131 



beeu carefully and elaborately examined and enforced by Senator Moi- 

 gan. Nothing- can be added to what the learned Senator has said 

 npon that subject. I propose to consider the subjects of property 

 and protection in tlie other aspect named, and will, therefore, inquire 

 whether the claim of the United States to own these seals is supported 

 by any principles of law universally recoi^uized as controlling- upon the 

 question of property in animals commonly classed as wild, ratlier than 

 domestic animals. 



The main contentions of the United States, in support of its claim 

 of property, are these : 



That while the general rule is that no one can have an absolute 

 jDropertyin things, ferw naturw, there are animals so near the boundary 

 drawn by the terms wild, tame, and reclaimed, that the question 

 must be determined by a consideration of their nature and habits in 

 connection with the grounds upon which the institution of prox^erty 

 stands; 



That, according- to the established rules of law prevailing- in all civ- 

 ilized countries, the essential facts that render useful animals, classed 

 as wild animals, the subjects of property, when in the custody or con- 

 trol of, as well as while temporarily absent from, their masters, are the 

 care, industry, and supervision of man so acting on the natural dispo- 

 sition of the animals as to encourage their habitual return to a particu- 

 lar i)lace and to his custody and power at that place, whereby he is 

 enabled to deal with them as a whole, in a similar manner, and so as 

 to obtain from them similar benefits, as in the case of domestic animals; 

 that for all purposes of property, animals so acted upon and dealt 

 with may be assimilated to domestic animals, even if they be not 

 strictly of that class; 



That to this class the Pribilof fur seals belong:, because at the same 

 season in every year they return to the same place, the islands of St. 

 Paul and St. George, wliere they become so far subject to the power of 

 the United States that its agents or licensees can treat them in many 

 ways as if they were domestic animals; that all that is needed to en.sni-e 

 their return to and remaining upon tliose islands from year to year, 

 whereby the benefits of an increase of their numbers can be obtained, 

 is that such agents and lessees shall abstain from repelling them 

 as they approach the land, defend them after they have arrived 

 against pursuit by hunters, disturb them as little as possible when 

 making selections for commercial purposes, and take males only for 

 purx^oses of commerce; and 



