54 FUR SEALS OF ALASKA. 
Mr. Hrrcucock. I have no reason to think otherwise. He came in 
through a civil-service examination. 
Mr. Hin. Now, with your regulations all in force and honestly car- 
ried out, will it not cost the Government more than it will get from 
the whole transaction 4 
Mr. Hircucockx. Do you mean in enforcing the regulations? 
Mr. Hit. Is not the net result of Government interference in the 
matter a pecuniary loss, or will there be any net revenue to the Gov- 
ernment with your regulations carried out? 
Mr. Hircucock. I will say in reply that of course the revenue 
depends on the size of the catch. 
Mr. Hix. But I say, as you propose to make it, with the 15,000 
limitation. 
Mr. Hrrcscock. With the 15,000 limitation of course the revenue 
will be cut down. 
Mr. Exxiort. How many will they get? 
Mr. Hiri. Never mind; let him answer my question. 
The Cuatrman. Suppose you let Mr. Hitchcock answer the question. 
Mr. Hircxcock. | will say frankly it depends largely on the expense 
of the patrol. Aside from that ; 
Mr. Hite. I mean with the faithful carrying out of these regulations 
and the present size of the herd, is there any money in Government 
control of the matter at all? 
Mr. Hircucocs. I doubt if there is very much if we charge against 
the seal service the entire cost of the patrol of the Revenue-Cutter 
Service along the Alaskan coast as well as in Bering Sea. 
Mr. Hin. If a business man was going into it —- 
Mr. Hrrencock. Aside from the expense of maintaining the revenue- 
cutter patrol, the cost to the Government of the fur-seal service is com- 
paratively small, amotinting to only about $30,000a year. Of this sum 
about 612,000 covers the salaries and expenses of the agents employed, 
and the remainder is appropriated to furnish supplies to the natives of 
the islands. The expenses of revenue cutters in Alaskan waters last 
year, I understand, aggregated about $160,000, but only a portion of 
this sum can be properly charged to the seal service; just how much 
I do not know. On the other hand, the amount of revenue derived 
froin the seals has averaged above $200,000 a year. 
Mr. Tawney. Is this patrol within the 60-mile zone; are the revenue 
cutters limited ? 
Mr. Hrrencocx. The main purpose of the patrol is to keep the 
pelagic sealers outside of the 60-mile zone. To accomplish this I pre- 
sume they patrol chiefly along the borders of the zone, but so far as I 
am aware they are not limited to any area. 
Mr. Tawney. How many cutters are there? 
Mr. Hrrcncockx. My impression is that recently the Treasury De- 
partment has not been sending more than one revenue cutter into Bering 
Sea each season to maintain the patrol. Four or five other cutters are 
sent along the Alaskan coast, but they are engaged principally in work 
not connected with the seal service. : 
Mr. Warson. The revenue-cutter service is not under your Depart- 
ment, is ib; it is under the Treasury Department? 
Mr. Hrrencock. It remains under the Treasury Department, but so 
far as its duties pertain to the protection of the Alaskan seal heard, it 
must be governed by the regulations of our Department, just as it 
