126 SEAL LIFE ON THE PKIBILOF ISLANDS. 



coasts for food, and by the natives of the Pribilof Islands for necessary 

 food. fuel, and clothing, as was done during the last modus vivendi. 



4 i That Congress shall be asked for an appropriation to defray the 

 expenses of a commission of at least three competent and disinterested 

 men. whose duty it shall be to visit all the seal islands and breeding 

 rookeries in the P>ei ing and Okhotsk seas, and any others whose seals 

 range in either of those seas or in the North Pacific Ocean: to make a 

 thorough investigation of lur-seal life, and to collect testimony bearing 

 on the habits of the animal on land and at sea. and all data that it is 

 possible to secure regarding the ellect of driving and killing on land, 

 and of pelagic sealing, and such other information as mav be deemed 

 necessary to a thorough understanding of the seal problem. 



i .T) That the said commission shall be appointed by the President of 

 the C nited States, and that ( Jreat llritain. Russia, and Japan be invited 

 to appoint similar bodies tor similar purposes, who. at the completion 

 of their joint investigations, shall jointly report the result thereof and 

 suggest regulations for the proper and adequate protection ot the fur 

 seals od la ml a ml water. 



In making these suggestions 1 have kept in view the fact that with- 

 out concurrent action, which shall be mutually satisfactory to the 

 nations directly interested, there can be no adequate protection given 

 to the seals: for so long as pelagic sealers can operate freely in Japa- 

 nese or Russian waters during a --close time" on the American side, and 

 vice versa, the herds will eventually be exterminated. 



'1 IK* ( j ues t ion has been asked, * Suppose (i real P>ritain will not consent 

 to a modus vivendi or a change in t he regulations before the expiration 

 of the live years' term established by the Tribunal of Arbitration: what 

 then ?" 



It must be borne in mind that the regulations do not extend to the 

 seal islands, nor have they anything whatever to do with our work 

 t hereon. 



Let Congress at the present session repeal all laws which limit the 

 numbers or designate the sex to be killed on the islands, and enact 

 laws empowering the Secretary of the Treasury to kill without limit 

 whenever it may appear that adequate protection to the herds has been 

 sought for in vain. That this last resort is our right and our duty was 

 plainly shown by the United States counsel at Paris, who said: 



Th" whole herd owes its existence not merely to the care and prot eel ion. but to 

 the forbearance of the Tinted States (Government within its exclusive jurisdiction. 

 While the ,-eals an- :i pon the I 'nited States territory during;' t he season of reproduction 

 and nuri nre. that < Govern men t mi uht easi i v dest n>v t he herd hv killing 1 h cm all at a 

 considerable immediate profit. From Hitch a slaughter it is not hound to refrain if 



:'ii on uh t o enable them to be exl ermi- 

 le^ult. it \\oiild be for ihe interest of 

 and powers, to avail itself at once 

 if the future product of it can not bo 

 preserved. A i u ii me) it of the 1 ' n i ted States compel, p. i;;i . t 



And yet. while admit 1 ing our right . and asking for t he enactment of 

 a law conferring the authority to kill every seal on the Pribilof Islands. 

 sluaild the necessity arise to demand it, I abhor t he t hough t of 1 he pos- 

 sibility of -ndi a dreadful contingency. 



\\ lule it is well to be fully prepared, let us use all honorable means to 

 avert it if possible. 



Respect in !ly submit t ed . 



JosFi'ii MFKKAY. Special Aycnt. 



I Ion. JOHN ( i. CA i.'i.isi.i;. 



^ff-rrhin/ of t!i< YV/v/.v/o-y. 



