Vice in Alaska

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 11, 1889

The Junean (Alaska) Free Press, prints some most heart-sickening facts relative to vice in that Territory. For the most part the native women are abject slaves, and many of them are bought and sold for the basest purposes. The Press charges that Dr. Jackson, the educational agent, is largely responsible for the existing state of affairs. It says:—

"Sheldon Jackson, the educational agent, instead of suppressing the sale of these Indian girls to miners and Indians, has put no obstacle in the way of the traffic. His school has been mainly used for teaching the girls housework and English, accomplishments which serve to increase their price in the 'matrimonial' market." Again the Press says: "The innocent are now suffering simply through the neglect of duty on the part of those placed here at salaries to religiously instruct a people who were heathens when the territory was purchased from Russia, and who are heathens still."