ORAL ARGUMENT OF HON. EDWARD J. PHELPS. 271 



General Foster. — We have not tlie orioinal here. 

 Lord Hannen. — Is not it that the etiect of driving is such that it is 

 no use sparing their lives, — is not that the eUcct of itl? 

 Mr. I^HELPS. — iS^o, I will read it again. 

 Lord Hannen. — If you please. 

 Mr. Phelps — 



Nearly all tlie old travellers think and assert that sparinj^ the s'^alsfor some years, 

 i. e. not killing- tliein for some years, does not contiibiite in the least to their increase 

 and only amounts to losing them forever. 



What does he mean by that? What I was saying yesterday; by the 

 natural conditions of this herd you cannot keep up the number of 

 males; — nature does not keep up the equal luimber of males aiul 

 fenuiles, though beyond doubt an equal number are born into the 

 world. Tliat was a question that was early suggested by the Presi-. 

 dent, and which I endeavoured to answer yesterday. 



If in polygamous animals there are as numy females as males in the 

 world, how comes it to pass, in a state of nature when nobody inter- 

 feres with them there are not as many females as males? That is the 

 question we are discussing. He was discussing tlie question of what 

 sort of policy it would be to stop killing and let them all grow, — let all 

 these males alone for a period of years. Let them all (,'ome to the 

 peiiod of puberty. 



The President. — He does not speak of the driven seals? 



Mr. Phelps. — Xo, not in the least. He says, what observation 

 shows as to all, that you will not get any more males by that. It will 

 be the fittest that survive, and you will have the same condition of 

 things that you had before; in other words, you have lost those seals 

 that you might have taken without detriment to your herd. General 

 Foster reminds me this is to be found in the Counter Case, the full 

 translation. 



If I had nothing to do to-day but to review Mr. Elliott's Eeport I 

 think I could nuike it a little entertaining. If you read his field-notes 

 (I will give you a specimen at pages 23(5 and L*37) they will be found to 

 contain an ounce of observation to a pound of rhetoric. A scientific 

 observer would make field-notes out of doors, and put them down as a 

 basis for subsequent collation and analysis,— as statistics; but his 

 statistics are all rhetoric. For instance, and this is only a sample, on 

 June the 10th, 1800, of his field notes, at page 230. 



This nnnatural action of the cows, or rather unwonted movement, has caused the 

 pnps already to form small pods everywhere, even where the cows are most a])nn<lant, 

 which shadows to mo the trutli of the lact that in five days or a week from date, the 

 scattering completely of the rookery organization will bo thoroughly done. 



Sir Charles Russell. — He goes on to say that it did not take place 

 until the 20th to the 25th of July, 1872. 

 Mr. Phelps. — I do not read all this: 



It is impossible not to consider the question which this scene every moment 

 prompts — "what proportion of these old males whicli we see here now, overdone 

 and scant in number — what ratio of their number will live to return next year? — 

 and if they do all live to return, Avhat manner of good will 11i(\v be? — in many 

 cases will they be potent at all i" And again, not a single young bull to be seen oil 

 tlie breeding grounds or at the breeding margins! Where are they coming from? 

 They, so conspicuous by their numbers and aggressiveness in 1870-71! Where is 

 the new blood whicii must take the ])lace of tlie old and enfeebled sires before us? 

 already failing to meet the demands of tiie hour on every side and ahead of ns! 

 "Where is it? 



The only answer which my study of this season gives me is there is no >icw hluod. 

 .A'yf nature ^noutjh left. 



