AMERICAN MANAGEMENT. 137 



all parties concerned; and that ''tlie contract as investigaUou of 



... . . '^^'^^^ 



made was the best disposition of this interest that 



could have been made, for it is certain that it has 



resulted in the receipt of a very large revenue 



to the Treasury and in an amelioration of the 



physical and moral condition of the natives." ^ 



In a subsequent investigation in 1888, by the investitcation of 



1888. 



Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries of 

 the Fiftieth Congress the same conclusion was 

 reached, the report stating: 



''That the Alaska Commercial Company has 

 fully performed its contract with the Government 

 and has contributed largely to the support, main- 

 tenance, comfort, and civilization of the inhab- 

 itants, not only of the seal islands, but also to 

 those of the Aleutian Islands, Kadiak, and the 

 mainland." ^ 



Both the above-mentioned committees also Metiiodsofman- 

 took into consideration the method oi administer- 

 ing the seal rookeries as established by the act of 

 July 1, 1870. One of the three following means 

 must of necessity have been adopted for the 

 management of the islands, viz, (1) leasing to a 

 company; (2) making the rookeries free to the 

 public; or (3) the Government itself working the 

 rookeries. 



'Report No. 623, House of Representatives, Forty-fourtli Con- 

 gress, first session, p. 12. 

 ^H. R. No. 3883, Fiftieth Congress, second session, -p. xxiii. 

 2716 18 



