THE FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA IN 19 JO. 



By Walter I. Lembkey, 

 Agent in charge. 



THE NEW ADMINISTRATION. 



With the passage of the act of April 21, 1910, the leasing system, 

 which since 1870 had required that the sealing right on the Pribilof 

 Islands be let in 20-year periods to the highest bidder, was abrogated. 

 This new law neither suspended the killing of seals on the islands 

 nor required it to be curtailed, but provided that such killing should 

 be done only by the authority of the Secretary of Commerce and 

 Labor through officers, agents, or employees of that Department, 

 the natives to be employed to perforin the labor necessary to secure 

 the sealskins and to receive fair compensation for their labor. So 

 also the sealskins taken under the authority and by the persons 

 already mentioned should be sold b} r the Secretary to the best advan- 

 tage of the Government. 



By this act the Secretary of Commerce and Labor was given 

 authority also to appoint such additional officers, agents, and em- 

 ployees as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of the act; 

 to purchase at a fair valuation the plant of the former lessee on the 

 islands; to establish and maintain supply depots on the Pribilof 

 Islands; to provide for the transportation of supplies by the charter 

 of vessels; and, finally, to furnish food, fuel, clothing, and other 

 necessaries of life to the natives of the Pribilof Islands, and to pro- 

 vide for their comfort, maintenance, education, and protection. 



INCREASED SCOPE OF AGENTS' DUTY. 



This act placed upon the Department heavy responsibilities which 

 hitherto had been borne by the lessee. The business of killing seals 

 and curing the skins, the mercantile business with a stock of approxi- 

 mately $40,000 worth of goods, and, in short, all other practical 

 affairs, were required to be actively managed by the Department 

 agents, who previously had occupied the virtual status of inspectors 

 of the lessee's operations, in addition to the duty of examination of 

 the seal herd and the administration of the natives' affairs. 



The act mentioned had not been approved by the President before 

 those charged with the management of the seal fisheries were giving 

 their attention to the working out of the details under the new con- 



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