EQUII.IRRU'M MEANS COMMERCIAL RUIN. 15!) 



tiikiiiy seals there, we may not expeet that the more accessible haitiits of tiie seals of 

 the North Pacitie will be abandoned. 



THE EQUILIBRIUM COULD NOT BE MAINTAINED. 



In a theoretical sense there is a state of equilibrium of the herd whi<-li is com 

 patible with a limited amount of pelagic sealing. The condition of this ei|uilil)rium 

 wc have Just discussed. We know it nnist be too low to leave any profit either in 

 pelagic sealing or in land .sealing. Pelagic .sealing, already unprofitable, must be 

 reduced to less than one-third its present extent before tliis state of e(iuilibritim is 

 reached. No manner of protection could enforce the necessary limits to such pelagic 

 sealing and they are not self-adjustable. Furthermore, the herd under such conditions 

 would not be worth protecting on land. Any such protection must be maintained at 

 a loss to the United States. To remove it from the herd even for a short period of 

 time would leave the breeding haunts of the animals open to invasion, and the 

 destruction so vigorously begun at sea would be speedily completed on land. 



EQUILIBRIUM EXISTS ONLY FAR BELOW COMMERCIAL RUIN. 



Thus, while an equilibrium is possible, it must not be forgotten that it exists only 

 far below the point of commercial profit, and must prove unsatisfactory either to the 

 interests of the United States or to those of the pelagic sealer.' 



'This eciuilibiiiiui of the fur-seal herd is a lueii' ligure of speech, a juggling with xvonls for 

 (liplomntic purposes. lu th<- conclusions of the recent conference of experts at Washington the 

 possiliility of this theoretical ei|uilil)rium was acknowleilged liy both sides, because self-evident 

 whatever the conditions. But the fact was not considered in any way pertinent, as "equilibrium" in 

 this sense is only another name for commercial destruction. This admission that pelagic sealing 

 tends to cease .is the herd dies out has however been used by the Canadian Government as a pretext 

 for declining to take immediati- action in the fur-se.il matter. (See .Senate Doc. 40, Kifty-lifth 

 Congress, second session. IxitT. p. ti"). ) 



This theory of e(|uilil>rium has received au attention wlioUy undeserved. In his report for 

 1,SH6 Professor Tlioiupsou sugj;csteil that the p(inililiriuiu was then reached. IIi' was forced in the 

 investigations of 18i'T to admit that the herd had sutiered a nieasnr.ilde di'cline since 18HI). Not- 

 withstanding this fact we liiid tlie following statement in the concluding paragraph of his leport 

 for lSi)7: "A remedy has already been automatically applied in the redu< tion of the pelagic licet to 

 less than one-half it< numbers of a year ago. The tendency is to equilibrium. The total pelagic 

 catch for this year is not likely to exceed 20,000. against 36,000 last year, and it may be that with a 

 catch so greatly diminished the point of ecpiilibrium has at length iieeii attained." 



It is certainly remarkable that Professor Tbompsim should speak of commercial dotrnctiou as a 

 "remedy" for zoological destruction. This is another way of saying that '-death iiires all ills;" 

 but that mode of cure does not satisfy the friends of the patient. It is, moreover, not true that the 

 point of equilibrium is reached, nor can it be reached until the catch at sea falls to less than 

 one-twentictli of the actual number of breeding females. Pelagi<- sealing must therefore ihcline to 

 one-tliird its ]iresent catch before the equilibrium Is reached. 



The iJritish (ioverunnut is not unawari' ol these facts, but to give them due recognition in 

 action would intciferi' with the n.itional policy in this matter. This is to permit the Canadian 

 sealers to get out of the fnr-.seal herd everything they can before the failure of the herd tones the 

 allegiil industry wholly <iut of existence In other words, one chief function of British Imperialism 

 is to serve as a "fence" for greedy colonies over whose actii>ns she has no control. We lind no more 

 litting words to characteri/e the attitude of (ireat liritain toward this fur-seal question than the 

 words of Professor Nicholson, of Kdinburgh : "There can be no question, in thi- light of history, 

 that the ixditical Instinct of the English peoi)le— or to adopt the popular language of the monnnt. the 

 original sin of the nation — is to covet everything of its neighbors worth coveting, and it is not 

 content until the sin is complete." 



