ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 331 



been submitted to a court of admiralty iu condemnation proceedings. 

 I respect iully call these facts to your attention, with the suggestion 

 that a formal protest against said action of the British naval authori- 

 ties be communicated to the British Government, with the request tliat 

 in future every vessel seized by United States officers shall be proceeded 

 against for condemnation in tlie admiralty court having jurisdiction in 

 the j)remises 



I have the honor, etc., 

 The Secretary of State. 



J. G. Carlisle, Secretary. 



Treasury Department, 

 Wash>)i<jlo>t,, 1). C, June 12, 1895. 



Sir: I have received a copy of the communication of the British 

 Foreign Office to the British ambassador of the 17th ultimo, in answer 

 to his dispatch of January 24 last, conveying the i)roposition of this 

 Government for the appointment of an international commission by the 

 Governments of the United States, Great Britain, Russia, and Japan, 

 respectively, for investigating the fur-seal tisheries of theKorth Pacific 

 Ocean, and, pending a report of said commission, for a modus vivendi 

 ])rohil)iting sealing in Bering Sea and extending the regulations of the 

 Paris award along*the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude to the shores 

 of Asia. 



Tlie communication opens with the proposition that our Government, 

 because of its contention before the Paris tribunal that the Asiatic and 

 American fur-seal herds are distinct and do not commingle, can not 

 now with propriety draw any inference as to the other effects of pelagic 

 sealing on the American fur-seal herd from figures indicating increased 

 catches over previous seasons in the total of seals killed on the Asiatic 

 and American sides of the iS^orthern Pacific Ocean. The claim is fur- 

 ther advanced that although the catch of fur seals duriug last season 

 on the Asiatic side was greater than in any previous year, yet the catch 

 talvcn from the Americau herd — that is, within the Paris award area — 

 while admittedly larger than in most previous seasons, was, in fact, not 

 as large as that of the season of 1891. Our Government is further 

 reminded therein tliat the success or failure of the regulations estab- 

 lished by the Paris tribunal must be judged " solely by their effect on 

 the herd which they were intended to protect." 



I have the honor to re])ly that during the hearings before the Tri- 

 bunal of Arbitration at Paris it was earnestly contended by counsel 

 representing Great Britain that the Asiatic and American herds did 

 commingle. That fact was disputed by the American counsel in the 

 ligiit of the evidence before them. The tribunal, however, was not 

 called upon to make any definite finding upon this important question. 

 Wliile I do not wish to be understood as expressing any opinion upon 

 the subject, yet, in view of the admission contained in said communica- 

 tion, in which I cordially join, that "our knowledge of seal life is still 

 far from complete," I feel that the question as to whether said herds 

 intermingled requires most careful consideration and study. It has 

 been suggested that the American herd seal, even if not naturally com- 

 mingling with the Asiatic herd, may have been driven over to Asiatic 

 shores by incessant slaughter during the past seasons. If such be 

 found to be the fact on careful investigation — which investigation is 



