THE BERING SEA CONTROVERSY. 657 



and explain many of the points made in order to be sure that they are 

 clear to the lay reader. Second, the report has for some reason re- 

 ceived practically no notice in the American press, and it is to be 

 feared that the importance of the document has not been fully appre- 

 ciated by the American public. 



1. There is adequate evidence that since the year 1884, and down to the 

 date of the inspection of the rookeries in 1897, the fur-seal herd of the Pribi- 

 lof Islands, as measured on either the hauling grounds or breeding grounds, 

 has declined in numbers at a rate varying from year to year. 



This proposition is in effect a restatement of the first clause of 

 the agreement of 1892, but it is much more definitely put. The de- 

 cline is not made to date vaguely " since the Alaska purchase " 

 (1867), but " since the year 1884." This latter date is significant for 

 a number of things. Prior to it for a period of thirteen years there 

 had been no difficulty in securing the normal quota of 100,000 skins 

 annually. In other words, up to that time the herd had remained in 

 a state of equilibrium, yielding a maximum product. Again, this 

 date marks the advent of pelagic sealing in Bering Sea, and the be- 

 ginning of that remarkable expansion of the industry which cul- 

 minated ten years later in 1894. The decline of the herd is thus 

 made synonymous with the rise of pelagic sealing. 



The real significance of this proposition, however, lies in the fact 

 that the decline is declared to have been continuous to the present 

 time. In other words, it did not stop or even slacken with the season 

 of 1894. In this season, it will be remembered, the regulations of 

 the Paris award, avowedly for the " protection and preservation of 

 the fur-seal herd," went into effect. Translated into direct state- 

 ment, this proposition is an admission that the regulations have failed 

 of their object. 



2. In the absence for the earlier years of actual counts of the rookeries 

 such as have been made in recent years, the best approximate measure of 

 decline available is found in these facts : 



a. About 100,000 male seals of recognized killable age were obtained 

 from the hauling grounds each year from 1871 to 1889. The table of sta- 

 tistics given in Appendix I * shows, on the whole, a progressive increase in 

 the number of hauling grounds driven and in the number of drives made, 

 as well as a retardation of the date at which the quota was attained during 

 a number of years prior to 1889. 



b. In the year 1896, 28,964 killable seals were taken after continuing the 

 driving till July 27th, and in 1897 19,189 after continuing the driving till 

 August 11th. We have no reason to believe that during the period 1896 

 and 1897 a very much larger number of males of recognized killable age 

 could have been taken on the hauling grounds. 



The reduction between the years 1896 and 1897 in the number of killable 

 seals taken, while an indication of decrease in the breeding herd, can not be 



* See footnote on next page. 

 vol. lit.— 50 



