City will no doubt soon awake to the danger which is imminent to American possessions in the north. The Chamber here has appointed a standing committee to gather information on the subject and report from time to time, in order that the people of the United States may not be uninformed of Canada's progress in the matter. The New York Sun has begun to be active in prodding the department to take some definite action relative to Canada's attitude, and a few days ago the following article, under date of Washington City, appeared in its columns:

'Our territorial rights in Alaska, as against the British claims there, have again been brought to the attention of the state department. The legislature of the state of Washington recently took up the subject, and adopted a resolution of protest, which has been sent here. In the preamble to the resolution it is alleged that England has laid claim to those harbors, bays and inlets through which the commerce and trade of Alaska must be carried on; and in the resolution our government is urged to use all honorable means for the maintenance of the claim of the United States to the ownership of the important regions of the Alaskan sea coast which rightfully belong to us by treaty with Russia. The resolution of the legislature of Washington also expresses a desire that an unequivocal policy in regard to this matter shall be adopted by the federal government.

'It is true that, under the reports of the American boundary commission and the Anglo-Canadian boundary commission of last year, England lays claim to large and valuable portions of Alaska, both in the interior and on the seaboard, which had previously been regarded as American territory. It is also true that both of the commissions of survey came to very nearly the same conclusion regarding the questions which they had been appointed to settle. There were, however, divergencies between them regarding certain matters which cannot be overlooked. It may be of slight consequence that the lofty Mount St. Elias and also most of the Yukon placer mines were declared to be within the British lines; but it is of serious consequence that England shall not, by unfair means, obtain possession of the most serviceable harbors on the Alaskan seaboard. It is because of her claim to them that the legislature of the state of Washington has entered a protest against their surrender on demand.

'The fundamental fact to be kept in mind regarding Alaska, and the joint British and American survey of it, is that the boundaries will not be finally settled until they have been made the subject of diplomatic negotiations between the governments at London and at Washington City, under the terms of the treaty of 1825 between Russia and Great Britain, and by which treaty our rights must be determined. Since the completion of the survey, it is the negotiating authorities of the two powers in interest that must attempt to determine the validity of their respective claims, in so far as they may conflict. The English desire that the line shall be drawn so as to cross some of the broad inlets upon the southwest, through which they can gain access to their own domain from the sea, and near which they can establish fortifications that may yet be serviceable to them. Their claims in this direction are held by those here who have said the question to be wholly inadmissible, and should they be presented to Secretary Gresham, he need not have any trouble, it is maintained, in demonstrating their invalidity. Several acts of England herself in other times, or during the Russian occupation of Alaska, furnish all the evidence needed to show that she has not any right to the possession of the tidewater regions which she is now desirous of securing. If it be that England's greed for territory elsewhere is insatiable, and that she is always ready with a pretext to support her seizure of any part of the earth's surface, it is high time to teach her that there are limitations to her claims upon this hemisphere, not only in North America, but also in Central and South America.

'The thin strip of Alaskan territory by the sea which England seeks to cover would be of great commercial value to her, but it is also of value to the United States. For the sake of peace the state department may surrender much to England; but it is hoped that the rights of the American government in Alaska will be scrupulously maintained even at the head of the Chilkoot inlet.'

The lively meeting of the Chamber of Commerce Monday evening has attracted a good deal of attention, and, since Seattle has large commercial interests in Alaska, and is the natural tributary center of the territory, the hope has been expressed that the interest manifested Monday evening will not be allowed to cool. The business men of Alaska are looking to Seattle to give publicity to their condition and the Chamber of Commerce has promised to render all the aid possible.

At the meeting of the trustees of the Chamber of Commerce yesterday afternoon Thomas Prosch introduced the following resolutions in regard to the Alaska boundary question, and a copy was ordered transmitted to the secretary of state at Washington City by the secretary:

Whereas, For forty years Great Britain acknowledged the ownership of Alaska by Russia; and, Whereas, The United States in 1867 purchased from Russia the country referred to; and, Whereas, During the past 28 years the United States has been in peaceable possession of Alaska, our rights being unquestioned by Great Britain or any other power; and, Whereas, The claim said to be now made by Great Britain of a portion of this distant but magnificent region is unworthy that government, and should not be entertained by our government for a moment; therefore, be it Resolved, That the Seattle Chamber of Commerce is opposed to arbitration or any other course that in the smallest degree looks like recognition of the claim of Great Britain to any part of this territory of Alaska which she has in the past recognized as belonging to Russia or the United States; and, be it further Resolved, That this Chamber urges the federal government to stand firmly and unyieldingly for the American contention as indicated by Russian, British and American treaties and maps since 1825.

The following gentlemen were elected members of the Chamber at the meeting: J. P. Gleason, Edward Von Tobel, Charles Pagan, John Y. Terry, A. L. Warner, J. E. Crichton, W. Rogers, S. S. Ingraham, J. W. Van Brocklin, O. L. Jones and Uri Seeley, Jr.