INVESTMENTS. 275 



of skins slioiild be constant and regular/ other- Need of reguar 



supply of skins. 



Avise there is great danger of loss to the buyers 

 or sellers through fluctuation in prices, and the 

 business of buying and selling becomes specula- 

 tive. That this has been the result uj^on the 

 market, through pelagic sealing in the last few 

 years, is clearly shown by Mr. H. S. Bevington,^ 

 and his statement is supported by the American 

 furriers and others engaged in the fur trade.^ It 

 is therefore evident that even in case open-sea 

 sealing could be carried on without insuring the 

 destruction of the herd, the results would demor- 

 alize and practically ruin the sealskin industry, 

 now so firmly established. 



INVESTMENTS. 



Having- reviewed the g-eneral loss to the world Canadian invest- 



* ^ nienc, inl890. 



by the destruction of the Alaskan seal herd, it 

 should now be compared with the Canadian 

 industry in the pelagic sealing fleet, which would 

 necessarily be abandoned in case open-sea hunt- 

 ing is prohibited. According to the Canadian 

 Fishery Reports for 1890,' the total valuation of 

 the twenty-nine vessels engaged in sealing, 



1 Walter E. Martin, Vol. II, p. 568; Emil Teiclimaun, Vol. II, p. 

 582; G. C. Lampson, Vol. II, p. 566. 



2 Vol. II, p. 553. 



^Statement made by American furriers. (See affidavits of S. Ull- 

 mann, Vol.11, p. 527; Alfred Harris, Vol. II, p. 529; Henry Tread- 

 well, Vol. II, p. 529; and Hugo Jaeckel, Vol. II, p. 531, attached.) 



