FUR-SEAL FISHEKIES OF ALASKA. 159 



Q. Does the company pay for those skius ? — A. Of course. They go 

 into the quota, aud are charged agaiust the compauy every day, becom- 

 ing a part of the quota for the coming year. This is the idea : While 

 these seals are there the more we can save of them the better it is, for 

 this reason, that when they go into the water a large percentage of 

 them will not return next year, but while we have them and we can 

 take acceptable skius, aud use the meat as food for the natives, we 

 have got that much of a start on the next year's quota, for which the 

 company pays the same as if they were killed next year. 



Q. If you build this cold storage warehouse, it is ijossible to preserve 

 a large amount of the meat of the one hundred thousand killed each year 

 for other natives on the Aleutian Islands ? — A. Yes, sir ; it could bedone 

 if there was any way of transportation to those natives. 



Q. The papers attached to your annual reports give the number of 

 seals killed for food aud the number killed for other purposes ? — A. Yes, 

 sir ; it is all therein detail. 



I was going to tell you what this company does for these natives. They 

 furnish a physician and medicines free to the natives, and their physician 

 is always in attendance. The natives, however, are very hard to manage 

 when they are sick. They say to die is good, and when they get right 

 bad and make up their minds to die they generally do so, the priest and 

 doctor and everybody to the contrary notwithstanding. The mortality 

 is considerable each year, caused by carelessness and general imprudence. 

 They go out in the spring of the year after being shut in their hot 

 houses, kept at a fearful heat by the use of blubber aud other fuel. They 

 sit down on the damp, wet ground, aud often get themselves wet up to their 

 knees going through the grass. The result is that colds take them off, 

 the mortality is very great among the natives. All of the eftbrts of the 

 company's physician to change their mode of living have proved, I was 

 about to say a failure, but there has been some improvement in them dur- 

 ing several years past. But they are dying off so fast that the islands 

 will have to have a new infusion of blood from some quarter pretty soon. 

 I have mentioned that in my reports for the last year or two, and called 

 the Secretary's attention to the fact that he would have to give the com- 

 pany permission to import additional labor to these islands. I think it 

 is clearly within the power of the Secretary under the law to make an 

 order at any time. 



These islands were originally peopled from Oonalaska, about one 

 hundred years ago, and I think it would be perfectly proper to allow 

 an accession of population to these fur-seal islands to be made from 

 Oonalaska or Attoo, where the natives are poorly off. It seems to me 

 it is unfair toward the natives of Oonalaska to take them up there and 

 require them to do half of the drudgery and only get $70 or $80 each, 

 while the natives of St. Paul get $500 or $000. They are the same 

 people, aud if there is a necessity for taking thcra up there (and I claim 

 that there is), the j)oint of difference between the company and myself 

 has been that these natives should all go into the distribution together. 



Q. Would the natives of Attoo be willing to be moved there? — A. I 

 do not know whether they would or not, but whether they are or not 

 th ey should be. The natives do not know what is for their best inter- 

 ests. They are like children. I have had at times to peremptorily do 

 things they did not want done. But it was for their interest, and it 

 always turned out best. At Attoo the natives do not have anything to 

 live upon except fish and geese ; a few mackerel are packed in barrels 

 there and shipped. They ought to be taken off there and brought to 

 the fur-seal islands, in my judgment, because their women would furnish 



