THE BERING-SEA CONTROVERSY. 77 



pression of their views upon the subject, in which they made positive 

 declarations of opinions already formed upon nearly, if not quite, 

 all questions at issue, and this before they were even appointed as 

 commissioners. This fact was made the subject of a note by Mr. 

 Blaine to the British minister, on February 6, 1892, and was dis- 

 cussed in a reply by Sir Julian Pauncefote. On the other hand, 

 the American commissioners had taken no part in the current dis- 

 cussion, and, as a matter of fact, had been for several months prior 

 to their appointment engaged in professional work in regions of the 

 country remote from newspapers or telegraphs, and were entirely 

 ignorant of the remarkable wave of public excitement and anxiety 

 by which the country had been swept in consequence of the rather 

 stirring diplomatic correspondence which had been going on. With- 

 out returning to Washington, or in any way coming in touch with 

 the generally prevailing irritation due to the attitude of Great 

 Britain, they proceeded to Bering Sea and the Pribilof Islands, hav- 

 ing only in mind that they were charged to investigate " the facts 

 having relation to seal life in Bering Sea, and the measures neces- 

 sary for its proper protection and preservation." They were accom- 

 panied in their investigations by the British commissioners, to whom 

 every facility for a thorough study of the situation was accorded. 

 Rookeries were visited together, abandoned beaches were examined 

 in their company, and as far as could be all data from which con- 

 clusions might be drawn were made the common property of both 

 commissions. The evidence of great diminution in the number of 

 the seals herding upon the islands seemed to be overwhelming, and 

 much of it, especially the physical condition of the rookeries them- 

 selves, was quite independent of human testimony; natives and Gov- 

 ernment officers who had resided on the islands for many years were 

 practically unanimous in their opinion that the herd was being de- 

 stroyed. The attention of the British commissioners was called to 

 the unmistakable evidences of depopulated breeding rookeries and 

 deserted hauling grounds, but there were early indications that they 

 were looking for support for a hypothesis carried with them to. the 

 field of observation. After considerable " joint and several " in- 

 vestigation, the commissioners separated, to meet again in conference 

 for the preparation of a report early in the year 1892. 



It is not necessary to enter into the details of the extensive ob- 

 servations and studies which led the American commissioners to con- 

 clude, first, that the number of seals was rapidly diminishing; second, 

 that the principal cause of this diminution was and had been pelagic 

 sealing; third, that the only effective remedy was the complete cessa- 

 tion of taking seals at sea. Their report, published as a part of the 

 case of the United States, may be referred to by those who wish to 



