132 FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



By Mr. Jeffries : 



Q. Supposing a treaty was made with England to that effect, would 

 there be trouble trom any South American country or from Canada ? — 

 A. I believe that an arrangement could be efliected with England, and 

 that no other country would interfere. 



Q. You think the tlnited States would protect us against any small 

 country, but not against a strong one? — A. Yes, sir. 



Q. Russia has as much interest as the United States, she having seal 

 rookeries? — A. Yes, sir; but Eussia is decidedly inclined to protect 

 herself, without asking x)ermission from England. 



Q. I warit to ask you in regard to the scarcity ot bachelor seals. I 

 suppose when female seals are killed, many of them are with pup, and, 

 of course, that pu]) is as likely to be a male as a female, and if one-half 

 of all the pups killed in that way are males, that would account to that 

 extent for the disappearance of bachelor seals? — A. Yes, sir; and I 

 would like to emphasize the fact that it seems to me that the number 

 of seals has been largely, overestimated. It was formerly supposed 

 that we could kill them to almost any extent without injury to the 

 rookeries, but we find that the killing of 100,000 by marauders, in ad- 

 dition to the 100,000 killed lawfully, is cutting in on us. The rookeries 

 do not produce enough to bear that strain upon them ; in other words, 

 seal life is not nearly so numerous as was supposed. 



At this point the committee took a recess until 2 o'clock p. m. 



AFTER RECESS. 



By the Chairman : 



Q. Do you know Chester Seeber ? — A. I am not personally acquainted 

 with him, but I know of his having been commissioner at Oonalaska. 



Q. Where is he now ? — A. I believe he is in San Francisco. 



Q. Here is a letter addressed to the committee by Mr. Seeber. Will 

 you read it and state to the committee what you, as agent of the company, 

 would say in reply to it ? — [The witness reads the letter.] — A. Mr. 

 Seeber says the company uses the power which its contract with the 

 Government gives it to monopolize the whole trade of western Alaska, 

 to oppress the inhabitants, and to retard the development of the country. 

 I will say that there is not business enough in western Alaska for two 

 companies in the fur trade. The Alaska Commercial Company makes 

 no profit from its business outside of the seal islands. The two comjia- 

 nies in competition were losing money when the Western Fur and Trad- 

 ing Company, to which Mr. Seeber refers, closed out its interests to the 

 Alaska Commercial Company — sold all its interests to our company at 

 a higher price,, in fact, tlian we were able to pay. We got property we 

 did not want, and since that time the business has so much decreased 

 that there is still less room now than when the Western Fur and Trad- 

 ing Company sold out. He says that we paid a higlit^r price then for 

 skins. That is true. Both companies paid too high for them, and the 

 Alaska Commercial Company, to my knowledge, paid more for them, 

 in some instances, than they were worth in London. The other com- 

 pany was doing the same thing. It was the result of legitimate compe- 

 tition. 



He says the policy of the company is to discourage prospectors and 

 miners. That is false. We have always had instructions from the 

 president and managers of the company to give every facility to miners, 

 X)rospectors, and other parties going to Alaska. We have even carried 



