208 INVESTIGATION OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 



escaped Dr. Jordan's notice unless he was physically blind. He was 

 not, but he actually shut his eyes to the illegal and injurious work. 



On July 24, 1913, the native sealers who took part in this "load- 

 ing" of those small yearling skins in 1896-97, testified to the agents 

 of the House Committee on Expenditures in the Department of 

 Commerce that this season of 1896 was the first one in which they 

 ever received orders to take yearling seals, and that they have been 

 taking them ever since and "loading" them also. (See pp. 93-100, 

 Kept. Agents House Committee on Expenditures, Dept.of Com., 

 Aug. 31, 1913.) 



Dr. Jordan, however, was not content with merely ignoring the 

 fact that in 1896 he had permitted the lessees to kill more than 

 8,000 yearling seals in open flagrant violation of the Carlisle rules 

 of May 14, 1896; he went further. On page 206 of his Final Report 

 Fur Seal Investigations, part 1, 1898, he has this studied statement 

 of untruth made in review of the figures which show the daily kill- 

 ing made during June and July, 1896, and also those of 1897, to wit: 



In this year (1896) more normal driving was permitted, but the increased quota is 

 not wholly due to this fact * * *. 



The quota of 1897 was left indefinite under the direction of the commission, and 

 the driving was planned with a view of making the quota represent the full product 

 of the hauling grounds. For the same reason the killing was continued into August 

 (to Aug. 11). 



This is the language which Dr. Jordan uses to conceal the fact 

 that in 1896 the lessees were permitted to illegally take 8,000 small 

 yearling seals, and in 1897 over 7,000 of them in turn, to get the 

 "full product of the hauling grounds:" 



Why did Dr. Jordan and his associates in 1896 and 1897 fail to publish a table show- 

 ing the sizes and weights of fur-seal skins as they were taken from the 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 

 year old seals? 



Because if they had, they would have been obliged to publish the fact that the 

 lessees took 8,000 yearling sealskins in 1896, under their eyes, and in violation of the 

 law and regulations published May 14, 1896. And again, that over 7,000 yearling 

 skins were taken by the lessees under their eyes, and with their permission in 1897, 

 in violation of those Carlisle rules of 1896. 



The lack of attention given to the subject of the sizes and weights 

 of fur-seal skins which is so marked in the preliminary reports of the 

 Jordan-Thompson fur-seal commission's work, and its final report, 

 1898, is due to the fact that the lessees were killing yearling seals on 

 St. Paul Island in 1896, when Jordan was there in full control of the 

 business. 



These seal-island lessees (D. O. Mills, United States Senator Elkins, 

 and the Liebes, Isaac and Hermann), could not get their quota allowed 

 them of 30,000 2, 3, and 4 year old seals, they unlawfully took, there- 

 fore, 8,000 yearling seals to fill up the number. They took them in 

 spite of the regulations ordered May 14, 1896, by Secretary Carlisle 

 prohibiting that work. 



If Jordan and his associates had measured and weighed those skins 

 as taken, they would have made a record (which they desired to con- 

 ceal, and did then conceal), very plain, and self-evident of this illegal 

 slaughter by these lessees. 



That is the reason why the authentic and official tables of 1873-74, 

 which show the size and weight of yearling seals and their skins, were 

 not alluded to or questioned by Dr. Jordan. He found them accu- 

 rate, and beyond his power to question. He then ignored the whole 



