DECEMBER 15, 1899. ] 
its cause convincingly set forth, which is pri- 
marily, if not exclusively, pelagic sealing. The 
history and effects of pelagic sealing are pre- 
sented in detail, and the facts speak for them- 
selves; there is no occasion for argument. 
Statistics show that in the average about 75 per 
cent. of the seals taken in pelagic sealing are 
breeding females, killed either on the way to 
their breeding grounds while pregnant, or on 
their feeding grounds near the rookeries, leaving 
their nursing pups to die of starvation on the 
rookeries. In the case of land killing, only cer- 
tain classes of males are taken, leaving the full 
quota of females to replenish the herd. 
While pelagic sealing is so destructive to 
the seal herd, statistics show that it is not 
remunerative, but, on the contrary, is carried 
on at a pecuniary loss to those engaged in 
it. ‘‘The true nature of the business was 
plain in 1897, when only 38 vessels, as against 
87 in 1896, engaged in sealing.’’ Of this 
latter number 21 were American and 66 British 
(i. e., Canadian). The amount of capital in- 
vested for this year (1897) did not exceed 
$208,000, to be ‘‘ contrasted with the capital of 
$5,000,000 invested in the preparation of the 
seal skins in London, and with the revenue of 
$1,375,000 a year which the United States 
should by right be enjoying.’’ Pelagic sealing 
is, therefore, a selfish, dog-in-the-manger busi- 
ness. As said in President Jordan’s report (p. 
175): ‘‘ Not only is pelagic sealing a destruc- 
tive and wasteful industry, but it is suicidal in 
its nature. It is at best but an insignificant in- 
dustry. It threatens the destruction of vastly 
more important interests, and with them its 
own interests. Pelagic sealing preys upon its 
own capital. The more successful it is the 
quicker will come its ruin. Its bankrupt con- 
dition to-day is clearly shown in the declining 
catch and the withdrawal of its vessels.’’ This 
was perfectly evident to well-informed and un- 
biased experts in 1893, yet the evidence before 
the Arbitration Commission was so confused and 
so vitiated by false statements and false infer- 
ences that the rules established by the Paris 
award for the preservation of the seal herd only 
fostered its rapid destruction through its pro- 
visions in behalf of pelagic sealing ! 
In this connection it seems proper to quote a 
SCIENCE. 
887 
few paragraphs from the report (pp. 175, 176), 
since they tersely summarize the subject of 
pelagic sealing and place the odium of its con- 
tinuance in the right quarter. 
‘¢Such is the nature of pelagic sealing, the 
sole cause of the threatened destruction of the 
fur seal herd, the sole obstacle which stands in 
the way of its restoration. 
“‘ Much has been said of the legality of pelagic 
sealing, and to this we take no exception. 
Pelagic sealing is perfectly legal, but this legal- 
ity was fixed by a tribunal which was so con- 
fused by false testimony and ignorant and 
worthless affidavits, that, while attempting to 
formulate measures for the protection of the 
seals, it legalized the very cause of their de- 
struction. But the whitewash of respectability 
which was thus put upon pelagic sealing cannot 
hide its true character. Judged by its methods 
and results, it is merely a species of legalized 
barbarism. Pelagic sealing is simply a public 
nuisance which can now only be disposed of by 
international agreement. 
“Tt is a great sense of relief that we find 
ourselves able to record the recent action of 
Congress in the prohibition of the practice of 
pelagic sealing by our own citizens, and the 
exclusion of skins of females from our markets. 
This step should have been taken long ago. It 
must be remembered that until the passage of 
this law Americans as well as Canadians have 
been engaged in slaughtering the fur seals. 
* * * And not only have our citizens helped 
to destroy our own herd, but they have crossed 
the Pacific and have been instrumental in de- 
pleting the herd of friendly Russia. American 
enterprise has also had the leading part in the 
practical extermination of the fur seal rookeries 
of the Kuril Islands, belonging to Japan. 
‘« Henceforth, however, our hands are clean, 
and we can with dignity and assurance urge 
that other nations take steps to put an end to the 
business. Pelagic sealing—with its slaughter 
of gravid females, and the starvation of their 
dependent young, with its waste of a noble and 
valuable animal life, with its threatened de- 
struction of varied and important commercial 
enterprises, and of the sole source of supply of a 
commodity of utility and value to mankind—is, 
from this time on, distinctly a Canadian indus- 
