548 INVESTIGATION" OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 



present situation, and I wish to discuss it at some length. The state- 

 ment is this : 



It is a fact of indisputable record that the Eussians never killed or disturbed the 

 female seals on the rookeries of St. Paul and St. George Islands from, start to finish of 

 their possession of them. 



Mr. McGuire. Whose statement is that? 



Mr. Clark. That statement is made in the report of Messrs. Henry 

 W. Elliott and Andrew F. Gallagher, for 1913. 



Mr. McGuire. You may proceed. 



Mr. Clark. The importance of this statement will be recalled to 

 members here if you have in mind the speech which Senator Benj amin 

 F. Shively made on the bill in 1912, I think on August 15, in which 

 he took as his thesis the fact that the Russians never killed anything 

 but bachelors. 



The Chairman. If this is merely to be a criticism or correction of 

 Senator Shively's remarks, I do not see why we should go into that. 



Mr. McGuire. I suggest Mr. Clark be allowed to make his statement 

 in his own way. 



The Chairman. I do not wish to curtail him, but I would like to 

 do it as expeditiously as possible. When we strike anything that 

 looks to me as if it might have no bearing, I am going to call attention 

 to it. 



Mr. McGuire. But this has a bearing. I have gone over the 

 matter with him, and his own statement is the best evidence of that. 



The Chairman. I suppose the best way to get along is by going 

 ahead. 



Mr. Clark. Also a speech by Hon. William S. Goodwin, in the 

 House, in which he made the statement that the Russians held the 

 breeding grounds and female seals in reverential awe. These two 

 speeches, it seemed to me, influenced the act of Congress which 

 established the present closed season. I want to develop an answer 

 to this " indisputable fact No. I." 



Mr. Stephens. Is that disputed by anyone? 



Mr. Clark Yes. I wish very much to dispute it. 



The author of this statement, at page 58, is Mr. Henry W. Elliott. 

 I have here a book known as "The Seal Islands of Alaska," of which 

 Mr. Henry W. Elliott is the author. At page 140 of this book we 

 have a translation by the author of Veniaminof's article from the 

 Zapieskie, published at St. Petersburg in 1842, Volume II, page 

 568 fF. This indisputable fact says that the Russians never killed 

 females. On page 140 of Mr. Elliott's book occurs this statement: 



From this time (St. George, 1808, and St. Paul, 1810) up to 1822, taking of fur seals 

 progressed on both islands without economy and with slight circumspection, as if 

 there was a race in killing for the most skins. Cows were taken in the drives and 

 killed, and were also driven from the rookeries to places where they were slaughtered. 



Mr. McGuire. Who made that statement? 



Mr. Clark. Mr. Henry W. Elliott is translating it here from 

 Veniaminof. 



The Chairman. Does not that sound pretty much like the language 

 in your report ? 



Mr. Clark. I do not see any similarity to it. I never mentioned 

 the killing of cows — that is, in my report. 



