A QUESTION OF WATER MONOPOLIES
Reins' a Memorial addressed to President Roosevelt and Congress Nov. 25 lust, and copies
forwarded to Speaker Cannon, Senator Nelson, E. R. Dunn, and Andrew Fursureth of
San Francisco, by Nome Mine Workers' Union. Printed in the Nome Nugget Feb. 13.
To tli© President nnd the Congress of the
United States:
Tlu> Nome Mine Workers’ Union, of
Nome, Alaska, lie©: leave to call your
earnest attention to the following facts,
anti respectfully ask a speedy action in
the premises:
At the present time gold-bearing gravel
deposits in this vicinity are, and for
decades will be, practically the sole sup
port, directly and indirectly, of our pop
ulation. The same is equally true of all
Seward peninsula and the country trib
utary to the Yukon.
To the working of these placers water
under pressure is an absolute necessity.
Without such water for washing the
gravel these deposits are absolutely
worthless. To sustain a placer camp,
then, water is as essential as air. Nev
ertheless, under the peculiar law govern
ing the right to water in this country it
is possible for a single individual or
corporation to gain, without purchase,
absolute and undivided projK-rty in and
control of all available water to the
exclusion of all others. This exclusive
and absolute right to the water gives a
natural monopoly over all the property
to which this water is indispensable.
There is every reason to In-lieve that
no riparian right obtains in any Alaska
placer country, but that the only
manner in which property in water can
be acquired at such a place is by actual
appropriation and diversion. The fact
that a jierson locates a placer claim in a
creek or river does not in itself establish
a right to the water flowing over the
claim. It is the person who first diverts
the water to a particular beneficial pur
pose w bo acquires complete and i>erpet
ual property in it to the extent of his
diversion. The person who first locates
a water right notice on a river and
within a reasonable time thereafter pro
ceeds to build and complete a ditch con
veying the water to other parts of the
country w ill have absolute and exclusive
property in such amount of water as bis
ditch is capable of carrying, though it
Ik- every drop that the river contains.
Kven if the courts should hold that tin
law of riparian right obtains at this
place it would be applied only where
the placer claim was located prior to tin
water right. This, at best, would pro
tect only the creek claims, while the
benches, which constitute by far the
larger jiortion of the auriferous dejmsits,
will still Ik- at the mercy of the ditch
companies.
Although it ha* always ls*en tin* aim
of eongTess to divide the public domain
into small tracts, to Is* apportioned
among as many individuals ami families
as p«»ssible ami prevent it from falling
into the hamls of syndicates; yet, under
the |x‘ctiliar conditions prevailing in this
country, one individual or corporation j*
enabled to liecome absolute master of
hundreds of ««piare miles of ground by
the mere fact of Is-itig on the ground
first and pstinn a water-right notice,
provided he has the necessary capital
with which to make the reipiir»*d diver
sion.
There is as yet considerable ground
that will |siy working by the crude
method of thawing ami hoisting ami
then sluicing hv gat tiering up -now
water in the •prthg, hut these diggings
] are comparatively insignificant. The
| great lmlk of the gravel deposits must
! be worked by hydraulic methods in or
der to yield a reasonable profit, and all
1 such ground becomes the absolute prop
erty of those who own the water.
We now request of you, who have as
sumed and are exercising complete and
exclusive governmental control over this
country, such legislation as will put the
water monopolies of Alaska under re
straint. We submit that this is within
both the authority and duty of congress
as much as is the regulation of railroad
rates. The big ditch companies on Sew
ard peninsula claim to be public corpora
tions, serving a public purpose, and as
such claim and exercise the right of
eminent domain in condemning rights of
way for their ditches and Humes. This
they do on the pretense that they are
farming out their water to whoever
wishes to buy. Under these circum
stances we maintain that congress has
the right to compel said companies to
accept such rates for their water as is
fair and reasonable and no more.
During the last summer the manager
of the Miocene Ditch Company at this
place testified under oath in court that
their ditch carried 5,000 miners’ inches
of water and that they sold it at no less
than $1.50 ]>er inch, but did not care to
part with it at that figure, as it was
worth more to them in working their
own claims. This statement discloses
the fact that the water in this ditch is
worth to the company at least $7,500 per
day. As the sluicing season in this part
of the country will vary from 85 to 110
days, and the average will Is* about 1(H)
days—from June 25 to Oct. 1—the sea
son's run in that one ditch yields
$750,000. This is the profit, for the cost
of maintaining the ditch after it is once
built is purely nominal. In another case
the officers and attaches of the same
company testified that with pipes and
mining machinery their ditch cost $550,
000. This will bring the cost of the
ditch proper down to about $500,000 or
less, and discloses an annual profit of
250 i>er cent, to the capital invested, a
profit that is made possible by reason of
the mono]H>ly enjoyed.
We have reterreu t<> this mie ititeh lor
the jnirjmseof an illustration of w hat is
true in kind of all ditches on the jenin
sulu.
We now submit that it is necewuiry
for the jirotection of the public and in
no way unfair to the investor to have
I the rates of water reduced to where a
ditch will return a profit of no more
than 'St jut cent, the tirst and second
years, and no more than or JO jer
cent, thereafter.
That a law to that effect, accompanied
bv no other provisions, would Is- nuga
tory is sell" evident, for the reason that
it could U' evaded by giving, ill the dis
tribution of water, preference to jerson*
or companies interested in the ditch.
Itut this is not ilittii till to guard against.
We should certainly prefer, and wc
consider it bojh just ami wise, that
congress delegate to the miners in each
mining district authority to establish,
by election, a tribunal to fix rates for
water, and |>r<wide rules under which it
may le acquired ami distributed. Itut
1 if this methtsl should not meet with
ycair approval we leg that congress
GENERAL
MERCHANDISE.
X OUTFITTING _
MINERS STORE
(In the Postofflce Building)
Cigars by the Box a Specialty
either fix rates or establish an appointed
tribunal with plenary power to deal with
the matter, provided, however, that such
tribunal be composed of Alaskans.
In conclusion, we desire to impress
upon you the importance of sjreedy ac
tion in this matter. People here are
i almost daily forced to let go of their
legitimate holdings by reason of the
monopoly on water. New ditches are
-constantly being built and others plan
ned, and it is possible that some of these
may have been so conceived as not to
come under the operation of the police
power of the government, and prompt
action is for that reason necessary to
, diminish the possibility of public injury
from that source, for where water is
appropriated for purely private pur
poses without any pretense of farming it
out or serving the public a more difficult
question to deal with is presented.
Very respectfully,
Nome Mine Workers’ Union.
By Jen Mather, President.
! By E. J. Hickey, Secretary.
Nome, Alaska, Nov. 25, 1005.
CIRCULAR-LETTER
From the Tanana Miners Associa
tion Regarding the Election of
a Delegate to Congress.
To the Miners of
Gentlemen : The miners of the Tanana
have organized themselves under the
name of the Tanana Miners Association.
They recognize that mining is the
! industry of Alaska.
They define the term “miner” to mean
and include those who are actively and
personally engaged in the finding and
developing of the mineral resources of
Alaska. We do not include those who
speculate in mining as an incident to
their presence in Alaska. We confine
the meaning of the word to include those,
and those only, who give their time,
energy and means under their personal
! supervision to the development of Alas
ka's mineral resources; in short, whose
principal occupation is either prospect
ing, working in mines, or personally
operating or superintending their own
properties.
We recognize the need and presence of
the merchant who follows us with our
supplies; of the transportation compa
nies; of the fishing industry, and of alt
| other industries of benefit to Alaska.
We recognize all these and the pro|«r
consideration they deserve, w hile main
taining that they lack in a prop£r con
ception of miners and mining.
We know now that Alaska is to lie
represented at Washington hv a delegate
; to Is* elected next August. We ts'lieve
firmly that a miner should he that rep
resentative: one who is jMisscsscd of
gissl common sense, whose honesty and
integrity are alsive suspicion; one who
a nr vm Ioneof thosc Pe°P,e who
Ant I UU seldom write home?
They will know you are all right ir you
send them the YUKON VALLEY NEWS.
Mail yours or let us send one weekly.
understands the abuses that dogs our
steps, and is aide to work for our remedy.
Alaska has many such men roaming
her hills and working her mines.
Considering these premises, the exec
utive committee of the Tanana Miners
Association submits the following sug
gestions for your earnest consideration
and action:
a. They earnestly request you, the miners
of .. to organize and
begin looking for a suitable candidate.
b. To fully realize your |x>wer and your
privilege, and patriotically exercise them.
c. To not overlook a good man because he
is “broke." The miner does not ex|>ect any
one to pay or buy his way to t>e his repre
sentative.
d. To Iteware of the politician's graft.
With us the resources of Alaska are our Itest
graft, and they we most earnestly and in
tently court.
e. To communicate with us and all other
mining centers of Alaska.
We are addressing a similar commu
nication to the following mining centers
of Alaska, to wit: Forty-mile, Kagle,
Circle City, Rampart, Koyukuk, Nome,
Valdez and Juneau. We ask them to
look for a suitable candidate: we our
selves are looking for one.
If, as time reveals the development of
a mining federation, we may arrange
the meeting of a convention to select
one of the many candidates to he the
miners’ candidate for election as dele
gate to congress, we trust that the press
of Alaska will aid us in our endeavor.
All of which is respectfully submitted
hv theexecutivecommitteeof the Tanana
Miners Association for the earnest con
sideration of the miners of Alaska.
It. McVhjab,
I’res. Tanana Miners Association.
I). F. McClcrk,
Sec. Tanana Miners Association.
THEFT OF FURS.
Tht* theft of foOO or $600 worth of furs
from Charles K. Winter at Fairbanks
Feb 24, mention of whicli was made in
the telegraphic news of this paper, was
accomplished through an entrance of a
rear window by removing the glass.
Among the furs taken were sixty mar
ten skins, several mink skins, five or six
cmssed-fox skins and several ermine
skins.
So far as known, there was no private
mark n|H>n the skins, and it will prove
a difficult matter to identify them.
Father creek, Fairbanks district, pre
sents a lively scene these days. (tpera
tors are busy the whole length of the
creek. There are oK men at work on
No. 5, w hich includes three sets of lay
men and the men in Alliert Trabobl's
employ.
Chas.A.Traeger,
Hats, Clothing:
and Furnishings.
SAMPLES OF SUITINGS
All the Latest Styles for Spring,
; Summer and Winter Wear.
leave your measure and have
> made-to-order suits sent In.
[ t "■«!« little Hi.'Tv tlutn rvtt.lT mu.lv