94 ALASKA. 



THE PROPRIETY OF LEASING THE ISLANDS. 



It will be remembered that at the time this question was be- 

 fore Congress mncb opposition to the principle of leasing was 

 made, on the ground that the Government would realize more 

 by taking the whole management of the business into its own 

 hands. As to what arguments were used on either side of the 

 question I am ignorant, but after a careful and impartial sur- 

 vey of the subject on the ground itself, and in the trade, I am 

 satisfied that those members of the House and Senate who, by 

 their votes June, 1870, directed the Secretary of the Treasury 

 to lease the Seal Islands of Alaska to the highest bidder, did 

 the only correct and profitable thing that could be done in the 

 matter, both with regard to the preservation of the seal-life in 

 its original integrity, and its own pecuniary gain ; and to make 

 this statement of mine x^erfectly evident, the following facts 

 may be presented : 



First. When the Government took possession of these inter- 

 ests in 1868-'G9, the gross value of a seal-slcin then in the best mar- 

 Icet, London, icas less than the present tax and royalUj paid tqmn 

 it by the lessees ! 



Second. By the action of the intelligent business men who 

 took the lease, in stimulating and encouraging the dressers 

 of the raw material, and in combining with leaders of fashion 

 abroad, the demand for the fur has been greatly iucreased, and 

 the price of the raw material has doubled, so that while the 

 Government gets and nets nearly half of the gross sales, yet 

 the lessees have a good margin of 15 to 20 per cent, at least on 

 their capital, sustained entirely by their business capacity and 

 energy. 



Third. The Government, should it attempt to manage this 

 business, could not secure the services of such men as those who 

 compose the business management of the Alaska Commercial 

 Company without paying salaries to four and five agents as large 

 or hij'ger than that given to the President of the United States. 

 This, however, the Government might cheerfully do, did it 

 guarantee the selection and appointment of such men as those 

 above mentioned, but it does not follow under our system of 

 government, or any other that I know of, that a large salarj^ 

 indicates a corresponding amount of ability on the part of its 

 recipient J an imbecile or a very common man is just as apt 



