260 ALASKA INDUSTRIES. 



The date you fix, 20th instant, it is true, was named by the Secretary 

 of the Treasury on your recommendation, but you received subsequently 

 an order to extend the time or " use your best judgment." On tlie 

 receipt of said telegraphic order the day before our ship sailed, you told 

 the president of the company, I. Liebes, and myself, that "it would be 

 all right; it was as good as we wanted," etc., satisfying the president 

 of the compauy and myself that you would extend the time, otherwise 

 we would not have sailed until we received from the Secretary a positive 

 revocation of that part of his instructions which cut us oft' on 20th from 

 killing seals. 



You said to-day, that seeing that seals were so scarce determined 

 you to stop the killing on the 20th, and yet you admit to haviug ordered 

 Colonel Murray, on St. George Island, the Treasury agent in charge, 

 to stop our agent there from killing. This order was issued to Colonel 

 Murray at an early date, before the killing of seals had hardly commenced, 

 and it was not known whether they would be few or many. The law 

 says the lessees shall give the natives a maintenance out of the taking 

 of the seal skins. How can that provision of the law be carried out when 

 the Government steps in and stops the lessees from killing when they are 

 taking a thousand seals a day. By the enforcement of your order as 

 the representatives and agents of the United States you deprive the 

 natives of a maintenance; you deprive the Government of large rev- 

 enue; you cause the North American Commercial Company great loss; 

 you turn over to the marauders and other natural enemies of the seals 

 in the water many thousands of tine, killable, merchantable seals, which 

 we could take without any detriment whatever to the rookeries. 



We have every reason to believe, from the marked increase of new 

 arrivals of fine seals, that if we were allowed by you to continue our 

 killing under the law we could fill our quota of 60,000 seals. Believing 

 this, we will claim damages from the Government of the United States 

 equal to the loss we sustained by your act limiting the time to the 20th 

 instant when we shall cease killing. This limitation of time has no 

 precedent in the past 20 years, while the quota for St. George and St. 

 Paul islands was several times changed. The law fixed the time when 

 the killing shall cease, but the Secretary can fix the number to be killed 

 each year — not exceeding 100,000. 



In view of the foregoing facts, the North American Commercial Com- 

 pany respectfully claim the right to be allowed to proceed with the 

 execution of their business under and by virtue of their lease. 

 I am, very respectfully, 



Geo. R. Tingle, 

 Superintendent North American Commercial Company. 



C. J. GoFF, Esq., 



Treasury Agent, in charge of Seal Fisheries. 



