APPENDIX TO COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 875 



Declared at No. 190, Oxford Street, in the county of London, this 5th 

 day of December, 1892. 

 Before me: 



(Signed) Walter B. Priest, 



A Commissioner for Oaths. 



No. 10. 



Declaration of Mr. Tom Simpson Jay. 



T, Tom Simpson Jay, of Nos. 163, 165, and 198, Regent Street, in the 

 county of London, solemnly and sincerely declare as follows: 



1. I carry on business, and have done for the last twelve years, under 

 the name of the International Fur Store. My business consists in 

 buying the skins in their raw salted condition at the annual sales held 

 by Mr. Lampson and others in the City, and when these skins have 

 been dyed and dressed I have them worked up in my workshops into 

 articles which are disposed of in due course to the public. I personally 

 conduct the purchase of skins needed for my business, and I am 

 therefore acquainted with the seal-skin market. 



2. There are three chief classes of skins sold in the London market : 

 Commander Island skins, Pribyloff Island skins (generally known as 

 Alaskas), and what is commonly called the north-west catch. 



3. Alaska skins are undoubtedly the most valuable, and fetch the 

 highest price. In my opinion the reason of Alaskas fetching a higher 

 price is chiefly due to the fact that the name is known by the public. 

 The public have got it into their heads that Alaskas are the best descrip- 

 tion of sealskin furs. They do not know seal-skins of other names. 

 This, in my opinion, is the chief cause of their commanding a better 

 price. The difference of price is also to some extent no doubt due to 

 the lact that the fur of the Alaska seals is on the average of better 

 quality. By better quality I mean that the fur is denser and closer. 

 There is nothing else which I am aware of to make the Alaskas more 

 valuable than the Coppers. 



4. There are also other differences which exist, but which to my mind 

 do not affect the price, as, for instance, the difference of colour, the 

 Copper skins on the whole presenting a slightly more tan-like appear- 

 ance than the Alaskas. 



5. In inspecting consignments from the Pribyloff Islands sold by 

 Messrs. Lampson I have repeatedly observed amongst them skins 

 which were to my mind undistiuguishable from skins from the Copper 

 Islands; and in the same way, in inspecting consignments from the 

 Copper Islands, I have noticed amongst them a considerable quantity 

 of skins which I could not have distinguished from Alaska skins. I 

 should not like to say what the percentage of these skins would be, 

 but I should think that 25 to 30 per cent, was probably a fair average. 



6. I have never considered what would be the proper measures to be 

 taken to preserve seal life, and I have no suggestions to offer on the 

 point, but I certainly would be much opposed to any scheme which 

 would put an end to the north-west catch. In my opinion this catch is 

 a very important element in keeping the balance of the market, and 

 its suppression would result in serious injury to the fur trade generally, 

 and to the pubUc 



