580 INVESTIGATION OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 



Mr. McGuire. That is what I mean. Now, how many could the 

 department have taken, in your judgment, for food purposes? 



Mr. Clark. I have figured out that it would require a mhiimum of 

 5,000 seals to give the natives of the Pribilof Islands a ration of a 

 little over a pound a day for the year. I gave my advice that 5,000 

 seals as a minimum should be killed. I also called attention to the 

 fact that in the modus vivendi of 1891-1893 Great Britain agreed 

 that a normal food killing was 7,500, and therefore it seems to me 

 that under the law the Department of Commerce should have taken 

 a minimum of 5,000 and from that up to a maximum of 7,500. 



Mr. McGuire. Then the Government has lost, under the present 

 law, assuming that we could have killed without criticism and legally 

 7,500, by reason of former computations as to what it would take 

 for food, 5,000 seals, because of the action of the department in 1913 ? 



Mr. Clark. Four thousand five hundred. That is the difference 

 between the 3,000 which was fixed as a minimum and the 7.500 

 which was fixed as a normal food killing by the modus vivendi. 



Mr. McGuire. Now, we lost the price of the 4,500 seal skins, and 

 that would have been quite sufficient food for the natives, and it 

 would not have been necessary to have furnished for them salt meats 

 and canned goods ? 



Mr. Clark. Yes, sir. 



Mr. McGuire. And in addition to that, it would have furnished a 

 limited supply of food for the foxes and fur-bearing animals on the 

 islands. 



Mr. Clark. Yes, sir. 



Mr. McGuire. And in these three respects, under proper regula- 

 tions from the department, the Government would have saved money? 



Mr. Clark. Yes, sir. 



Mr. McGuire. How much time have you spent on the islands, 

 all told ? 



Mr. Clark. In ] 896 I arrived on St. George Island on July 8, and 

 I was there and on St. Paul until the 21st day of October. Next 

 year I arrived on St. George Island on the Sth of June and remained 

 there and on St. Paul until the middle of August. In 1909 I was 

 there a month, beginning with the 12th of Jul} 7 and extending through 

 the height of the season. In 1912 I was there from about the 12th 

 of June until the 9th of September, and in 1913 I was on the islands 

 from the 13th of July until the Sth of August. That is five seasons, 

 throughout the height of the season. I think that is a total of about 

 9 full months and IS days. 



Mr. McGuire. Do you know of anyone else who has been on those 

 islands as much as you have ? 



Mr. Clark. I do not know exactly. I should imagine that was a 

 pretty good allowance of time. I do not know of anybody, except 

 the agents, perhaps; they have been there a longer time. 



Mr. McGuire. Well, I simply wanted to know the length of time 

 that the various representatives of the Government have been there. 

 Now, what would be your recommendation, if any, to the department 

 and to Congress as to what should be done 3 



The Chairman. It seems to me that he went into that the other 

 day. 



Mr. McGuire. Well, not very liberally; he made one or two sug- 

 gestions. What would be your recommendation as to what should 



