THE ECONOMIC EVOLUTION OF ALASKA 



587 



ernment by the Russians. Following the 

 cession of the Territory, Congress fol- 

 lowed the wise standing policy of Russia 

 in adopting methods for the conservation 

 of its extremely valuable aquatic furs. 

 It made the Pribilof Islands, on which 

 were situated the breeding grounds of the 

 otary, or fur-seal, a closed reservation. 

 As is well known, this reservation is 

 leased for fixed periods of ten years each 

 to the highest public bidder. The lessees 

 are restricted as to the number and meth- 

 ods of taking the fur-seal, and are, more- 

 over-, bound to provide for the education 

 and general welfare of the resident na- 

 tives. This policy protected effectually 

 the fur-seal until it faced practical de- 

 struction through pelagic sealing. 



Trade in other aquatic fur-bearing ani- 

 mals, such as the beaver, muskrat, and 

 otter, as well as the land fur-bearing 

 mammals — the bear, marten, and foxes — 

 was most fortunately controlled by a 

 large and far-seeing corporation, the 

 Alaska Commercial Company, which was 

 free from an insatiate desire to exploit 

 mercilessly the entire game of the coun- 

 try. In consequence the company insti- 

 tuted a reasonable trade policy, which 

 looked to permanent and profitable rela- 

 tions with the native hunters through the 

 years of the far future. 



The entire fur trade, land and aquatic, 

 under these fortunate conditions, began 

 with a value of slightly over two millions 

 of dollars, which continued until 1879, 

 when, through the increase in the fur-seal 

 values, it attained its maximum, averag- 

 ing annually slightly over three millions 

 of dollars for the three years from 1879 

 to 1881, inclusive. The average for 

 ten years, 1879 to 1888, approximated 

 two and three-quarters millions. Thence- 

 forward there was a rapid decline, due 

 almost entirely to pelagic sealing, so that 

 in the past three years, despite a great 

 increase in the value of furs, the entire 

 annual catch has scarcely reached a mil- 

 lion of dollars. 



Under this judicious legislation of 

 Congress the fur-seal was long conserved, 

 with the prospect that it would be for 

 centuries a permanent resource of the 

 United States. For thirty years it 



yielded over one hundred thousand fur- 

 seal skins annually, and for the five years 

 ending with 1888, when pelagic sealing 

 began systematically, the average was one 

 hundred and five thousand. 



It is unnecessary to dwell on the eco- 

 nomic evils of pelagic or open-sea hunt- 

 ing, whereby the females are slaughtered, 

 the young starve, and the herd perishes. 

 The interests of the nation, of commerce, 

 and of the individual suffer alike, while 

 the resident natives are reduced to hope- 

 less beggary and ultimate starvation. 



Canada observes certain regulations as 

 to season and limits, which somewhat 

 alleviate the evils. The Japanese sealers, 

 however, recognize no restrictions, and 

 frequently go to extremes, invading 

 American territory, slaughtering the fur- 

 seal and plundering the rookeries — in 

 short, imitating in a small way the pirati- 

 cal forays of the corsairs of the Middle 

 Ages. 



Under such unfriendly, as well as un- 

 wise, treatment, the American fur-seal 

 herd has been practically annihilated, it 

 having decreased 86 per cent, from an 

 average catch of 105,000 to less than 

 15,000, during the past five years. 



Thus vanish, through unwise and un- 

 friendly alien exploitation, resources 

 which for twenty years, from 1871 to 

 1890, produced fur-seal skins of an an- 

 nual average value of one and a half 

 millions of dollars. 



Under stimulus of competition and 

 invasion, the otter, land and sea, fell off 

 from an average of 7,514 from 1881 to 

 1890 to 16 sea otter and 1,393 ' an d otter 

 in 1907, while the beaver similarly 

 dropped from 6,094 annually to 1,159. 



Fortunately the extent and physical 

 features of interior Alaska afford better 

 protection for the land animals than is 

 possible for those of the sea. Neverthe- 

 less large immigration and improved 

 methods of travel have affected seriously 

 the fur-bearing mammals of the land, 

 whose catch has fallen off 65 per cent, 

 from an average of 106,214 from 1881 to 

 1890 to 46,320 during the past eight 

 years. 



Fortunately Alaska was becoming in a 

 way independent of the fur trade as a 



