224 ORAL ARGUMENT OF SIR RICHARD WEBSTER, Q. C. M. P. 



report as iiincli as you lilce. Say the oi)iiiions are wroTi,![r; but as a rec- 

 ord of wliat was seen in the year 189v) it is lioiiest and truthlul, and 

 being honest and trntht'ul, it must be regared by tliis Tribunal. 1 ha\'e 

 never suggested, Mr. Senator M(n\gan — I say it "witli great respect, — I 

 liave never suggested any doubt of the rii;ht on the part of members of 

 the Tribunal to question the opinions of any of these gentlemen, Dr. 

 Dawson, Sir G. Baden-Powell, JMr. Palmer, Mr. Elliott, Mr. Goff— any of 

 them; but at the same time the Tribunal have got to be satisfied that 

 it is this pelagic sealing which has caused tliis decrease. I will show 

 that it cannot be. But I ara at present following out the line indicated 

 at page 34J) of the United States Commissioners Report: 



The life of the seal berd, then, flepending as it nnquestionahly does on the con- 

 stancy of the number of birtlis, can be endangered from two directions: First, from 

 the killing of fertile females; and, second, Irom the excessive killing of males, car- 

 ried to sucli an extent as to prevent the presence of the necessary number of virile 

 males on the breeding rookeries. 



That is not suggested to be otherwise than a fair test, unless the 

 United States Commissioners, who are belauded by my learned friends 

 in the most glowing terms, are to be thrown overboard at the last 

 moment. I have read today warning after warning that the 100,0(10 

 seals were too many. It is no answer to my argument to say Mr. Elliott 

 made a mistake in 1874. The Tribunal cannot absolve themselves from 

 any responsibility by saying that it was Mr. Elliott's mistake or any- 

 body's mistake. I am calling attention to these facts to show that the 

 absence of virile males on these rookeries has been an all powerful cause 

 of deterioration of the seal race and of the absence of the uunjber ol 

 seals from the islands. 



Mr. President, I do not know whether you think I am exceeding my 

 duty if I respectfully ask this Tribunal to be good enough to read this 

 report for themselves and judge of it; because in my respectful submis- 

 sion to the Tribunal, the best judgment is obtained by reading the 

 whole, and I am perfectly willing that it sliall be considered that I am 

 only calling attention to specimens, and thatanythingthatmay be said 

 against me, or in any way in wiiich it is thought I have been overstat- 

 ing the matter, shall be judged by the contents. But there are one or 

 two passages to which I ought to call attention. If you will kindly 

 look at page 88, you will see the status of 187li and the status of 181H) 

 compared in i^arallel columns, showing that the natural incidents of seal 

 life in connection with the arrival and the dates at which they came to 

 the island are shown to occur at the same time, and about the same 

 period in the year 1890 as before: 



Status of 1872. 



1. On the rookery ground the Bnlls 

 were all by June 1st. 



2. Located on this ground then no 

 further apart than 6 to 10 leet, and 



3. were very active, incessantly fight- 

 ing with the 



4. thousands upon tens of thousands of 

 "12 bulls " or jjolseacatchie, wliicli were 

 then trying to laud upon the breeding 



provoking and sus- 

 a constant fight and turmoil 

 there, but being almost iu\ariably 

 whipped oft" by the old bulls, stationed 

 thero. 



belt of sea-margin 

 taiuing 



Status of 1890. 



1. On the rookery grounds the Bnlls 

 were all by June Ist. 



2. Located on this ground, now from 15 

 to 150 ieet apart and are inert and 



3. somolent: I have not seen a single 

 fight between tbe bulls yet. 



4. Not a single "1/2 biill" or polsea- 

 catchie atteinptiiig to land and serve the 

 cows — not a single one liavi^ I been able 

 to observe — in fact there are none left: 

 those that exist have been ruined as 

 breeders from the eliects of driving: and 

 several thousand of these broken spirited 

 bulls, old and young now loafing on the 

 outskirts of these rookeries, and hauling 

 out with the small holhischickie on the 

 sand and rock margins. 



