280 ORAL ARGUMENT OF HON. EDWARD J. PHELPS. 



Mr. Piii'^LPS. — Yes, it from Elliott's Census Report. 



Mr. Justice HaPvLAN. — No. 



Mr. Phelps. — It is Elliott's quotation from Veniaminof. 



Mr. Justice Uarlan. — Yes. 



Mr. PiiELPS. — That is what I mean. It is a quotation from Veniami- 

 nof which he has translated, in the United States Census Kepoi-t at 

 paj^e 141, cited by the British Coimnissioners in Section 429. This is 

 the correct translation, as certilied, of that i)assage. 



This opinion is founded on the fact that (except in one year, 1832) no very great 

 number of seals lias ever lieen seen wilhont ])nps; hutiteannot be said that iiupreg- 

 nantcows never visit the Pribilof Islands, because such are seen every year. 



What the author says is exactly the oijposite of Mr. Elliott's trans- 

 lation. 



There is the evidence, if you call that the evidence, upon which this 

 extraordinary theory is based that is in the face of all the other evi- 

 dence in the case. I could read evidence from now to the end of the day, 

 to show that the yearlings go back to the islands every year. 



Now what is the upshot of this wliole business? If the time that I 

 have taken has not caused the Tribunal to lose sight of the thread of 

 the argument I have been endeavoring to pursue for the last two days, 

 the point with which I set out was this; to prove from the evidence 

 what 1 say is not merely i)roved — 'it is demonstrated— that the business 

 of pelagic sealing leads necessarily to the extermination of the seal. 

 In j)roof of that, we have shown that 85 jier cent of its slaughter is 

 females; that a very large proportion, 75 to 85 per cent of the females 

 in the North Pacific Ocean, are pregnant and about to be delivered; 

 that in the Behring Sea an equally large proportion, are those who have 

 survived the onslaught made u[)on them in the North Pacific Ocean, 

 have been delivered of their young, and are out at sea in pursuit of 

 food, and they are there destroyed: that the consequence of that is the 

 death of a great number of pups on the Islands; that the suggestion 

 that the pups are destroyed by any other cause is not only un sustained 

 by evidence — it is not even sustained by a reasonable suggestion of 

 what the cause might be; and it is demonstrated and shown to be 

 untrue, because except as to the two Pookeries in one year 1892, the 

 death of the pups always coincided and concurred with pelagic sealing. 



Then I have endeavoured to show in this hasty and cursory way, — it 

 is more cursory, I beg you will remember, than if I felt at liberty to 

 take more of your time, — that the suggestion of the present decrease, 

 which is only a circumstance in respect of the ultimate result of pelagic 

 sealing, is due to any other cause than this, is totally without founda- 

 tion : that Avhat is said about the taking of too many males never tran- 

 spired until it was brought about by the result of pelagic sealing itself. 

 That all authorities agree that the herd would stand as it always used 

 to stand, when it was needed, a draft of 100,000 a year — but as they 

 could not know the diminution of the birth rate that was being grad- 

 ually but certainly brought on by pelagic sealing the time came when, 

 in 1890, it was quite true that they could not take that number of seals. 

 Then the other suggestion, that aside from the number the virility of 

 the herd has been injured by the manner of driving, turns out, on 

 investigation, to be absolutely unsupported exce])t by this theory of 

 Mr. Elliott's, and to be contradicted overwhelmingly by all the other 

 evidence in the Case. 



I need not refer to the other theory that there are sea]s abroad that 

 do not come home. That is unproved and contradicted by all the wit- 

 nesses. What is the result of it all? Why it comes down to a demon- 



