FUR SEALS AND OTHER LIFE, PRIBILOF ISLANDS, I914. I4I 



The greatest punishment that can be suggested is banishment to some other place. 

 To remove these people would be cruel in the extreme, nor under present conditions 

 would it be justified from any standpoint of expediency or economy. They would have 

 to be supported elsewhere, while here as long as the seal herd endures they will be self- 

 supporting and under proper management will be happy and contented. In the event 

 of their removal it would be necessary to have their work done by temporary employees 

 probably less suited to the peculiar conditions than are these people bom and raised 

 on the islands. As far as possible the reforms needed should be put in operation gradu- 

 ally. It should be borne in mind that the ideas and habits of these people have back 

 of them many generations of training under peculiar and somewhat adverse conditions, 

 and that it is impracticable to change these habits abruptly or to settle the problems 

 in regard to their management by transfer to a different and less favorable field. 



PRESENT APPROPRIATION INADEQUATE. 



The appropriation available for the Pribilof Islands- is wholly inadequate to manage 

 the business in an efficient manner. It is not enough that a certain quantity of pro- 

 visions and other merchandise, varying according to the amount which can be spared 

 for this purpose from a given year's allowance, be landed on the islands and doled out 

 to them in weekly portions in exchange for what work they may that year be called 

 upon to do. Even under present conditions, when no fur seals are taken except for 

 food and when the fox herds are in poor condition, the net receipts from the sale of 

 skins in 1913 were over $67,000. It would seem no more than reasonable with this 

 amount of revenue actually being turned into the Treasury that the islands be allowed 

 a substantial increase over the $40,000 now available. The system now followed in 

 paying the natives for their services is merely a legacy from former times, with many 

 of the objectionable features retained and with no improvements added. It does not 

 meet the requirements of the situation, and is unsatisfactory alike to the natives and to 

 the officials of the Government on the islands and elsewhere who have its administration 

 in hand. This subject in its relation to the natives may here be considered briefly. 



From a generous appropriation the stores on the islands should be annually stocked 

 with a supply of goods sufficient to last at least ofie year, and to provide against accidents 

 and emergencies a surplus of the most essential articles should be kept on hand. This 

 stock should include the staple articles of food, clothing, and other merchandise which 

 experience has determined are most suitable for the purpose. Some arrangement 

 should be made for the support of those unable to earn their living — the widows, orphans, 

 and those crippled or otherwise incapacitated. This might be done by issuing rations, 

 and probably it might be well, in view of the impracticability of furnishing them with 

 steady work throughout the year, to issue a minimum ration to all the natives. They 

 should then be paid in cash for all work performed at a fair rate of wage. They them- 

 selves have petitioned that they be paid in cash for their work and be allowed to buy 

 their provisions. Most of this cash almost at once will be expended in the store — in 

 other words, will be returned to the Government — and after the first year it or its 

 equivalent may be expended in paying for further labor or in the purchase of provisions. 



If the business of the islands were in the hands of a private concern, this is exactly 

 the method which would be followed, and it should be possible for the afi'airs there to be 

 administered by the Government in a manner equally efficient and simple. The details 

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