THE LEASE OF 1870. 213 



To the intelligent inquirer as to the value of the system now in opera- 

 tion for handling and disposing of the annual 

 quota- of skins from the seal islands, no doubt can r. A. Williams, p. 546. 

 remain that it is the best, indeed the only one 



possible to pursue with success. The Government itself could not enter 

 into business and follow details either with propriety or hope of profit. 



The right to take 100,000 seal skins annually from these islands, under 

 certain stipulated restrict ions, is leased by the 

 Government of the United States to an associa- c. A. Williams,p. 543. 

 tion of American citizens known as the Alaska 



Commercial Company. The company pays a rental of $55,000 per 

 annum and $2.62^ per skin, a total of $317,500 iter annum, for this 

 right. They are also obligated to a certain care of the Aleuts inhabit- 

 ing the islands and to a partial provision tor their needs, both mental 

 and physical. 



CONDITION OF THE NATIVES. 



UNDER THE RUSSIAN COMPANY. 



Page 141 of The Case. 



The general methods employed under American rule were far superior 

 to those of the Eussians, as will be readily un- charks B t 8 . 

 derstood from the following facts: 



When I first visited the seal islands in 1868 the natives were living 

 in semisubterranean houses built of turf and such pieces of driftwood 

 and whale bones as they were able to secure on the beach. Their food 

 had been prior to that time insufficient in variety, and was comprised 

 of seal meat and a few other articles, furnished in meager quantity by 

 the Russian Fur Company. They had no fuel, and depended for heat 

 upon the crowding together in their turf houses, sleeping in the dried 

 grasses secured upon the islands. Forced to live under these condi- 

 tions they could not of course make progress towards civilization. 

 There were no facilities for transporting the skins. They were carried 

 on the backs of the natives, entailing great labor and hardship, and by 

 reason of these tedious methods the taking of the annual catch was ex- 

 tended over a number of months, being a continual source of molesta 

 tion to the hauling seals. 



Very soon after the islands came into the possession of the American 

 Government all this was changed. Their underground earthen lodges 

 were replaced by warm, comfortable, wooden cottages for each family; 

 fuel, food, and ciothing were furnished them at prices 25 per cent above 

 the wholesale price of San Francisco; churches were built and school 

 houses maintained for their benefit, and everything done that would 

 insure their constant advancement in the way of civilization and ma- 

 terial progress. Instead of being mere creatures of the whims of their 

 rulers they were placed upon an equal footing with white men, and re- 

 ceived by law a stipulated sum for each skin taken. So that about 

 $10,000 was annually divided among the inhabitants of the two islands. 

 In place of the skin-clad natives living in turf lodges which I found on 

 arriving on the island in 1869, I left them in 1877 as well fed, as well 

 clothed, and as well housed as the people of some of our New England 

 villages. They had school facilities, and on Sunday they went to serv- 



