INVESTIGATION" OF THE FUR-SEAL INDUSTRY OF ALASKA. 751 



Mr. McGuire. Well, I am asking you now. I do not want to refer 

 to that testimony. 



Mr. Elliott. Yes; I received substantial remuneration for my 

 services after they were over. 



Mr. McGuire. How long were you in the employ at that time of 

 the Alaska Commercial Co. ? 



Mr. Elliott. I could not have been in their " employ," as you call 

 it, and I object to that term, because I was not hired by them. I was 

 engaged in that particular business not much over six weeks, or two 

 months. 



Mr. McGuire. You do not mean to say you imposed yourself on 

 them ? 



Mr. Elliott. No ; they asked me to act as umpire. 



Mr. McGuire. And you received remuneration? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes, sir; but it was never mentioned before I went 

 up; that is, no mention of compensation between us. 



Mr. McGuire. Do you not regard that as being an employee ? 



Mr. Elliott. No; an employee is hired; an employee signs a con- 

 tract, stipulating just what he is to do, and his terms. 



Mr. McGuire. But this company requested you to go, did they not ? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes; they asked me. 



Mr. McGuire. And in obedience to that request you went? 



Mr. Elliott. Yes; in obedience to the verbal request. 



Mr. McGuire. And as a result of their request and your compliance 

 with it you accepted remuneration ? 



Mr. Elliott. Certainly. That is perfectly true, and I did that. 



Mr. McGuire. And in your judgment that is not employment? 



Mr. Elliott. Certainly not; because no man hired me; no man 

 directed me, and I signed no contract. I was my own master. 



Mr. McGuire. How long was it before you went to the islands 

 again after 1876? 



The Chairman. Was that the only time you did anything at all 

 for that company? 



Mr. Elliott. That is the only real service — no; there was one 

 more. There was a dispute between Gen. Otis, who was then chief 

 special agent in charge of the islands, and 



The Chairman (interposing). My only idea was to clear that up. 



Mr. Elliott. Yes; there was one other. I came in once again, as 

 umpire, in 1882 or 1883. Gen. Otis, chief special agent of the islands, 

 got into a dispute with the company's manager, Dr. Mclntyre, and 

 it was so serious that either one or the other had to go. So the direc- 

 tors came to me again and asked me to act as umpire. I took Gen. 

 Otis's part, and Mclntyre went to Europe and took a "rest" for 

 three years. 



The Chairman. Is that the only time ? 



Mr. Elliott. Those are the only two services I ever rendered to 

 the Alaska Commercial Co., and I never did anything else for them. 

 I never wrote a letter for them; never crossed the threshold of a 

 department for them; never interviewed or appeared before a com- 

 mittee for them; or, in any way whatever, had I any knowledge of 

 their business in Washington or in any way whatever did they ever 

 consult me about their business in Washington. They had a resident 

 attorney here, an able, competent man, Gen. Jeffries, who attended 

 to all of their departmental business. They also had a resident agent 



