INVESTIGATION OF THE EUE-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 583 



is every prospect that the seal herds will not only be preserved but will increase, so 

 as to make them a source of permanent income. 



A draft of a bill covering this matter has been prepared by the Secretary of Com- 

 merce and Labor, and upon request will be submitted to the appropriate committees. 



Wm. H. Tapt. 



The White House, March 15, 1910. 



Do those figures agree with what you submitted; that is, that they 

 are reduced to 134,000? No doubt the Secretary of Commerce and 

 Labor was instrumental in framing this message. Did you give him 

 any of this information ? 



Mr. Clark. I did not, except in so far as my report might have 

 influenced the action. I recommended, as I pointed out recently in 

 my report, that it was unwise to re-lease the islands and that there 

 should be an interregnum of from three to six years; that may have 

 influenced this action. But this is a document, of course, that I had 

 no part in framing. 



The Chairman. Do vou think that is correct, where it says "now 

 reduced to 134,000 ?" 



Mr. Clark. I do not know the basis of those figures. You see, 

 my report for 1909 stated there were 158,522 animals in the herd. I 

 have pointed out that that was an estimate. Other people may have, 

 estimated the herd, too, and disagreed with me. 



The Chairman. What do you mean by saying that you suggested 

 there be an interregnum of from three to six years ? Did you mean 

 the season of killing ? 



Mr. Clark. No; of authority on the islands by which the United 

 States should be supreme and have no lessees; that is, the matter of 

 re-leasing the islands should be deferred for a period of from three to 

 six years, until we could learn what was to become of pelagic sealing. 



The Chairman. I want to ask you a question which I think you 

 answered yesterday, but I simply want to clear it up in my mind.. 

 Did you say that you asked Elliott and Gallagher to take girth meas- 

 urements of the sealskins ? 



Mr. Clark. I protested against the omission of that. I asked that 

 it be taken, and when it was not to be taken by them I asked permis- 

 sion to take it myself. 



The Chairman. That was the only object; I wanted to get it clear 

 in my mind, because I did not quite remember what your answer was. 

 Who are the trustees of Stanford University ? 



Mr. Clark. The president of' the board of trustees is Timothy 

 Hopkins, of San Francisco. I do not know that I can carry those 

 14 names in my head. . 



The Chairman. Do the best you can. 



Mr. Clark. Mr. Charles G. Lathrop is a member of the board, Mr. 

 Horace Davis, Mr. Charles P. Eells, Mr. William Babcock, Mr. 

 Vanderlynn Stow, Mr. Frank Miller, Mr. S. F. Leib, Mr. Thomas 

 Welton Stanford, Mr. Herbert C. Hoover, Mr. Newhall — I can not 

 give his initials — and Mr. Nickel. They are recent appointees, and I 

 have not become familiar with their initials. 



The Chairman. Has D. O. Mills been a trustee at any time? 



Mr. Clark. I do not recall now. His son-in-law, Mr. Whitelaw 

 Reid, was a trustee of the university for a long time and until his 

 death. 



The Chairman. While you were the secretary? 



