CANADIAN INVESTMENT IN 1890. 587 



Then, too, during; the last few years buying- fur-seal skins has become 

 a business of a very speculative character, because 



it is impossible now to calculate :it what times Samuel Ullmann, p. 527. 

 and in what quantities they will be placed upon the 



market. It requires from three to six months to properly dress and dye 

 skins, and if while this process is going on further sales take place (as has 

 been the case at frequent intervals in the last two years), the tendency 

 is to unsettle the market, advance or reduce the raw material, and thus 

 directly affect both dealers and manufacturers. This has happened of 

 late years only. I ascribe the present unsatisfactory condition of the 

 business to the injurious operations of the Victoria sealers, whom I 

 furthermore hold directly responsible for the present diminished catch 

 of Alaska seals upon the Pribilof Islands. 



The principal reason for the fluctuation in prices this year [188GJ and in 

 other years was the disturbed condition of the 



London market, caused by reports of large collec- t. r. Williams, p. 498. 



tions, and so greatly did the catch of 25,000 skins 



affect the market that the skins sold for less in London than was paid 



for them in Victoria, British Columbia, entailing loss on the pur- 



chasers. 



INVESTMENTS. 



CANADIAN INVESTMENT IN 1890. 



Page 275 of The Case. 



I am very well acquainted with the class of vessels engaged in seal- 

 ing. The most of them are of less than 100 tons 

 burden, and a fair estimate of their average value Isaac Liehes, p. 454. 

 would be, I should say, about $4,500 per vessel, 



for both the American and British fleet, and about $2,000 would cover 

 the average cost of an entire outfit for a season's work. The total 

 value of the Canadian sealing fleet is not, after all, as much as the 

 sealers would lead us to suppose from their representations. 



The second branch of my investigation was the number of vessels 

 owned by Canadians engaged in sealing in the 

 Bering Sea, their value, cost of outfit, etc. r. T. Williams, p. 499. 



There are in the business twenty-four schoon- 

 ers. Total tonnage, 1,404 tons. Total value, including outfits, $173,350. 

 Whites employed, 261. Indians employed, 385. 



Of these twenty-four schooners sailing under the British flag, live 

 are owned half by Americans. These live schooners illegally under the 

 British flag are worth $36,500, leaving an actual Canadian investment 

 of $136,750. 



It is a simple task to arrive with exactitude at the value of the 

 schooners and their outfits. They cost to build in 

 British Columbia $80 per ton. In the United T.T.Williams, p. 500. 

 States the cost is $100 per ton. The gross ton- 

 nage of the fleet being 1,464 at the American rate of $100 a ton, it 

 would represent $146,400; at the Canadian rate, $117,120. 



This would be for the schooners as they are delivered new, with 

 masts, sails, anchors, and fittings. 



