226 ORAL ARGUMENT OF HON. EDWARD J. PHELPS. 



They pursue that subject, aud I do not read by any means all they 

 say. 'How far that is undertaken to be contradicted on the specific 

 point what the proportion of the female seals killed is, by the British 

 Commissioners, I refer you to their Eeport to ascertain, in order to 

 see what they say on that subject, and to see which of these Eeports 

 is sustained and confirmed by the evidence in the Case. 



(Mr. Phelps here reviewed all the evidence in the case on both sides 

 bearing upon the question of the slaughter of pregnant females on 

 their way to the islands. 



On the first point he claimed that the evidence from all sources and 

 from many independent sources proved that of the seals killed on the 

 way to the islands from 85 to 90 i^er cent were females, a large propor- 

 tion of which were pregnant and about to be delivered immediately on 

 their arrival. In support of this he considered — 



{a) The common understanding of naturalists and all concerned in 

 or familiar with the seal life, or who were led to investigate it before 

 this controversy arose in 1880, and referred to a letter to the British 

 Government written by Lamx)son & Co., the leading house in the fur 

 trade in London. 



A despatch of Admiral Hotham of the British Navy to his Govern- 

 ment when commanding the Pacific Squadron. 



Eeports of the British Columbia Inspector of Fisheries in 1886 and 

 1888. 



Another letter from Messrs. Lampson to the British Government in 

 1888. 



Mr. Bayard's letter to the American minister in 1888, laid before the 

 British Government, going fully into the facts and citing evidence. 



A Eeview of the Fur-Seal Fisheries of the World, by Mr. Clark. 



A memorandum from the Eussian minister to the British Govern- 

 ment in 1888. 



A report of the Committee on Fisheries to the United States House 

 of Eepresentatives after an exhaustive investigation, in which a great 

 amount of evidence was taken. 



A report of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States in 

 1889 made to Congress. 



A letter from Sir George Baden-Powell, afterwards one of the Brit- 

 ish Commissioners, Avritten in 1889, published in the London Times. 



A letter from Prof F. Damon, the eminent English naturalist, i)u1b- 

 lished in the London Times of December 3, 1889. 



And other documents and i)ublications to the same effect. 



All which state the facts in regard to this question as they are 

 claimed by the United States, and enlarge upon their importance and 

 inevitable consequences. 



And Mr. Phelps pointed out that until the creation of this arbitra- 

 tion these facts had never been questioned or denied. 



(&) The testimony of British, French, and American dealers in and 

 manufacturers of fur-seal skins. Of these there were examined on 

 the part of the United States, thirty-one. Eight British, doing busi- 

 ness in London ; two French, trading in Paris ; nineteen American, resi- 

 dent in New York, in Albany, and in San Francisco. Among these 

 are the oldest and largest dealers in the world, and through their hands 

 pass all the seal skins taken from the Alaskan herd, and from that on 

 the Commander Islands. In the trade these skins are divided into 

 three classes: "Alaskan," embracing those taken on the Pribyloff 

 Islands; " Eussian," being those taken on the Commander Islands, and 

 " Northwest," which are tliose taken in the sea by what is known as^ 



