FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 15 



out competitiou in trade at a certain place or places. Now, do you re- 

 member who it was that was stamped out ? Do you know any par- 

 ticulars? — A. No, I do not remember the particulars. 



Q. Did that report come to you in any authentic way ? — A. No, sir ; 

 it was simply a casual remark iromsome one who was talking about the 

 matter. 



Q. Now, was that in relation to the fur-seal islands ?— A. No. 



Q. Nobody bas a rij^ht to compete with them on the fur-seal isl- 

 ands?— A. No. 



Q. So lar as the company have relations to the Aleutian Islands and 

 the main land, they have no relation to the Government, have they ? — 

 A. Not any more than any parties sendint? vessels and goods for that 

 Territory. " 



Q. You or I as individuals, or a firm, or a company, can go to Alaska 

 and trade, and have all the advantages the Alaska Commercial Com- 

 pany have and all the privileges except as to the fur seals ? — A. Of 

 course that is a Government reservation and nobody can land unless 

 permitted. 



Q. What I wish to make jjlaiu to the committee, if it be true, is that the 

 Alaska Commercial Company's business with the main-land and on the 

 Aleutian Islands and everywhere else in Alaska except upon the seal 

 islands is managed just as anybody else's business is managed. — A. I 

 do not know any provision of law or regulation of the Treasury Depart- 

 ment that would authorize any discrimination between the company or 

 any other company or trader with regard to the trade in the Territory 

 outside of the fisheries. 



Q. So that the business of the Alaska Commercial Company in rela- 

 tion to the Government is confined to two small islands in the middle of 

 the Bering Sea ; is that true ? — A. It is true. 



Q. What is the formation or topography of those islands, volcanic or 

 otherwise '? — A. From my recollection it is volcanic. 



{.I. Do they produce anything ; does anything grow there of use to the 

 inhabitants? — A. Well, there is some very coarse grass, some moss, and 

 a kind of blackberries. 



Q. There isnothmg there for which anyone would emigrate ? — A. No. 



Q. Now, will you tell the committee whatsort of people are the native 

 inhabitants of those islands, in regard to their character and docility? — 

 A. I think I have spoken already sufQciently on that point, but I will 

 state it once more. I can not imagine a more peaceable, quiet popula- 

 tion than the Aleuts. 



Q. Now, in relation to their habitations, of which you have spoken, 

 I want to ask you if they were not formerly mostly under ground ? — 

 A. Yes, sir ; they were mostly under ground. 



Q. Were they damp and unwholesome ? — A. Yes, sir. 



Q. What do you know of the treatment of the natives by this com- 

 pany as compared with their treatment prior to their becoming citizens 

 of the United States? — A. I think it willbe a sufiicient answer to say that 

 while the Alaska Commercial Company has no right to treat the natives 

 otherwise than as free people, the employes of the liussian Commercial 

 Company had all the power and almost the right to treat them as slaves. 

 It depended entirely upon the character of the employer. 



Q. As I understand it, the Eussian company had the power of life and 

 death over these people ? — A. Legally, not; but practically it might have 

 happened under the administration of Baranof. Governor Baranof 

 gave the whip to a Eussian officer. 



Q. What, in your judgment, from your experience of that business 



