100 FUR-SEAL HEED OF ALASKA. 



Siiice his appointment was not made until September 30 following, 

 at Liebes's and Jordan's inspiration, he did not get news of it until 

 the following season, early m May. 



Now let us see what Dr. Jordan has to say about this, after he had 

 been charged with this nomination of Lembkey (by Henry W. 

 Elliott). He addressed a letter to President Roosevelt, dated 

 January 16, 1906, in which he made the following evasive reference, 

 to wit: 



I may say incidentally, with reference to the concluding remark of Mr. Elliott in 

 his letter, that while I formed a very favorable opinion of Mr. Lembkey during his 

 incumbency of a position in the Treasury Department in 1896-97, it is not just to 

 him to say that "he owes his appointment" to my nomination. Nor is it fair to 

 hold Mr. "Lembkey responsilile for the failure to solve these scientific questions. 

 They demand a training which he doulitless has not had, and in any event they could 

 not have been worked out successfully in addidon to the ordinary duties and respon- 

 sibilities of his position. The naturalist who is to understand the herd must spend 

 practically all his time in observation of the rookeries. 



Against this evasive answer (no denial) of his part in securing 

 Lembkey's appointment, the files of the Treasury will show, in the 

 appointment clerk's office, that telegram from Jordan, which urged 

 the appointment of Lembkey, and wliich secured it. 



Later, in 1905, Lembkey, fearing the result of an examination into 

 his work at the islands by Mr. F. H. Hitchcock, in 1905-6, "cast an 

 anchor to the windward," and told the truth October 26, 1905, about 

 the effect of the killing by the lessees (pp. 157-179, Appendix A.). 



The moment that Lernbkey understood that the lessees had pre- 

 vented Hitchcock from visiting the islands (early in 1906), he 

 (Lembkey) returned to his service of the lessees, abjectly and shame- 

 fully; ate his own words of truth, and joined with Jordan in the 

 usual annual eulogy of the "benevolent killing" on the islands, and 

 the hypocritical cry of "terrible destruction by the pelagic sealers," 

 etc., as the following exhibit clearly declares, to wit: 



Department of Commerce and Labor, 



Office op the Secretary, 



Washington, October 26, 1905. 

 Sir: I have the honor to submit the following report on the administration of affairs 

 on the seal islands of Alaska during the year ended August, 1905: 



There were so few bulls on certain rookeries on St. Paul Island this summer that, by 

 reason of their scarcity, the harems were broken up before the usual period and bachelors 

 were able to haul among the cows. 



This occuned at a date when these young seals should have been excluded from 

 the breeding ground by vigilant bulls, and then forced to haul up, if they desired to 

 haul at all, only on tha bachelor's hauling ground. 



This condition, in our opinion, is due to the scarcity of breeding males on the rookeries 

 generally, and to their being so taxed in special localities with the service of the cows 

 that they were unable or unwiUing to drive out the l^achelors. Had idle bulls been 

 sufliciently numerous this condition would not have occurred. 



The present scarcity of bulls is attributable directly to close killing on land, from which 

 not enough bachelors were allowed to escape from the kiUing fields to maintain the 

 requisite proportion of bulls. 



Respectfully, W. I. Lembkey, 



Agent in Charge Seal Islands. 

 The Secretary of Commerce and Labor. 



But, in 1913, h^ has another "report" to make — to-wit: 



Mr. Lembkey. The number of breeding bulls on the island, as found by the fore- 

 going census, is 1,356 active and 329 idle, a total of 1 ,685 bulls ready for service. , With 

 39,400 breeding and 10,297 virgin females, occupied with 1,356 active bulls, the 

 average harem is only 36. The 329 idle bulls which did not secure cows during the sumrner 

 tvill serve some of the 2-year-old or virgin cows coming in for their initial impregnation 



