FUR-SEAL HEED OF ALASKA. 



205 



Palo Alto, Cal., 



February 5, 19 U. 

 Hon. Wm. Sulzer, 

 House of Representatives, 



Washington, D. C: 

 To incorporate a clause establishing in 

 fur-seal bill a close season prohibiting 

 killing of superfluous males would do no 

 good to herd, but would kill treaty. No 

 one knows this better than the pelagic- 

 sealers' lobby, which for 20 years has 

 been led by Henry W. Elliott. 



David Starr Jordan. 



(Hearing No. 12, p. 771, May 25, 1912.) 



Townsend and Lucas deny Os- 

 born's letter. 



Mr. Elliott. Did you inspire the 

 letter which Henry Fairfield Osborn, 

 president of the American Museum of 

 Natural History, ^vi'ote to Chairman 

 William Sulzer? 



Dr. Lucas. I did not. Kindly note, 

 Mr. Elliott asked if I inspired that letter. 



The Chairman. Do you know any- 

 thing about it? 



Dr. Lucas. Only after it was written. 



The Chairman. Were you in consulta- 

 tion about it with anyone? 



Dr. Lucas. No; my advice was not 

 asked. 



Mr. Elliott. Do you agree with Mr. 

 Osborn in this statement: 



New York Zoological Society, 



New York, January 22, 1912. 

 My Dear Mr. Sulzer: I understand 

 there is a proposal to add to the fur-seal 

 bill drafted by the State Department an 



Dr. Townsend. Mr. Chairman, do I un- 

 derstand that this question comes from 

 you? 



Mr. Elliott. It comes from me. 



Dr. Townsend. Must I submit to the 

 cross-examination by Mr. Elliott? 



The Chairman. You will just answer 

 the question. 



Dr. Townsend. I am not responsible 

 for the writings of Mr. Grant or Mr. Os- 

 born. I have nothing to do with their 

 statements. 



(Hearing No. 12, pp. 768, 769, May 25, 

 1912.) 

 17 Grace Ave., Lakewood, Ohio, 



November S, 1909. 

 Dr. David Starr Jordan, 



Stanford University, Cal. 



Dear Sir: Your letter of the 6th in- 

 stant has been duly received. With re- 

 gard to that appearance of my track chart 

 in your report of 1896, you seem to be not 

 quite clear in your mind as to how it got 

 in there as it did. Perhaps the following 

 statement of fact may help you to know 

 its publication there without that credit 

 given to me as its author which is indis- 

 putably mine: 



With regard for the "rights" of those 

 Victorian sea wolves, I hope that they 

 will never get a penny for their rotting 

 vessels or their "good will." They have 

 had far, far too much already at the ex- 

 pense of humanity and decency. Let 

 their vessels rot, and let their owners rot 

 with them. 



Very truly, yours, 



Henry W. Elliott. 



(Hearing No. 12, pp. 763, 764, May 25, 

 1912.) 



But Osborn says they advised 

 how to write. 



Mr. Elliott (reading): 



The American Museum 

 of Natural History, 

 Office of the President, 

 New York, January 22, 1912. 



Dear Sir: As president of the Ameri- 

 can Museum of Natural History, I have 

 been securing the advice of the expert 

 zoologists of this institution, especially 

 of Dr. Frederic A. Lucas, who is a trained 

 authority on the fur-seal question. I 

 desire to protest against the proposed 

 amendment to the fur-seal bill (drafted 

 by the State De])artment), which amend- 

 ment provides a 15-year closed season on 

 male seals. This amendment, should it 

 become law, would exterminate the great 

 seal herd of the LTnited States, and is 

 founded upon ignorance of the first 

 principles of breeding under natural con- 

 ditions, and of the artifical conditions 



