mare 

 clausum 



The Days of a Man 1:1896 



arose from its double nature. This embraced 

 questions of law on the one hand and problems of 

 Natural History on the other. The United States, 

 moreover, had claimed too much and proved too 

 Blaine's little. Fitst we had insisted on joint ownership 

 with Russia of Bering Sea, contending this to be 

 mare clausum (closed sea) and so asserting ownership 

 of the herd wherever it might stray. Secondly, we 

 failed to make clear the international values of the 

 Fur Seal and the methods essential to its preser- 

 vation — these last hinging on the fact that while 

 superfluous males may be safely and freely killed 

 on land, pelagic sealing or slaughter in the sea, a 

 process that mostly involves gravid females, cannot 

 fail to be ruinous. 



The unwarranted contention that Bering is mare 

 clausum was a pet notion of Mr. Blaine, the astute 

 and conspicuous Secretary of State under President 

 Harrison. Furthermore, the failure to call to Paris 

 our own excellent committee of investigation, Dr. 

 C. Hart Merriam and Dr. Thomas C. Mendenhall, 

 was another serious mistake. 



As to those sections of the Award which were 

 based on international law, the Tribunal was very 

 likely in the right; as to those parts dealing with 

 the habits and necessary protection of the animals 

 themselves, the judges had been ill-informed, much 

 of the testimony being prejudiced and some even 

 perjured. Unfortunately, also, they showed very 

 Httle interest in any aspect of the case not purely 

 legalistic or diplomatic. 



Under the "protective" regulations adopted in 

 1893, the herd was rapidly dwindling, a fact which 

 had been stated in rather sharp but truthful lan- 



c 546: 



4 



