215 



regulations outside tlie jurisdictional limits of the respective Govern- 

 ments." The irrelevancy, when considering the subject of reguhitions, 

 of any inquiry as to what has been done or omitted to be done on tlie 

 islands, is apparent in view of one fact clearly established by the evi- 

 dence, namely: That pelagic sealing to any material extent — that is, to 

 such extent as will be x)i'ofitable to sealers — will speedily exterminate 

 this race, even if the talcing of seals is entirely suspended on the islands, 

 and the United States should expend time and money in protecting the 

 seals during the breeding season, in order simply that pelagic sealers 

 may not be disturbed in their occupation of killing suckling females 

 while in the ocean in search of food for the sustenance of themselves 

 and their young, or in their business of cai3turing and cutting open 

 the bodies of mother seals, heavy with young, and throwing the unborn 

 pups into the ocean. 



Our manifest duty is to inquire what, under the evidence, is the 

 effect of pelagic sealing, in and of itself; and, according to the result of 

 that inquiry and without any reference whatever to what has occurred 

 or may occur on the islands in respect of this race of animals, and 

 without regard to the special interests eitlier of the United States or 

 of pelagic sealers, we should establish, or by our award impose upon 

 the two nations here rejiresented the duty of establishing, such regu- 

 lations, "outside the jurisdictional limits of the respective Govern- 

 ments " as are ne(;essary for the jn'oper i)rotection and preservation of 

 tliis herd of fur seals. Anything less from this Tribunal will shake the 

 confidence of the world in the efficacy of arbitration as a means of com- 

 posing differences between nations in respect to matters of great mo- 

 ment and interest. 



I now come to the important practical question as to what regula- 

 tions, in view of all the evidence, are necessary for the proper protec- 

 tion and preservation of this herd of seals. 



We have seen that these seals begin to leave the islands in Septem- 

 ber, and by I^ovember substantially all of them are in the North Pacific 

 Ocean, south of the Aleutian Islands. During December tbey may be 

 found off the coasts of the United States, north of the 35th degree of 

 north latitude. In January they turn their faces northward, and move, 

 generally in small schools or bands, along, but some distance from, the 

 coasts of the United States and British Columbia. Those in advance 

 go through the passes of the Aleutian Islands, on their way back to the 

 Pribilof Islands, early in June. They are moving through those passes 



