FUR-SEAL HEED OF ALASKA. 71 



Mr. TowNSEND. Tl at is tl e explanation Senator Dixon gave to Senator Hale when 

 the bill came in with 1150,000? 



Dr. HoRNADAY. Precisely, and that is a matter of record in the records of Congress. 

 Now, if that does not prove an understanding that seal killing should stop, then the 

 English language is absolutely worthless. 



Mr. Seymour. And tl e $50,000 was appropriated? 



Dr. HoRNADAY. The $50,000 was appropriated, and Secretary Nagel sat there and 

 accepted it. 



Mr. Seymour. For the express purpose of taking care of the Indians during the 

 closed season? 



Dr. HoRNADAY. Precisely, and for no other purpose. 



Mr. Seymour. And Secretary Nagel heard it and understood it and agreed to it, 

 did he? 



Dr. HoRNADAY. He did, and he has the money now, undoubtedly. 



Mr. TowNSEND. This debate that you introduced in your testimony, covering 

 explanations by Senator Dixon to Senator Hale as to why this $50,000 in addition 

 was granted, you took from the Congressional Record? 



Dr.-HoRN.\DAY. Certainly, and from no otl.er source. I clipped pages from the 

 Record itself. I did not quote it. (Hearing No. fi, pp. 267, 268, July 27, 1911: H. 

 Com. Exp. Dept. C. and L.) 



Secretary Charles Nagel had full knowledge of the fact that on 

 March 9-10, 1904, the Department of Commerce and Labor pledged 

 itself to the Ways and Means Committee not to allow any seals killed 

 on the Pribilof Islands "under 2 3^ears of age," and this pledge was 

 also given to the Senate subcommittee in charge of Alaskan Affairs. 

 (Gov. Dillingham, chairman, on Mar. 8, 1904.) 



Mr. Frank H. Hitchcock appeared before the Ways and Means Com- 

 mittee on March 9, 1904, and said that he had been sent to represent 

 the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, and to make the following pro- 

 posal to the committee. On page 35, Hearings on Fur Seals, Ways 

 and Means Committee, Fifth-eighth Congress, second session, on 

 House Joint Resolution 124, appears the following: 



Page 35 : 



Mr. Hitchcock. First of all we propose to limit still further the ages at which seals 

 can be taken. We will prohibit altogether the killing of seals under 2 years of age. 

 We will also prohibit the killing of seals above 4 years of age. Killing will thus be 

 restricted to seals between 2 and 4 years old. 



Page 36: 



Mr. Williams of Mississippi. You propose to forbid tl;e killing of seals under 

 2 years old? 



Mr. Hitchcock. Yes. 



Mr. Williams. At 2 years of age that is tlie very time you can tell the difference 

 between the bull and the cow. In other words, if you kill nothing under 2 years old 

 there sliould be no reasonable excuse for a mistake in that respect? 



Mr. Hitchcock. You are quite right; that is the point. Tlie great objection to the 

 killing of these small seals, and I take it the only objection, is the difficulty in dis- 

 tinguis' ing the males from the females. 



On July 28, 1910, Secretary Charles Nagel received from the 

 Bureau of Fisheries a marked copy of the above hearing, and sends 

 that notice of this reception to the House Committee on Expenditures 

 in the Department of Commerce and Labor, June 24, 1911, see page 987, 

 Appendix A, and the following published charges had also been sent 

 to Secretary Nagel as early as June 26, 1909, to wit: 



MEMORANDUM FOR HON. CHAS. NAGEL. 



With special regard for the subject of my letter to you of April 26th instant, I have 

 published the following to-day, for which I have the complete warrant and proof in 

 hand. 



Henry W. Elliott, 

 n Grace Avenue, Lakeivood, Ohio. 

 June 26, 1909. 



