REVENUE DERIVED FROM THE ALASKAN SEAL HERD. 



Treasury Department, 



June 10, ltib2. 

 Sir : lu reply to your request of the 8th instant I have the honor to 

 transmit herewith a statement of the revenue derived from the lease of 

 the islands of St. Paul and St. George, Alaska, from 1871 to 1891, in- 

 clusive. 



Eespectfully, yours, 



Charles Foster, 



Secretary. 

 Hon. John W. Foster, 



Dejyartment of State. 



Statement of the revenue derived hy the Government of the United States from the lease of 

 the islands of St. Paul and St. George, Alaska. 



Ifote. 



It will be seen by reference to the statement ' sworn to by Joseph 

 UUmann and others, furriers, of New York City : 



First: That upon a catch of 100,000 seals at the Pribilof Islands, 

 about 70,000 have, after dressing and dyeing in London, been annually, 

 during the last ten years, returned to the United States. 



Second : That the average value of each skin so returned was $25. 



The total value of skins so imported would therefore be, during ten 

 years, $17,500,000. 



The customs duty received therefi'om by the United States Govern- 

 ment is 20 per cent of this sum, or, for ten years, $3,500,000; and it is 

 wathin bounds to say that for the past twenty years the above-men- 

 tioned duty amounted in all to $5,000,000. 



1 Vol. — p.— 



130 



