COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 147 



THE UNITED STATES CONTENTIONS SUMMARIZED 



AND EXPLAINED. 



From the quotations given above, it appears to be /crnited states 

 affirmed iu the Case of the United States that the seals ^^^' ^' 

 increased in number on the Pribyloff Islands under the 

 control of the United States Government at least up to the 

 year 1881 ; that from the year 1880 to the year 1884-85 the 

 number remained stationary, but that in 1884 a decrease 

 began,* which in subsequent years continued and became 

 greater; that such decrease was observed not alone on the 

 Pribyloff Islands, but also at sea generally; that it com- ^gii^''^- pp- i65, 

 menced contemporaneously with the increase of pelagic 

 seahng, and is of an exceedingly great and alarming char- iwd., p. 2"g. 

 acter. 



The decrease of seals upon the Pribyloff" Islands has no 

 doubt brought the whole question into prominence, and it 

 is the prospect of the diminution of the supply of seal-skins 

 which has stirred the lessees of these islands to agitate for 

 the interference and protection of the Government of the 

 United States, from whom they derive these special rights. 



The lessees complained of the operations of pelagic seal- 

 ers, and attributed the decrease of seals observed on the 

 breeding islands entirely to pelagic sealing; and, in conse- 

 quence of these complaints, the United States endeavoured 

 to put a stop to pelagic sealing by means of the seizure of 

 vessels on the high seas. 



BRITISH AND UNITED STATES COMMISSIONERS ADMIT 



DECREASE. 



As to the diminution in the number of seals, the British 

 and United States Commissioners agree to the following 

 proposition in their joint Eeport: 



We fiufl that since the Alaska purchase a marked diraimition in the ,, . , „.q 

 nnraber of seals on and habitually resorting to the Pribyloff Islands ' 



has taken place; that it has been cumulative in ettect, and that it is 

 the result of excessive killing by man. 



In endeavouring to arrive at the true causes of this 

 169 diminution, it is necessary in the first place to ascer- 

 tain correctly the date at which the diminution com- 

 menced, and the amount of the diminution. 



Upon this point the conclusion arrived at by the British 

 Commissioners is expressed in their Report in the following 

 terms : 



BKITISH COMMISSIONERS BELIEVE DECREASE TO HAVE BEEN PKAC- 

 TICALLY CONTINUOUS UNDER UNITED STATES CONTROL. 



A critical investigation of the published matter, together with the British Com. 

 evidence personally obtained from many sources and an examination missioiiers' Re- 

 of the local details of the rookeries and hauling-grounds on the Priby- port, para. 57. 

 loff Islands, leads us to believe that there has been a nearly continu- 

 ous (leterioratiouin the condition of the rookeries and decrease in the 

 number of seals frequenting the islands from the time at which these 

 ])assed under the control of the United States, and that, although this 

 decrease may possibly have been interrupted, or even reversed, in some 

 specially favourable years, it was nevertheless real, and iu the main 

 ])er8istent. 



■ The dates do not precisely correspond, but are given by the United 

 (States as here stated. 



