FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 129 



Q. Is it your opinion that the rookeries can be kept up to the present 

 catch of 100,000 per annum indefinitely if the Government protection 

 over them and existing" laws are rigidly enforced ? — A. Yes, sir ; I think 

 we have demonstrated that it could be done during the first fifteen 

 ears of the present lease, when the lessees were unmolested. 



Q. By more rigid protection the revenues of the Government, as well 

 as those of the company, might be increased? — A. I think it is very 

 likely. If the market demands the skins at present prices the revenue 

 to the Government can be somewhat increased. 



By Mr. Jeffries : 



Q. What do you think as to the advisability of the Government man- 

 aging the business on its own account? — A. The management of the 

 seal fisheries requires special knowledge, the knowledge of experts, 

 and that knowledge can be acquired only by many years' experience. 

 It requires a knowledge of the habits of the seals, the demand of the 

 market, the general commercial transactions pertaining to the business, 

 and these could not be at once grasped by Government agents. Under 

 our present civil-service rules we should hardly get the necessary meas- 

 ure of experience. 



Q. Are there relations existing between the company and the furriers 

 abroad that it would be difficult for the Government ibo acquire. Is it 

 necessary to keep the fur market supplied every year with seal skins? — 

 A. This company, when it undertook this business, had in every in- 

 stance to build up its foreign trade, and it had to depend on the de- 

 mand of the market so built up to make the business profitable. Under 

 the prices that were obtaining during the first few years of the business 

 it would hardly pay. 



Q. Did you do business the first year at a loss ? — A. I think so. 



Q. You have no interest in the company except as a salaried ofi&cer ? — 

 A. No, sir. 



Q. What do you say as to the result of the Government undertaking 

 to manage the business"? — A. I am sure it would be a failure. 



Q. Are there any marauding vessels in Bering's Sea at this time ? — 

 A. I do not know. There were several when 1 left there about the 

 middle of last August. 



Q. Has the Government published a notice warning them to go out ? — 

 A. Yes, sir ; the same instructions as the year before. 



By the Chairman: 



Q. Would it aid the protection of the rookeries if the Government 

 had one or two steam-launches at each island? — A. Yes, sir; if it had 

 any means of taking care of them. But there is no suitable harbor for 

 vessels of any class. 



Q. What would it cost to construct a suitable place ? — A. I do not 

 think I am competent to answer that question. The sea is very rough 

 at times, and the ice is a great obstacle in building a breakwater. It 

 is a problem for an engineer. I believe it would require a very heavy 

 expenditure. 



Q. Is it practicable at all ? — A. I have no doubt it is with a suificient 

 outlay of money, but I think it would require a pretty large sum. Ice 

 comes in there in the months of Februaiy, March, and April in heavy 

 masses and completely surrounds the islands. The cakes are often 20 

 or 30 feet thick. It comes, of course, with crushing force in heavy 

 weather. 



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