782 
United States having been the subject of 
international controversy for a number of 
It will be remembered that both 
countries have been represented at the 
years. 
Pribilof Islands by experts during the past 
seven years, and that the members of the 
original Bering Sea Commission of 1891 
_ (Professor T. C. Mendenhall and Dr. C. 
Hart Merriam for the United States; Sir 
George Baden Powell and Dr. George M. 
Dawson for Great Britain) failed to agree 
on the facts of seal life at the islands. It 
will be remembered also that in subsequent 
years the reports of the experts represent- 
ing the two countries differed materially as 
to the condition of the rookeries and habits 
of the seals. These facts, in connection 
with the hostile attitude of the press of the 
contending countries and the anxiety over 
the outcome felt by both governments, give 
to the findings of the conference an interest 
and importance quite out of proportion to the 
real weight of the points at issue. 
Great Britain was represented by Professor 
D’Arey W. Thompson, of Dundee; Canada, 
by Mr. James M. Macoun, of the Canadian 
Geological Survey ; the United States, by 
Dr. David Starr Jordan, President of Stan- 
ford University, and the Honorable Charles 
S. Hamlin, formerly Assistant Secretary of 
the Treasury. The conference was notable 
for its brief duration (the sittings occupying 
only seven days) and for the essential ac- 
cord of the scientific experts respecting the 
numbers, condition and habits of the fur 
seals. 
The case was one where naturalists of 
reputation, who had personally studied the 
fur seals at the islands, were called upon to 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Von. VI. No. 152. 
make a joint report on matters that had 
been in controversy for many years, that 
had led to strained relations between the 
governments concerned, and respecting 
which diverse opinions prevailed among the 
people and the press. The important fact 
must not be overlooked that the people and 
the press of Great Britain and Canada have 
not up to the present time understood the 
real facts in the case, and that in combating 
the attitude of the United States they have 
done so largely through misinformation. 
It is important to bear in mind, therefore, 
that the British and Canadian experts in 
signing the joint report are liable to incur 
the displeasure of their countrymen, who 
.may regard the report as a concession to 
the United States. The greatest credit is due 
them for making a straightforward state- 
ment of fact, irrespective of public prejudice. 
The delegates had no power to recom- 
mend remedial legislation, their duty being 
to submit a joint report on the facts on 
which they could agree as to the condition 
and habits of the fur seals. With these 
facts before them, it is hoped that the two 
governments will find little difficulty in 
framing measures necessary for the perma- 
nent protection and preservation of the seal 
herd. 
ultimate cessation or limitation of pelagic 
That such measures involve the 
sealing is a fair inference from the report 
That Canada, 
having no rookeries of her own and conse- 
of the expert delegates. 
quently no opportunity to profit by the 
sealing industry except as carried on in the 
open sea, will voluntarily relinquish pelagic 
sealing without some offset or concession 
on our part, can hardly be expected. The 
