PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL MEASURES, 1890. 205 



will bo sjitisractory to all the Govenniients coiicenied. It has been ad- 

 mitted, tVom the coinmeu cement, that the sole object of the negotiation 

 is the preservation of the fur-seal species for the benetit of mankind, 

 and that no considerations of advantage to any particular nation, or of 

 benetit to any private interest, should enter into tlie question. 



Hxu-.h being the basis of negotiation, it would be strange indeed if Ave 

 should fail to devise the means of solving the difticulties which have 

 unfortunately arisen. I will proceed to explain by what method this 

 result can, in my judgment, be attained. The great divergence of vieAvs 

 Avhich exists as to whether any restrictions on pelagic sealing are neces- 

 sary for the preservation of the fur-seal species, and if so, as to the char- 

 acter and extent of such restrictions, renders it im])ossible in my opinion 

 to arrive at any solution Avhich Avould satisfy public; oi)ini()n either in 

 Canada or Great Britain, or in any country Avhich may be invited to 

 accede to the iiroi)Osed arrangement, without a full inquiry by a mixed 

 commission of experts, the result of whose labors and investigations, 

 in the region of the seal tishery, would i)robably dispose of all the points 

 in dispute. 



As regards the immediate necessities of the case I am ])repared to 

 recommend to my Government for their a]q)roval and acceptance ceitaiu 

 measures of lU'ecaution Avhich might be adoi^ted provisionally and Avith- 

 out prejudice to the ultimate decision on the points to be iinestigated 

 by the commission. Those measures, which I will explain later on, 

 would effectually remoA^e all reasonable apprehension of any depletion 

 of the fur-seal species, at all events, pending the report of the commis- 

 si* ni. 



It is im])ortaut, in this relation, to note that Avhile it 1ms been con- 

 tended on the part of the United tStates Government that the depletion 

 of the fur-seal species has already commenced, and that CA^eu the exter- 

 mination of the species is threatened within a measurable space of time, 

 the latest reports of the United States agent, Mr. Tingle, are such as 

 to dissipate all such alarms. 



Mr. Tingle, in 18S7, reported that the vast number of seals Avas on the 

 increase, and that the condition of all the rookeries could not be better. 



In his later report, dated July 31, 1888, he wrote as follows: 



I iim linppy to be al>le to reiiort that, altlionoli latelaiidino;, tbe breedinj^ rookeries 

 are tilled out to tbe lines of nieasiireiiient beretoi'ore made, and some of tbem mncb 

 beyond tbose lines, showing- eonclusively that seal life is not being depleted, but is 

 fully up to the estimate given in my report of 1887. 



Mr. Elliot, AAdio is frequently a])pealed to as a great authority on the 

 subject, aflUins that, such is the natural increase of the fur-seal species 

 that these animals, Avere they not ]»reyed ui)on by killer whales {Orca 

 gladiator), sharks, and othei- submarine foes, Avould multiply to such 

 an extent that "Behring Sea itself could not contain them." 



The Honorable Mr. Tupper has shown in his memorandum that the 

 destruction of seals caused by pelagic sealing is insignificant in com- 

 parison with that caused by their natural enemies, and gives figures 

 exhibiting the marvelous increase of seals in spite of the depredations 

 complained of. 



Again the destructive nature of the modes of killing seals by spears 

 and firearms has apparently been greatly exaggerated as may be seen 

 from the affidavits of i)ractical seal hunters which I annex to this let- 

 ter, together Avith a confirmatory extract from a pai^er upon the "Fur- 

 Seal Fisheries of the Pacific Coast and Alaska," ]uepared and pub- 

 lished in San Francisco and designed for the information of Eastern 

 U nited States Senators and Congressmen. 



