bearing animals, or the existing Federal licence tax. It was provided that the capital should be at Juneau. The first session of the territorial Legislature was in March 1913, and the first law passed gave the franchise to women. Since that date the most important legislation has related to mining, hours of labour, workmen's compensation, banking and education. Heavy taxes were also imposed on the salmon-fishing industry, and from these the Territory derived -a large part of its income. In 1916 the Legislature authorized a plebiscite on the prohibition of the sale, transportation and manufacture of all alcoholic beverages. The vote was in the affirmative by 7,958 to 4,431. As the Legislature had no power to change the excise law, a petition was submitted to Congress, which passed a dry law for Alaska in 1917.
Education. The white schools of Alaska were in 1920 under territorial management and were supported by local taxes. Even most of the small settlements had schools, and five of the larger towns supported high schools. The Territory founded an agricul- tural and mining college at Fairbanks in 1918, but as funds were appropriated only for the erection of a building, the school had not been opened up to 1920. In 1919 there were 62 white schools in the Territory, with 147 teachers and 2,713 pupils. The education of Alaskan Indians and Eskimos was in the hands of Federal agencies. In 1919 there were in the Territory 70 Indian schools, too few to accommodate the children of the 25,000 natives. The Federal Government also made some provision for medical service for the natives, and maintained six small hospitals for the purpose. In addition to the Government schools, about 35 sectarian missions were maintained by various churches for the benefit of the natives. Many of these had boarding-schools and a few had hospitals.
Population. In 1920 the pop. was 54,899, a decrease of 9,457, or i4'7 %, from 64,356 in 1910. The whites numbered 29,000, as against 36,400 in 1910; the Indians and Eskimos 25,000, as against 25,331 in 1910; and the balance was of Mongolian and other races. Juneau, the capital and an important mining centre, was the largest town, with a pop. of 3,058. Ketchikan, the most important fishing centre, had 2,458. Anchorage and Seward, on the Government railway, had respectively 1,685 and 652. Cordova, the coastal terminus of the Copper River railroad, had 955. Fairbanks, the chief mining town of the interior, had 1,155. Nome, on the Seward peninsula, had 852. The white population of Alaska steadily increased until 1915, when it exceeded 40,000. Subsequent losses were due to: (i) enrolment in military service of about 3,500 men, few of whom returned; (2) high wages in the States; and (3) decrease in the gold-mining industry. While in 1915 about 9,600 men were employed in Alaska mines, there were only about 3,000 in 1920. In addition to the permanent residents of Alaska, between 25,000 and 30,000 men annually visit the Territory to find employment, chiefly in fishing, but also in mining. There were also 2,000 or 3,000 tourists each summer.
Mountaineering. The mountain ranges include a number of the highest peaks on the continent, which have exercised a fascination for the mountaineer. Many unsuccessful attempts were made to reach the summit of Mt. St. Elias (18,024 ft.) before the Italian Duke of the Abruzzi finally succeeded in 1 897. Mount VVrangell, Alaska's high- est volcano (14,005 ft.), was ascended by Robert Dunn in 1908; and in 1912 Dora Keen climbed Mt. Blackburn (16,140 ft.). Sev- eral attempts were made between 1903 and 1910 to climb Mt. Mc- Kinley, the highest peak in North America. William Taylor and Peter Anderson, prospectors, reached the summit of the N. peak (20,000 ft.) in 1910, and Hudson Stuck and Harry P. Karsten the summit of the S. peak (20,300 ft), in 1912. Katmai volcano, in the central part of the Alaska peninsula, had been entirely dormant for more than a century previous to 1912. On June 6 of that year, without previous warning, the top of the volcano blew off and ejecta were thrown for at least 1,500 m., while the fine volcanic dust encircled the world in the upper atmosphere. Though one of the greatest eruptions in historic times, it caused no loss of life, because the ejecta fell chiefly on the sea and in uninhabited regions.
Railways. At the close of 1910 there were 371 m. of railway in Alaska. This included 20 m. of the White Pass Railroad (narrow gauge) which ran inland from Skagway across the international boundary to White Horse in the Canadian Yukon (no miles). This line, while primarily serving Canadian territory, gave access during the open season of navigation to the settlements on the lower Yukon. The Copper River & North- Western Railroad (standard gauge),
extending from Cordova on the coast 'to the Chitirta copper belt (196 m.), was completed in 1910. Another line, the Alaska Northern Railroad (standard gauge), was built for 71 m. from the town of Seward, and then went into bankruptcy. A narrow-gauge railway 45 m. in length, connecting the town of Fairbanks with the gold- mines, was completed in 1904, and was later purchased by the Gov- ernment. About 130 m. of railway were laid in various parts of the Seward peninsula and subsequently abandoned. In 1912 Congress authorized a special commission to report upon the Alaska railway situation. The commission recommended that 733 m. of railway be built, estimated to cost $35,000,000. The project included two lines: one to extend from Cordova to Fairbanks, using the Copper River railroad, with a branch to the Bering River coal-field ; the other to run from Seward (utilizing the existing stub line) through the lower Susitna valley to navigable waters of the Kusko- kwim river, with a branch into the Matanuska coal-field. In 1914 authorization for not more than 1,000 m. of railway construction, the cost limited to $35,000,000, was granted by Congress. A new commission was then appointed, and after extensive surveys con- firmed in general the former estimate of cost. In 1915 the adminis- tration announced the selection of a railway route from Seward to Fairbanks. The estimated cost of this was about twice as much as for the route from Cordova to Fairbanks. Railway construction was begun in 1916, and by 1920 383 m. out of a total of 467 m. had been completed. The entire system was to be finished by 1923. The choice of the more expensive route and a policy of using only con- struction of the highest type brought the cost, at war prices, up to $52,000,000, with a probability that it would cost several millions more.
Commerce. The value of the total products of Alaska from the annexation in 1867 to the close of 1920 was more than $1,000,000,- ooo. In 1919 Alaska produced minerals, furs, fish, etc., to the value of $71,000,000. During the same year the value of her imports was $38,925,000, of which $1,449,000 was for merchandise from for- eign countries. In 1919 25 American vessels (tonnage 32,444) and 5 Canadian vessels (tonnage 4,870) were operated as common car- riers to Alaska ports. These carried 295,490 tons of freight and 32,803 passengers northbound, and 278,200 tons of freight and 3 1,7 17 passengers southbound. In the same year a total of 370 private vessels (tonnage 118,169), chiefly engaged in fisheries, were operated in the Alaska service and carried a total of 465,000 tons of freight (north- and southbound). Nine river steamers were operated on the Yukon in the summer of 1919. These carried a total of 9,690 tons of freight and 1,370 through-passengers. One steamer was operated on the Kuskokwim river in 1919.
Mining. From its small beginning at Juneau in 1880 up to the close of 1920 Alaska mining yielded a total value of $460,000,000. Of this 96% is to be credited to gold and copper deposits. But the mines have also produced silver, platinum, palladium, tin, lead, antimony, tungsten, chromite, coal, petroleum, marble, gypsum, graphite, barite and sulphur; and development work was done on deposits carrying nickel, iron and molybdenite. The value of the total annual mineral production rose from $16,890,000 in 1910 to $22,000,000 in 1920. Alaska mines have produced $320,000,000 worth of gold, of which $220,000,000 is to be credited to the placers. The largest gold production of any one year (1906) was $22,000,000. Since 1916, when the value of the gold output was $17,200,000, gold-mining has steadily declined, being only $8,000,000 in 1920. This decrease was due to the world-wide stagnation of gold-mines caused by the economic conditions brought on by the World War, and to this primarily is due the loss of population already referred to. In the past about 60% of Alaska's population has directly or indirectly been supported by the gold-mining industry. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated the value of the placer gold reserves of Alaska to be at least $360,000,000. This was in addition to the gold in vein deposits whose value could not be estimated. Auriferous lodes have been found in many parts of Alaska and developed in a small way. The only large gold lode mines were in south-eastern Alaska. Before the war there were near Juneau a number of large gold-mining enterprises operated at a lower cost than any others in the world. The small profits per ton were off- set by the very large tonnage of ore. With the increased cost of labour and supplies mining greatly decreased at Juneau. Alaska copper-mining began in 1901, and up to the close of 1920 had pro- duced 308,000 tons of metallic copper, valued at $127,000,000. Stimulated by the war demand and high prices, the mines made their largest output of copper in 1916 (59,900 tons). In 1920 the Terri- tory produced 35,000 tons of copper, chiefly from four large mines. Copper ore's are widely distributed in Alaska, but most of the deposits are as yet inaccessible. The richest copper-mines thus far developed were those of the famous Kennicott group in the Chitina district. There are high-grade bituminous coals and some anthra- cite in both the Bering River and Matanuska fields, the latter within reach of the Government railway. All Alaska coal lands were with- drawn from entry in 1906, and patent was refused to all but a few claims previously entered. This interdict lasted until 1913, when a coal-leasing law was enacted. Coal-mining was still in the develop- ment stage in 1921, the entire production up to that time being only 300,000 tons. The output of 1920 was 70,000 tons, chiefly taken from a Government mine in the Matanuska field. The total
