ALASKA. 4c) 



sible, and which was enjoyed by mankind by this particular mode 

 of dealing with the fur seals which had been established and carried 

 on upon the Pribilof Islands. Mankind received the benefit of 

 the entire annual increase, and at the same time, the stock was per- 

 petually preserved and kept from any sort of peril; and in that 

 benefit the citizens of the United States enjoyed, of course, no 

 advantage over the rest of the world. The whole product of the 

 herd was contributed at once to commerce, and throuijh the 

 instrumentality of commerce was carried all over the world to 

 those who desired the sealskins, and those who desired sealskins, 

 wherever they might be on the face of the globe, and whatever 

 nation they might inhabit, got them upon the same terms upon 

 which the citizens of the United States enjoyed them. This con- 

 tribution of the annual product to the purposes of commerce, to 

 be dealt with as commerce deals with one of its subjects, of course 

 amounted substantially to a putting it up at auction, and it was 

 awarded to the highest bidder, wherever he might dwell. 



The effect of this was, also, as we shall have occasion to see in 

 the course of this discussion, to build up and maintain an impor- 

 tant industry in Great Britain. It was there that the sealskins 

 were manufactured and prepared for sale in the market, and thou- 

 sands of people were engaged in that industry, many more, indeed, 

 than were engaged in the industry of gathering the seals upon the 

 Pribilof Islands. That particular benefit was secured to Great 

 Britain in consequence of this industry. 



In the few years preceding 1890, the Government of the United 

 States was made aware of a peril to the industry which had thus 

 been established and which it was in the enjoyment of, a peril to 

 the preservation of this race of seals, a peril not proceeding from 

 what may be called natural causes, such as the killing by whales 

 and other animals which prey upon the seals in the water, but a 

 peril proceeding from the hand of man. It was found that the 

 practice of pelagic sealing, which had for many years, and indeed 

 ifo. 86 i 



