INVESTIGATION" OF THE FUK-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 545 



Mr. Clark. He had this control, if I may be permitted to develop 

 it consecutively: the Department of the Treasury tied Dr. Jordan's 

 hands up by its voluntary fixing of the quota of 1897 at 15,000 

 seals 



The Chairman. Just a moment, there. Is not this plain and 

 clear — you have said this is a correct quotation — that it was left to 

 their discretion, and he was at the head of the commission, was he 

 not? 



Mr. Clark. I did not find the reference to which you called 

 attention. 



The Chairman. I made a mistake in the identification. It is not 

 in Hearing No. 1. 



Mr. Elliott. But Hearing No. 1 carries it. 



The Chairman. But it is at a different page. I made a mistake in 

 describing that as at page 97 in Hearing No. 1 . It is in the statement 

 submitted by Elliott at that page. 



Mr. Clark. The statement is that "The quota to be left to our 

 discretion, and every opportunity was given the lessees to take the 

 full product of the hauling grounds." 



In 1896 a quota of 30,000 was granted to the North American 

 Commercial Co., and they took it in that year. We had no control 

 whatever and had nothing to do with that killing. I spoke of an 

 agreement between Dr. Jordan and Prof. Thompson, which was 

 that a diminished quota in 1897 would be a measure of decline. We 

 had agreed upon two points, first, that a recount of pups would be a 

 measure of decline in the breeding herd. The quota of 1897 was to 

 be the second measure of decline, decline in the bachelor herd; but 

 the Treasury Department fixed the quota for 1897 at 15,000 seals. 

 That begged the question. It assumed there would be only half as 

 many taken on the Pribilof Islands in 1897 as in 1896. That was 

 immediately noted by Canada, and Mr. James Macoun, the Canadian 

 representative, was ordered north on the company's steamer on the 

 22d of May. I was ordered to accompany him. It was to be there 

 at the first killing. 



The Chairman. On what page is that ? 



Mr. Clark. Page 97 of this Elliott statement. Mr. Macoun and I 

 went to the Pribilof Islands to watch that killing, and immediately it 

 became evident to us, that the 15,000 limit would be reached long 

 before the hauling grounds were exhausted. If we had to stop the 

 killing arbitrarily at any point in the season, and there were left 100 

 killable seals, the British commission would say we aibitrarily 

 limited the quota, and therefore it did not indicate a measure of 

 decline in the herd. He began at once to object to the killing because 

 with the limited quota less of the larger animals were taken. It was 

 evident that we were going to get into trouble with it, and I wrote 

 immediately to Dr. Jordan, and he asked the Treasury Department 

 to laise the limit of the quota, making it indefinite, and letting him 

 allow the lessees to duplicate their killing of 1896. We kept them 

 driving and killing until it was past the season in which they closed 

 the killing in 1896, and we did it in order that the British commis- 

 sioners might not say we had arbitrarily diminished the quota. We 

 took 20,000 seals, and then the British commission agreed with us 

 that the difference between 20,000 and 30,000 was a measure of 

 decline in the herd. If we had been stopped at the 15,000 quota in 



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