SEAL LIFE ON THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 357 



tli at in addition to your duties MS an n^ciit for the salmon fisheries you are to hold 

 yourself in readiness to make such other investigations or render any service which 

 the Department may require of you. If practicable, you should at some time dur- 

 ing the ensuing season visit the seal islands of St. Paul and St. (Jeorjie for the pur- 

 "f inspecting the rookeries thereon and of comparing their condition with that 

 of the season of isjl, with which you are. familiar. 



Respectfully, yours, J. G. CARLISLE, 



Secretary. 



Mr. JosKi'ii Mri:i:AY, 



Special? Agent for Hie I'rotection of the Salmon Fisheries, 



Fort Collins, Colo. 



In addition to the foregoing, I was verbally instructed (time permit- 

 ting) to attend court during the trial of the ex Marshal Porter case and 

 to take particular notice of how jury trial was conducted in Alaska, 

 and to learn what I could from reliable sources about the manufacture 

 and importation of spirituous liquors. 



Finding it was as yet too early for salmon fishing and that I could 

 not find transportation to the nearest cannery for several weeks, and 

 as I was in the midst of the best part of Alaska and of its best and 

 most energetic citizens, where I could procure most of the information 

 asked for in my instructions, I resolved to attend court until the arrival 

 of the Bering Sea patrol fleet off Sitka, and then continue my journey 

 to the westward. 



During our travels through Alaska in 1894, Hon. C. S. FTamlin, 

 Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, and I were informed at every 

 important point we touched and found white men that, " because of its 

 nonenforcement, the law is looked upon as a farce," and that "it is 

 impossible to find a jury to convict for smuggling or violating the 

 revenue law," and I am sorry to have to report that it is only too true. 



For three weeks I was present at every session of the court, and in 

 that time I learned beyond a doubt that not only were juries to be had 

 to return verdicts of "not guilty" in behalf of every violator of the 

 revenue law, but also for any crime, if one only knew the particular 

 attorney to employ. 



Mr. Adolph Myer had been a deputy for Marshal Porter; had abso- 

 lute control and personal charge of the marshal's office, books, and 

 money, and for years served his superior faithfully and well. But 

 under the evil influence of bad and wicked men he was led step by 

 step from one crime to another until forgery and embezzlement were 

 reached, and then the end. 



When the case was about to come to trial, I was in daily, hourly 

 communication with the district attorney, whom I advised to stand up 

 for the right against all of the vile methods that might be used against 

 him, and that in doing so he would be supported by the Government. 

 He said he was afraid of bodily injury, of his personal safety; that 

 unless he could secure the joint services of a certain attorney whom he 

 named and whose strength and worth lay in his power to influence 

 juries, it would be useless to try the case before a jury, for most of the 

 jurymen would be personal friends of the prisoner and many of them 

 participators in his crime; that although the prisoner was guilty of 

 enough crime to keep him imprisoned twenty years, if he could not 

 influence the jury he would be turned loose on a verdict of "not guilty." 



Not knowing how to influence the jury for the purposes indicated, 

 and being unable to control the district attorney, I was necessarily 

 obliged to remain a silent spectator of a compromise between the parties 

 interested, the terms of which were that on condition of the withdrawal 

 of the plea ef "not guilty" and the substitution of the plea of "guilty" 



