Paul Perry Returns

 

PAUL PERRY

RETURNS

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From His Long Sojourn in

the Klondike

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OFFICIAL COMPETITION

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Is Rampant Among the Can-

adian Office Holders Who

Bleed the Miners

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Paul Perry, son of the late superin-

tendent of schools is home after more

than two years' stay in the Klondike.

He is a great, broad shouldered, tall

young man who now looks to be in

perfect health. He relates very inter-

estingly of his trip. He tells of the

corruption of Canadian officials, giv-

ing names and facts, until the blood of

an Ann Arbor citizen, who has heard

the fairy tales of the honesty of the

Canadian officials from visiting friends,

runs cold. Mr. Perry says the Tweed

gang in New York were angels com-

pared with the officials at Dawson

City. When men were standing in line

at the commissioners office to locate a

claim, a $10 bill would help a man

into a side door and $50 would fix

a clerk to give a man a prior location.

If a prospector carne in from a new

district and said he wanted to make a

location, the commissioner would ask

how do the diggings look. If the

prospector would say 25 cents to the

pan which was pretty good the com-

missioner would take his location

memoranda, and appear to look over

the books and say: "There seems to

be some cloud on this location. If you

come in again in five or ten days I can

tell you how it is." Then the com-

missioner would quickly send a note to

an inspector to make a location there

and date back the stakes a month.

The same corruption exists among the

Canadian custom officials. He bought

an outfit from a man by the name of

Bennett. This outfit had cost about

$50. The custom house officer charged

Bennett $25 duty, and when Bennett

kicked raised it to $39, which be paid

under protest. The next man that

came in brought an outfit that cost a

$1,000 at least. He had some fresh

meat with him and gave a piece to the

custom officers. He charged him $12

duty. If a man kicked they doubled

the duty. If he kicked more they

trebled it and if he refused to pay the

outrageous charges they simply con-

fiscated the whole business.

The receipts given on their face

show the fraud. There is no inventory.

Only a receipt that --  has paid duty

on his outfit, states no amount. The

first year only $25,000 duties were re-

ported to the government as having

been collected on 400 outfits. The

lowest estimate on the duties collected

for that year was $75,000, so that the

officials pocketed over $50,000. The

next year over 30,000 people went into

the Klondike and the duties reported

were even less! If this same state of

affairs existed anywhere in the United

States there would be a riot, but for

some reason the Americans when they

get over the line in the presence of the

English soldiers are most supreme.

They don't know what their rights

are. There is no use appealing to Ot-

tawa or Washington, it would take too

much time. The officials sent out by

the government to investigate the cor-

ruption in the Klondike seem rather to

have tried to hush up matters than ex-

pose the true state of affairs. If Daw-

son City was on American soil and

run under American laws it would be

a splendid camp. There are only five

creeks that are paying at present. He

says he means by paying, claims that

pay $10 a day. There is no chance

for new men to go into the Klondike

now. There are 30,000 claims located

of which not more than 200 are good.

Last year there were over 20,000 peo-

ple in Dawson City. This winter there

won't be over 12,000. "Why just

think of it, a man must pay for a

miners license, then for stumpage if he

wants to cut down any trees to make

a raft or build a boat and then again

for the privilege of building a boat.

There is just festering corruption

everywhere. The officials sent out

think the country won't last long and

want to make their pile."

Mr. Perry and a few friends came

down the Yukon from Seventy Mile

Creek in a boat they had built. In

St. Michaels they took a sailing boat

for Seattle and were 25 days on

the sea which gave him a good rest.  He

says the reports about Cape Nome

are very misleading. There is some gold

there but no good chances for new

comers. Mr. Perry expects to leave for

Chicago in a few days.