Mr. Adam to Mr. Sherman.
Manchester, Mass., July 23, 1897.
Sir: At the request of the Government of Canada, I have the honor to ask for your good offices with your honorable colleague, the Secretary of the Treasury, in order to obtain permission for the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company to run a steamer from Victoria, British Columbia, to Dyea, Alaska, for the purpose of landing freight and passengers at that latter place, in transit for the Canadian Northwest Territory.
The company propose that they should give a bond to the collector of customs at Juneau, Alaska, and, if necessary, that a United States officer, to be paid by the company, should accompany the goods until they are within undisputed Canadian territory.
His Excellency the Governor-General of Canada has desired me to request that the Treasury Department, if it agrees to the above proposals, should send instructions by telegraph to the proper authorities, to go forward by the steamer leaving Victoria, British Columbia, on the 28th instant.
The matter is pressing, as the traffic to the Klondike gold fields, in the Canadian Northwest Territory, is very heavy, and the season for traveling in those regions will shortly close.
I have, etc.,