FUR-SEAL HEED OF ALASKA. 83 



they have been entirely in the hands of the lessees. The young males set aside for 

 breeding purposes having been marked, the lessees have been free to take what they 

 could get, and this resulted in their taking practically all of the bachelors appearing 

 on the hauling grounds. _ In the eagerness to see that no possible bachelor escapes, 

 the edges of the rookeries are encroached upon and cows included in the drives. 

 Fifty of them appeared in drives toward the close of this season. A drive that can 

 not be made without including cows should be omitted. A drive which appears 

 on the killing field with 15 to 20 cows in it should be released rather than incur the 

 danger of clubbing any such cow by mistake. There should be some one in charge 

 of the herd with power and discretion to do this. 



There has been on the killing grounds since 1900 a constant struggle on the part of 

 the leasing company in the closing years of its concession to get every possible skin 

 from the declinincr herd. Its work has been aided by a high arbitrary legal quota and 

 by a lowered minimum weight of skin, enabling it to gradually anticipate the quotas 

 of succeeding years by killing younger animals. As a result there has occurred in 

 these years probably the closest killing to which the herd has ever been subjected. 

 Aside from tlie diminished supply of male life on the breeding grounds in 1904, this 

 is shown in the fact that though the herd has declined two- thirds in size, the quota 

 has never fallen more than one-third in size as compared with that of 1897. 



With a declining herd this close killing has not been so important as it would be in 

 the case of an increasing herd. Fewer and fewer bulls have constantly been needed 

 on the breeding grounds. Of the 5,000 bulls occupying harems in 1896, only 1,387 were 

 needed in 1909. A diminished breeding reserve has therefore been possible. But we 

 must consider a reversed condition of things, if pelagic sealing is to be done away with. 

 The herd will then begin to grow. It will require a constantly increasing reserve of 

 breeding males, which must be saved from the killing fields. A leasing company 

 will be just as eager to get all possible skins and will jjress the product of the hauling 

 grounds, rising all too slowly, to its limit unless restrained. 



Respectfully submitted. 



George Archibald Cl.^rk, 

 Assistant in Charge of Fur-Seal Investigation. 



Stanford University, September SO, 1909. 



This explicit confirmation of the charges which Elliott had made 

 against the work of the lessees and their confederates so disturbed 

 Bowers and the lessees, who were scheming to renew the lease, May 

 1, 1910, that the following disposition of Clark's report was made, 

 to wit: 



Department of Commerce and Labor, 



BuREATT of Fisheries, 

 Washington, November 17, 1909. 

 Mr. W. I. Lembkey, 



Bureau of Fisheries, Washington, D. C. 

 Sir: Assuming that you have read and carefully considered the fur-seal report 

 recently made by Mr. George A. Clark, who visited the islands during the past summer, 

 I desire that you prepare a statement of your views regarding the report, particularly 

 with reference to such data and conclusions contained therein as do not agree with 

 your understanding of the facts and conditions. 



Kindly let me have this statement in form convenient for use at the conference of 

 the advisory board next Tuesday, 



Respectfully, Geo. M. Bowers, Commissioner. 



Lembkey did his work of "explaining" to that advisory board 

 the errors of Clark's report so well that when it assembled in Bowers's 

 office, November23, 1909 ("next Tuesday"), thefollomng official and 

 "unanimous recommendation" was made that the lease be renewed: 



Mr. Bowers. On November 23, 1909, there was a meeting of the advisory board 

 •with the fur-seal board and the Commissioner of Fisheries and Deputy Commissioner 

 of Fisheries (Dr. Hugh M. Smith), at which were present also Mr. Chichester and 

 Mr. George A. Clark. After mature deliberation these gentlemen unanimously agreed 

 upon the following recommendations : 



I 



