FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 93 



Sound the shores on either side are touched at by whalers and traders 

 without permission. 



Tbe Chairman. What distance is Attoo from the Commander Isl- 

 ands? — A. It must be about 500 miles, I should think. 



By Mr. Jeffries : 



Q. ISTow, Mr. WiUiams, I understand that lease with the Government 

 relates to the Pribylov group of islands known as St. Paul and St. 

 George, and the right to take fur seals for their skins on those Isl- 

 ands "?— A. Solely. 



Q. Have you any relation to the United States Government in respect 

 to any other part of the Territory of Alaska? — A. None. 



Q. None whatever?— A. None. 



Q. So far as the Aleutian Islands, and the main-land, and all the coast 

 of Alaska except these two little islands in the middle of the Bering 

 Sea are concerned, anybody in the United States has as good a right to 

 go there and do business there as you have ? — A. Exactly. 



Q. You do business on the main-land and on the Aleutian Islands? — 

 A. Yes. 



Q. What do yoi; do there? — A. We collect the soaotter furs mostly, 

 and from the main-land such other furs as parties trading and hunting 

 there may have to dispose of. 



Mr. Jeffries. In a statement which Mr. Sloss has prepared for the 

 committee, I want to read a brief extract, and ask you whether it is a 

 fact or not : 



It (tbe company) has nothing to do with mines, eithei'of coals or precious metals, 

 forests, quarries, grain, fruits, or vegetables, and makes no investment in the " incom- 

 parably great resources " referred to, save only in furs and tlie skins of wild animals. 

 It in nowise competes with the cod and salmon tisheries or any of the canneries. Its 

 vessels are intended primarily for its own use, in its own business, but it freely car- 

 ries the mails and offers to all who desire it the full accommodation which any can 

 obtain from a common carrier. Yet it competes with no line of steamers or other 

 vessels for the carrying trade, and leaves the field open to any wbo seek it. 



So far as you know, is that a true statement? — A. It is absolutely 

 true. 



Q. Now he takes up here the PetrofP map, which divides Alaska into 

 five divisions, the first being the southeastern division : 



The company does no business at all of any kind with southeastern Alaska — 



In regard to that portion of Alaska, your company has no trading 

 station ? — A. No ; it has no connection with it. 



Q. (Reading :) 



The company does no business at all of any kind with southeastern Alaska — that is, 

 the portion lying south and east of Mount St. Elias, called the southeastern division. 

 It is here that Sitka, the seat of government, is situated, and where tbe greater part 

 of the white population of Alaska resides. It extends from Mount St. Elias to Port- 

 laud Canal, and contains 28,980 square miles, being larger in area than either Con- 

 necticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, or West Vir- 

 ginia, and is nearly as large as Indiana. Compared with this large district, the Priby- 

 lov Islands leased to this company are very insignificant in area. St. Paul is 13 miles 

 long and less than 6 miles in point of greatest width, and contains about 33 square 

 miles, a large part being rocky, rugged cones of volcanic rock, whilst a great deal of 

 the remainder is drifting sand dunes. St. George Island is about 10 miles in extreme 

 length, and about 4^ miles in greatest width, and contains about 27 square miles. 

 Its greatest elevation is 920 feet above the sea. 



Q. So far as you know, that statement is true? — A. It is. 

 Q. Now the second division is called the Kadiak division on the 

 main-land? — A. Yes. 



If we go northward and westward from southeastern Alaska we pass beyond Mount 

 St. Elias. and into what Mr. Petroff calls the Kadiak division, the eastern limit of 



