ORAL ARGUMENT OF FREDERICK R. COUDEKT, ESQ. 423 



Here is what our friends on the other side say that 

 Professor Huxley says. 



{Counter Case of Her BrUannic Majesty's GorertimenI, p. 183.) 



In his stateiuent, priuteil in the Appendix to the ITuited States Case, Professor 

 Huxley, on the subject of the possibility of destroying the seals wlieu on the breed- 

 ing-islands, writes: 



In the ease of the fur-seal lisheries, the destrnctive aoency of man is prepotent on 

 the Pribiloff Islands. It is obvious that the seals might be destroyed and driven 

 away completely in two or three seasons. 



That is a part, and a very small part, of what he says; and on page 

 412 you «-ill find a co ny)lete statement, whicli our friends did not take 

 down: 



Might be destroyed and driven .^ .-.ay completly in two or three seasons. Moreover, 

 as the number of "Bachelors" in auy given season is easily ascertained, it is possible 

 to keep down the take to such a percentage as shall do uo harm to the stock. The 

 conditions for efficient regulation are here quite ideal. 



That is the tribute that Professor Huxley pays to our system. "The 

 conditions are quite ideal." 



Sir Charles Russell. — He then goes on to say it is impracticable. 



Mr. CouDERT. — That may be. I mean to say simply this: that the 

 extract given in this Counter Case gives exactly the reverse of what 

 this eminent gentleman says. 



Mr. Justice Harlan. — Read the sixth paragraph there in Professor 

 Huxley's letter. 



Mr. CouDERT. — Yes. 



But in Behring Sea and on the Northwest coast the case is totally altered. In 

 order to get rid of all complications, let it be supposed that western North America, 

 from Behring Straits to California, is in the possession of one power, and that we 

 have only to consider the question of the regulations which that power should make 

 and enforce in order to preserve the fur-seal lisheries. Suppose, further, that the 

 authority of that power extended over Behring Sea and over all the northwest 

 Pacific east of a line drawn from the Shumagin Islands to California, 



Under such conditions I should say (looking at nothing but the preservation of 

 the seals) that the best course woiild be to prohibit the taking of the fur-seals any- 

 where except on the Pribilof Islands, and to limit the take to such percentage as 

 experience proved to be consistent with the preservation of a good average stock. 

 The furs would be in the best order, the waste of life would be least, and, if the 

 eysteni were honestly worked there could be no danger of overfishing. 



Sir Charles Russell, — Will you read No. 7. The Arbitrator has 

 asked you to read No. 6. 



Mr. Coudert. — I will, out of deference to my learned friend on the 

 other side: 



However, since northwest America does not belong to one power, and since inter- 

 national law does not acknowledge Behring Sea to be a mare claiisitm, nor recognize 

 the jurisdiction of a riverain power beyond the 3-mile limit, it is quite clear that this 

 ideal arrangement is impracticable. 



The Case of the fur-seal fisheries is, in fact, even more difficult than that of the 

 Salmon fisheries, in such a river as the Rhine where the upjjer waters belong to one 

 power and the lower to another. 



I read Professor Huxley's opinion as a naturalist, and not as a man 

 versed in international law; I do not think, therefore, that makes any 

 difference. I am satisfied he can suggest no better system, and accord- 

 ing to him, if honestly administered, it is an ideal system on the land. 



Dr. Sclater says : 



1. Unless proper measures are taken to restrict the indiscriminate capture of the 

 fur-seal in the North Pacific, he is of opinion that the extermination of this species 

 will take place in a few years, as it has already done in the case of other species of 

 the same group in other parts of the world. 



