698 INVESTIGATION OF THE FUK-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 



Elliott would now have us believe that the Russians made this surgical examination. 

 Such an assumption is not warranted as those who have tried sorting seals know well 

 that the handling of the yearling fur seal is about as easy and safe as the handling of a 

 full-grown wild cat. 



The significant point of this quotation does not, however, lie in what the Russians 

 did with the yearlings. Mr. Elliott is accusing Dr. Jordan of falsifying records. In 

 this quotation Mr. Elliott has omitted the sentence just preceding the reference to the 

 separation of the yearlings. The sentence is very significant. It reads: 



"The quite young seals, that is to say, those only 4 months old, are killed without 

 exception." 



Mr. Elliott indicates the omission by periods, but the omission of this sentence 

 under the circumstances is inexcusable. It fastens upon Mr. Elliott himself the very 

 charge he is seeking to fasten upon Dr. Jordan. 



We have now a third source of information regarding Veniaminof's views. This is 

 a complete translation of the Zapiska article (partly translated by Mr. Elliott) of 

 Veniaminof, made by Prof. Raphael Zon. The details cited in the von Baer article 

 are repeated, and this sentence has a stronger wording: "Small pups which were bom 

 the same summer are killed without discrimination, both male and female." 



This translation by Prof. Zon states further: 



"Under the name of Kotiki, or gray pups, are classed the 4-months-old males and 

 females, which were born in the spring, and which form the largest and almost the 

 entire quantity of seals used in the trade." 



We have from these three sources the complete record of Russian sealing so far as 

 Veniaminof gives it, and it is unanimous at every point in its assertion that females 

 were killed — "cows," "young females," "female pups." 



This is what Dr. Jordan affirmed. It is Mr. Elliott who denies and misstates the 

 record. 



There is still another authority on Russian conditions, and Mr. Elliott refers to it, 

 again finding ground for a charge of falsification against Dr. Jordan. This is the 

 Russian special agent, Yanovsky, who investigated the herd in 1821. Mr. Elliott 

 cites the translation of letter 6, containing the Yanovsky reference, at page 58 of vol- 

 ume 1, of the Proc. of the Paris Tribunal, and finds Dr. Jordan's translation in dis- 

 agreement with it. Mr. Elliott should know, as Dr. Jordan did, that there is a sec- 

 ond translation of this letter on page 323 of volume 8 of the same proceedings. It is 

 a much better translation, hence its use by Dr. Jordan. Ic is the translation used in 

 the British case, and the difference between it and the translation in the American 

 case, used by Mr. Elliott, is not a thing for which Dr. Jordan is responsible. To 

 charge Dr. Jordan witli falsification of records because of this difference is without 

 warrant; it is in itself a species of falsification. 



As to what Yanovsky said: We may note that letter 6 does not give Yanovsky's 

 report and apparently the report is not in existence. What it gives is the substance 

 of the report condensed into a brief paragraph. Yanovsky is criticising the Russian 

 method of killing. He affirms that "only cows, seecatehie (bulls), and half seecatchie, 

 are left to propagate the species." Calling attention to the fact that "only the old 

 seals are left," he adds, "if any of the young breeders (bachelors) are not killed by the 

 autumn, they are sure to be killed the following spring." The British translation 

 uses "young breeders;" the American "bachelors." Any one who reads the passage 

 (quoted in full at the top of page 2 of the Elliott charge) can readily decide which is 

 the more reasonable version, "young breeders" or "bachelors." As a matter of fact, 

 the word "bachelors" renders the passage meaningless. 



But the real decision in the matter comes back to Mr. Elliott, and is found in his 

 Monograph, already referred to. Yanovsky's report was made in 1821. In the third 

 paragraph from the end of page 140 (Elliott's Monograph and translation of Venaminof ), 

 are these words: "In 1822, C. Moorayvev, governor, ordered that young seals should 

 be spared each year for breeding." This action may be assumed to be the direct 

 result of Yanovsky's representation. If Yanovsky reported that bachelors were too 

 closely killed, autumn and spring, it is strange that the governor did not order 

 bachelors to be spared. Mr. Elliott translated the passage in 1872-74. If he meant 

 'bachelors ' he should not have said 'young seals.' Young seals mean animals of both 

 sexes, and that is plainly what Yanovsky intended to say. The British translator 

 makes it 'young breeders,' meaning animals of both sexes." 



The second Russian authority, therefore, like the first, affirms the killing of females. 

 It was only when this method of killing brought the herd several times to the verge 

 of ruin, especially in 1834, that the Russians changed their method to one in which 

 only the superfluous young males were killed. From the inauguration of this policy 

 by the Russians after 1835 the herd grew and prospered. 



It is respectfully submitted that Mr. Elliott has not substantiated his charge of 

 falsification of records against Dr. Jordan; and that he has not proved his assertion 



