FUR SEALS AND OTHER UFE, PRIBILOF ISLANDS, 1914. 97 



and thus prescribes by exact figures the nature of the management of the herd for a 

 period of 14 years, or until the expiration of the international agreement by which 

 pelagic sealing was stopped. The text of the law relating to these important provisions 

 is as follows : 



Sec. II. That from and after the approval of this act all killing of fur seals on the Pribilof Islands, 

 or anywhere within the jurisdiction of the United States in Alaska, shall be suspended for a period 

 of five years, and shall be, and is hereby, declared to be unlawful; and all punishments and penalties 

 heretofore enacted for the illegal killing of fur seals shall be applicable and inflicted upon offenders 

 under this section: Provided, That this prohibition shall not apply to the annual killing on the Pribilof 

 Islands of such male seals as are needed to supply food, clothing, and boat skins for the natives on the 

 islands, as is provided for in article eleven of said convention; the skins of all seals so used for food 

 shall be preserved and annually sold by the Government, and proceeds of such annual sales shall be 

 covered into the Treasury of the United States: Provided furtlier, That at the expiration of the said 

 five years' suspension of all commercial killing as above provided, said killing may be resumed under 

 authority of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor: Provided, however. That the number of three-year- 

 old males selected from among the finest and most perfect seals of that age found on the hauling grounds 

 to be reserved for breeding purposes, in each year ending August first, shall not be fewer than the fol- 

 lowing: In nineteen hundred and seventeen, and in each year thereafter until nineteen hundred and 

 twenty-six, inclusive, five thousand. 



THE LAW EFFECTIVE FOR LONGER THAN INTENDED. 



This law, which was introduced in the House of Representatives on February 15, 

 1912, was pending during the sealing season of 1912, and, in the expectation of its pas- 

 sage at an early date, operations were limited until its final provisions should become 

 known. This did not occur until the season had closed, the result being that although 

 the law was not in force during that season the effect was the same, for only 3,764 seals 

 were killed, a number scarcely sufficient to supply meat for the natives. Thus the 

 close-time provision of the law was in effect increased from five to six years, and in 

 actual practice the law will operate one year in excess of its intent. 



AS A BENEFICIAL MEASURE THE LAW HAS SERVED ITS PURPOSE. 



At the present time, therefore, commercial killing has been suspended for a period 

 of three seasons, though the law has actually been on the statute books but two years. 

 What has been accomplished in these three seasons is of the highest importance. The 

 law is entitled "An act to give effect to the convention between the Governments of 

 the United States, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia for the preservation and protec- 

 tion of the fur seals and sea otter which frequent the waters of the North Pacific Ocean, 

 concluded at Washington July seventh, nineteen hundred and eleven." Obviously it 

 was a conservation measure, and now, after three years, it may be inquired how far 

 its intent has been fulfilled. 



In 1912, when the law was under discussion, conditions were very different from 

 those at present. At that time pelagic seahng had just been stopped, the herd was at 

 a low ebb, male life was greatly reduced, the real or supposed evils of former systems 

 of management were fresh in mind, and conflicting opinions were freely expressed as 

 to the fate of the seals. The ultimate needs of the herd were obscured by the compli- 

 cated and special nature of the subject and by its long, involved history, in which 

 almost all important points were rendered elusive by the uncertain factors contributed 

 by pelagic sealing. Under these circumstances it was inevitable that the law as finally 



