346 SEAL LIFE ON THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



the serious import to the seal fisheries of further poaching was under- 

 stood by our Government, premising always that it is really in earnest 

 about what it is doing to preserve the fisheries, which, indeed, I find 

 myself already doubting. 



I am, very truly, yours, 



H. H. MclNTYRE. 

 Gen. N. L. JEFFRIES, 



Washington, D. C. 



LETTER FROM SECRETARY OF TREASURY TRANSMITTING ELLIOTT'S 



REPORT TO STATE DEPARTMENT. 



TREASURY DEPARTMENT, 



OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, 

 Washington, I). C., February 23, 1893. 



SIR: In compliance with the request contained in your communica- 

 tion of February 11, I have the honor to transmit herewith a certified 

 copy (together with the photographic reproductions of the illustrations 

 and maps) of the report of H. W. Elliott on the Pribilof Islands for 

 1890. The original of this report will be placed in the custody of 

 Special Agent W. H. Williams for such use as you may find necessary. 



In handing you this report I deem it my duty to acquaint you with 

 certain facts in connection with my refusal to permit its publication. 



Upon its examination I became convinced that it was pervaded by a 

 spirit of aggressive criticism instead of being a dispassionate statement 

 of facts 5 that Mr. Elliott's views had been unduly influenced by his 

 relations toward certain individuals; that the report contained much 

 matter, and particularly that referring to the fur seal, which had already 

 been published by the Government in two forms at least ; that the illus- 

 trations being made from sketches possessed inherent defects which 

 rendered them valueless as records of the diminution or growth of the 

 rookeries, while the scale of the rookery charts was too small to accu- 

 rately indicate the condition of seal life at the time these observations 

 were made. 



I therefore declined to permit Mr. Elliott's return to the islands, and 

 deemed it expedient to withhold publication of his report pending the 

 sending of other officers to the islands for the verification of his state- 

 ments and for the procuring of data on a systematic plan, aided by 

 photography. 



On further examining Mr. Elliott's report in the light of this addi- 

 tional information and comparing his statements with the island records 

 now on file in this Department, I find that not only do the objections 

 against the report cited above still hold good, but that Mr. Elliott has 

 so used extracts from the records of the islands as to make them appear 

 to substantiate his assertions that mismanagement on the part of the 

 United States has played an important part in the diminution of seal 

 life, which assertions are unsupported by the unabridged records. In 

 view of its inaccuracies, its misleading character, and its disagreement 

 with the information brought to me independently by at least three 

 other officers whom I sent to the islands, and the further grave fact of 

 the misuse of official data by Mr. Elliott, I dp not believe that the 

 Government would be justified in publishing this report. 

 Very respectfully, 



CHARLES FOSTER, Secretary. 



Hon. JOHN W. FOSTER, 



Secretary of State. 



