FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 249 



seal islands can not be stolen any day, if anybody is disposed to. I be- 

 lieve 1 could take a vessel with twenty good men and go there and steal 

 tlie whole catch and go away with it. There is more than a million 

 dollars' worth of seal skins at the mercy of any marauder, and has beeu 

 for years. 



By Mr. Macdonald : 



Q. As a result of your observations while there, in regard to the 

 management of aHairs by the Government agents and company agents 

 of those islands, what would you suggest in the nature of an improve- 

 ment which the Government should adopt ? Kow 1 have heard it stated 

 by witnesses here that these Government agents are stationed at St. 

 George and St. Paul, and that they have very little authority any more 

 than a mere supervision, which hardly appears satisfactory. — A. Cer- 

 tainly the Government agent, in case of a contention with the employ<5s, 

 could overrule them. There has never arisen, I guess, any question, as 

 the interests of the company are identical with those of the Govern- 

 ment. 



Q. Suppose one of these natives should be charged with having 

 committed an offense, by whom could he be tried ? — A. There is a United 

 States commissioner at Oonalaska. 



Q. There is no officer on St. Paul and St. George? — A. No, sir; ex- 

 cept Mr. Tingle, with such power as he is clothed with. 



Q. He has not judicial power; it is limited. — A. I do not know 

 about that. I do not remember. 



Mr. Macdonald. Why I wanted to ask you the question was that this 

 committee may be able to report on that as well as other questions in 

 regard to anything you might suggest. 



Mr. Jeffries. While you are on that point, ask him whether there 

 is not a good deal of tribal government by chiefs of their own selection 

 with which the com pan}' has nothing to do. 



The Witness. There is ; though how far it extends, and what can 

 be done under it, I do not know. 1 do not recall any case that came 

 up. They are an inoffensive lot, and do not fight or qaarrel except 

 when they get drunk. 



By Mr. Jeffries : 



Q. That is a Government reservation and it is placed under the 

 Treasury Department ? — A. Yes ; the company furnishes them with 

 medical assistance, and does that as well as can be expected. They 

 have their surgeons and doctors and send them about in the various 

 steamers. The condition of the Aleuts is such, with scrofula and syphi- 

 litic troubles, that in my opinion there will be no Aleuts in a few years 

 if they are not looked after medically. There should be some hospital 

 of some so't where the doctors could visit and examine them. I met a 

 case, for instance, at a little place called Neckolovski, in 188G. The 

 com{)any has no station there, and there is nothing much there but the 

 harbor and a few houses and miserable Aleuts. I went through there 

 with the doctor and found a few rotten barrabaras and a little church, 

 and I found my way to the chief's house. He had one of his arms 

 bound down to his side. He was a young man about thirty-five or 

 forty years old, and lived comfortably for an Aleut, but he could talk 

 little or no English. 



I had an interpreter but I could not get much intelligence between 

 them. That was the worst i)lace I saw. There was no company su- 

 pervision or government supervision. He had his arm bound up be- 

 cause the scrofula had eaten it full of holes. The doctor looked at 



