RIGHT TO PROTECT INTERESTS AND INDUSTRY. 137 



sian Government, for a large sum of money. The care and pursuit of 

 the seals were immediately made the subject of legislation by Congress, 

 under which the whole business has been since regulated, protected, 

 and carried on by the Government, as it had been before by Russia, in 

 such manner as to preserve the existence and to increase the numbers 

 of the seal herd, and to make its product valuable to those engaged 

 in it, and a source of a considerable public revenue to the Government. 

 (See U. S. Revised Statutes, sees. 195G-1975.) 



It pays to the Government, as the evidence shows, a direct revenue 

 of about $10 per skin, and a considerable indirect revenue upon the im- 

 portation of the dressed furs; and to the company, which under lease 

 from the Government and subject to its regulations carries on the 

 business, it affords a largo annual return, which enables them to make 

 their payments to the Government. To the inhabitants of the islands 

 and many others directly employed or indirectly concerned, it gives the 

 means of subsistence. 



Nor are the United States alone the recipients of the profits, or in- 

 terested to preserve this industry. The principal manufacture of mer- 

 chantable furs from the raw skins is carried on in London, where large 

 houses are engaged in it, employing as the proof shows, between 2,000 

 and 3,000 persons. London is also the headquarters of the trade in the 

 product, and of the commerce through which it is distributed. It is 

 probable that the interest of Great Britain in the preservation of the 

 seal herd is almost as great as that of the United States. 



The civilized world outside of these two countries is likewise con- 

 cerned in preserving from extinction the valuable product of these 

 islands. It enters largely into human use; there is no substitute for 

 it, especially in view of the great decrease of fur-bearing animals; and 

 nowhere else on the globe is the seal fur produced in any considerable 

 quantities. Almost everywhere this valuable animal has been exter- 

 minated, by the same reckless and wasteful pursuit that is complained 

 of here. 



It is pertinent to remember, in this connection, that if the nation 

 that is contending for the preservation of this product of its territory 

 was but small and poor, and this resource for revenue and subsistence, 

 instead of being one out of many, were the only one it possessed, so that 

 its very existence depended upon the maintenance of it, the principles 

 of international law applicable to the subject would be precisely the 

 same as they are now. The case would be relatively of greater im- 



