290 CLAIM OF THE UNITED STATES 



Basis of compu- from a claim for damages which the lessees have 



tatiou of lessees' 



damages. filed in the United States Treasury Department, 



for the years 1890 and 1891, a copy of which is 

 found in the Appendix/ It may be added that 

 this claim was adjusted on June 27, 1892,^ by 

 the remission by the Treasury Department, as 

 stated above, of the greater part of the rental and 

 bonus due for the year 1891 under the lease. 

 As the high prices for sealskins in the London 

 market in 1890 and 1891 still contmue, the esti- 

 mate of profits in the above-mentioned claim 

 would probably be as correct at the present time 

 as in the years for which they were made.^ 

 Deterininatiou The Arbitrators will derive aid in determininsr 



of possible catch. 



how large a catch might have safely been made 

 during the present season by reference to the 

 following afiidavits, viz, those on pages 73, 93, 

 and 111, in Vol. II of Appendix. 

 Opinioa of Sir It is important to observe also the language 



George Baden- , 



Powell. of Sir George Baden-Powell, one of the Com- 



missioners sent by Great Britain in 1891 to 

 examine into the condition of the seal industry. 

 In his dispatch of March 9, 1892, to Lord Salis- 

 bury, he said- "With reference to the modus 



1 North American Commercial Company to the Secretary of the 

 Treasnry, April 12, 1892, Vol. I, p 520. 



- The Secretary of the Treasury to North American Commercial 

 Company, June, 27, 1892, Vol. I, p. 521. 



"The price of a sealskin in London in 1890 rose as high as 146s., 

 and in 1891 as high as 125s. See Alfred Fraser, Vol. II, p. 561. 



