ORAL ARGUMENT OP SIR CHARLES RUSSELL, Q. C. M. P. 71 



come to the conclusion that you have authority and you ought to exer- 

 cise it, then you, of course, have the right to exercise it. 



Now, Sir, you will bear in mind, or if you have not it in mind you 

 will receive it from me for the moment — that the British Commissioners 

 have stated that tlie worst part of the pehxgic operation so far as eifect- 

 ing the birth rate of the fur-seal species, is what is described as the 

 "early spring catch", and the evidence corroborates their opinion — I 

 will not dwell upon it now; that is to say, the catch beginning far down 

 south, and made during the migration nortliward to tlie breeding 

 islands: that those catches begin in the montlis of January and Feb- 

 ruary, and go on through March, April, May, June and so on, following 

 the herd, so to speak, in its migration northward; and the British 

 Commissioners point out with clearness that that is the i)ortion of the 

 catch in which gravid females are killed, and they pronounce that to 

 be the kind of killing which it is desirable should be put a stop to. 

 There is no such thing 1 think practically s])eaking, as the killing of 

 gravid females in Behring Sea — it is the killing of gravid females on 

 the migration of the herd northward. 



Senator MorctAN. — Is there any disagreement between the parties 

 here as to the blue line on the map being substautially the route of 

 travel? 



Sir Charles Russell. — There is; but I must ask my friend as far 

 as he thinks it necessary, to deal with that. I do not myself conceive 

 that the differences may be important — I do not conceive it to be very 

 important. 



The problem, therefore, is this, as we submit it: how can you make 

 a Eegulation which will ensure that the gravid females, and the bulk 

 of the herd connected with the procreation and continuation of the 

 species shall have reached the Pribilof Islands free from the attack of 

 the pelagic sealer! Now I think I am stating the pro])ositiou fairly: 

 the British Commissioners suggest that an effective mode would be to 

 prevent them sailing from any one of these liucensiug ports before the 

 tirst of May. Whether that date is late enough or whether the Tri- 

 bunal may think that that date is late enough I do not know; but they 

 justify it by saying this. They say: by that time there is far ahead of 

 the pelagic sealer the great mass of the gravid females; and that does 

 seem to be borne out to a considerable extent by another Chart of the 

 United States which is called the ^'Migration Chart", which is n° 7 in 

 the Counter Case, to which I should like now to draw the attention of 

 the Tribunal. This, Sir, I think I must ask you to have before you. 

 You will see in the centre of the map, the months "November", 

 "December", "January". 



I do not thiidv you need really be troubled with those, they are very 

 unimportant months. The weather is such in those months that pelagic 

 sealing, practically, can hardly be said to be pursued at all; but now 

 when you come to the other months, you will see for instance, the 

 mouths of "February", "March" "April", I wish to indicate that the 

 hlach dots are intended to represent the /emrt/es, including the gravid 

 females; and the reJ- dots are intended to represent the males. Now 

 you will see that during the month of February there is an admixture, 

 the males preponderating; that during the month of March, again 

 there is an admixture; but that as you progress in the month of IMarch 

 the female seals of the gravid herd get ahead of the rest on their way 

 up to the Islands. You may see that. Sir, just under the word " March". 

 Again, if you follow the stream right uj), by the month of April you 

 will see as you follow that line in its bend round, that the females get 



