280 ORAL ARGUMENT OF CHRISTOPHER ROBINSON, Q. C. 



Now in answer to that, if you will turn to volume 2 of the ai^pendix 

 to our Counter Case, page 173, you will iind first the affidavit of Mr. 

 Belodo, who says he is the managing owner of that vessel; that she did 

 bring the 1,342 skins, that he was there when Mr. Behlow came to 

 examine them; that he only lifted a few up from the pile, not exceed- 

 ing five or six, and looked at them, and then went upstairs; and the 

 time that they were down there would not be more than five minutes. 

 On the same page, 173, that is followed by an affidavit by Mr. Barber, 

 who was a clerk in the employ of Mr. Ladd, the owner of the sealing 

 vessel "Emma and Louisa"; that she returned on a certain day. 



Having on board 1,342 skins, and these skins were delivered at the place of busi- 

 ness of the afore mentioned C. D. Ladd on the 12th day of the same month. 



In the forenoon of the day following, that is, on the 13tli July, Charles I. Behlow 

 of this city, came into the atoi'e of the aforesaid C. D. Ladd and asked to see the skins 

 which had Ijeen brought from the vessel " Emma and Louisa", and I took him to the 

 basement where they were all lying in one pile in the elevator. I made no objection 

 to his seeing the skins, as I had been informed that all seal-skins of the pelagic catch 

 had to undergo inspection before any disposition could be made of them, and at the 

 same time had been told that the tirm of H. Liebs and Co. had been appointed by the 

 Government the inspectors for that purpose, and I knew the said Charles I. Behlow 

 as a member of the firm of H. Liebs and Co. for many years. 



On being shown the skins which, as I before stated, were all in one pile, the 

 said Charles I. Behlow remarked to me that he had to say he had seen them, for it 

 did not pay to inspect them as he was only paid 5 dollars a day for doing it; and 

 on saying this picked up and looked at a few skins, not exceeding 5 in all, but gave 

 even these no such scrutiny as would be required to determine the sex. The whole 

 time the said Charles I. Behlow was so employed did not exceed five minutes. 



Then we have also the affidavit of Mr. Wester at pages 175 and 176, 

 and Mr. Wester is the Captain of the vessel. He describes Mr. Beh- 

 low's visit, and then he says that the skins were immediately trucked 

 up; the time occupied was not more than 3 1/2 hours in landing, and it 

 was impossible to tell what the sex was — it was only a matter of guess 

 work. Then in case it should be said that 3 1/2 hours was sufficient, 

 we refer the Tribunal to the evidence of Mr. Phelan, at page 518 of the 

 United States Case Appendix, volume 2, who says he spent 4 days 

 going through a lot of skins, working about 7 hours a day, so that if 

 even 3 1/2 hours is supposed to be the time, it is impossible that Mr. 

 Behlow could have examined these skins with any such attention as 

 would enable him to give the information he professes to give. This is 

 material when we find the same deponent making 11 or 12 affidavits. 



Then the only other point that I desire now to touch upon is the 

 question of raids. That is a material question from two views — mate- 

 rial as regards the protection given to tlie Islands, and material as test- 

 ing the opinion of those who have si)oken on the part of the United 

 States, and who have said that in their judgment raids are too unim- 

 portant to play any part in the question they are considering. 



Mr. Stanley Brown, in volume 2 of the Api^endix to the United States 

 Case, at page 18, says with regard to that : 



The statistics which I have examined, as well as all the inquiries made, show that 

 in the raids upon the rookeries themselves by marauders the loss of seal life has been 

 too unimportant to play any part in the destruction of the breeding grounds. The 

 inhospitable shores, the exposure of the islands to surf, the unfavourable climatic 

 conditions, as well as the presence of the natives and white men, will always pre- 

 vent raids upon the islands from ever being frequent or effective. 



Now, we have not treated that question in our Eeport in that way at 

 all. The British Commissioners Eeport is in an entirely different sense, 

 and gives evidence which, in our view, it is impossible to disregard or 

 to displace by mere assertion of opinion or as even the result of enquiry. 



