434 INVESTIGATION OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 



company had five efficient, intelligent, and experienced representa- 

 tives in charge of their interests while the Government had two 

 representatives; and I do not wish this statement at all to reflect 

 upon the Government's representatives. But they were not in the 

 majority, and therefore I considered that the control of the leasing 

 company was supreme to that extent — that they could outvote and 

 outnumber the Government's representatives, and it was on that 

 ground that I objected to the releasing of the islands and to the con- 

 tinuation of the dual control of the lessees and the Government in 

 charge of the herd. 



The Chairman. Then did you consider this was a case of majority 

 in numbers or of physical force, or what is your idea about that ? 



Mr. Clark. It was not a matter of physical force because the 

 relations were amicable enough. The company was obeying the 

 conditions of its lease and there was no real ground for trouble, and 

 the real point of my criticism in that case was with reference to the 

 future. As I point out here in my report, with a declining herd this 

 situation did not cut any figure. The desire of the lessees was to get 

 every skin they could, with a declining catch and a rising price; but 

 the herd needing fewer males every year, this was a matter of no 

 particular moment. If, however, pelagic sealing should stop and 

 the herd begin to go up, the same forces would be at work and would 

 occasion a result detrimental to the interests of the herd. 



The Chairman. Will you turn to page 8S8 of Appendix A, which 

 is part of your printed report, and on that page the following appears: 



As the end of the killing season approaches it is plain that no seal is really too small 

 to be killed. 



a. id on page 866 of Appendix A you say: 



In the eagerness to see that no possible bachelor escapes, the edges of the rookeries 

 are encroached upon and cows included in the drives. 



Mr. Clark. Yes, sir. 



The Chairman. That is all true, is it ? 



Mr. Clark. Yes, sir; subject to the explanation which I want 

 to be sure to make. 



The Chairman. Yes; you say that is true. What explanation 

 will you make as to that ? 



Mr. Clark. In the first place, with regard to the taking of cows 

 in the drives, after the 25th of July the breeding season breaks up, 

 the older bulls withdraw, and the young bulls push their way into 

 the breeding grounds. There is a period of breaking up which 

 causes a certain amount of mingling of the seals; that is, the bachelors 

 are not held oft' by the barrier of adult bulls, and they come closer 

 to the breeding ground. Later on, the bachelors mix in with the 

 cows in those drives, occasionally cows are brought in. This remark 

 was based on the fact that there were about 8 or 10, or perhaps as 

 many as 20, cows in this drive. 



The Chairman. Were they killed? 



Mr. Clark. They were not killed and they were carefully excluded. 

 I want to bear testimony to the skill of those natives in distinguishing 

 those animals, because they were not killed except in accidental cases. 

 I do not know of any, but there might have been accidental cases. 



The Chairman. Yes. I did not see that in your report. Now, 

 is that your explanation of that matter? 



