174 THE FUR SEALS OF THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



RUSSIAN INTERESTS. 



The interest of Eassia lies solely in the revenue which she should derive from 

 the taking of seal skins on her islands. Tier citizens are not to any extent engaged 

 in the sale and manufacture of the garments made from the skins. 



THE INTEREST OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



Great Britain's interest in the fur-seal-skin industry is next in importance to that 

 of the United States, There was invested in the city of London, in 1892, a capital of 

 $5,000,000 engaged in the work of dressing and dyeing seal skins.' Between 2,000 

 and 3,000 skilled workmen were employed in the business. This capital and labor, 

 on account of their highly specialized nature, can not be advantageously turned 

 into other channels. The extermination of the fur-seal herds means the ruin of the 

 seal-skin industry. 



THE CANADIAN PELAGIC SEALING INTERESTS. 



It is worth while here to contrast the value and importance of the so-called 

 industry which is opposed to these several interests. In the report of the British 

 commissioners for 1892^ we find this statement: "The estimated value of the British 

 Columbian vessels employed in sealing, with tlieir equipments, as they sailed in 1892, 

 was 8359,000." This valuation may be looked upon as an extreme one, and the vessels 

 have deteriorated since. Mr. T. T. AVilliams ' gives the value of the Canadian sealing 

 fleet of 21 vessels in 1889, including outfits, as $173,350. The average value per vessel 

 would according to this be approximately $7,200. For the 49 vessels in 1892 the 

 average valuation would be $7,300. A recent estimate by Capt. C. L. Hooper^ of the 

 value of 19 of these vessels engaged in sealing in 1896, but not in 1897, was in round 

 numbers $15,000, which would give an average valuation of $2,100 per vessel, a figure 

 probably much nearer present contlitions. 



VALUATION OF THE FLEET. 



Applying this later valuation to the entire sealing fleet of 1896 — 21 American 

 and 60 British vessels — we have as opposed to the important interests of the United 

 States and (heat Britain a capital of not to exceed $208,000. This should be 

 contrasted with the capital of $5,000,000 invested in the preparation of the seal skins 

 in London and with the revenue of $1,375,000 a year which the United States 

 should by riglit be enjoying. Taking the average number of men employed per vessel 

 in 1S89 and 1891, we find that for the fleet of 87 vessels in 1896 there was a total of 

 2,000 white men and Indians. With these should be contrasted the 2,000 or more 

 skilled workmen engaged in dyeing and dressing the seal skins in London. 



The pelagic fleet in 1896 took, all told, about 70,000 skins, worth $7 apiece, or a 

 gross income of about $490,000. It is not easy to estimate the expense of fitting out 

 such a fleet, but if we take out of this gross earning of a little less than half a million 

 the wages of 2,000 men for from three to six months, in addition to the provisions for 



' Case of United States Fur Seal Arb., voL I, p. 273. 

 -Proc. Fur Seal Arb., vol. 6, p. 35. 

 ^Fur Seal Ail>., vol. 3, p. 499. 

 ■'See Appendix. 



