Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1889-12-26

The Seal Industry.

n ltc HtCIctoEy W tuC ttCuSuis CSShhS W.
lie much inclined to retain discretion
In himself, when entering into engage.
ments with other people on the part OF
the United States, SO that the terms Of
the engagement may be modified at the
will Of the United States as expressed by
himself. This may be very good for the
United States II certainly adds greatly
TO the power of the secretary and to his
opportunity to make gain for himself, II
he SO inclines. In the silver bill, OF
which the secretary recommended the
adoption by Congress, he proposes that
there shall he a reservation Of power In
the secretary to suspend or modify its
operation whenever 1t shall seem to him
proper to do so In order TO defeat com
binations against the interest Of the
nation.
In the terms Of the proposition now
put forth for the leasing Of the sealing
grounds of Alaska there Is provision
that, for the first year Of the twenty
years grant, the catch of seals shall be
limited to 10000, and that the number
In subsequent years shall be fixed by the
secretary of the treasury. This is
power reserved TO the secretary which
he did not have under the present lease
and 1t is one which apparently will
greatly aid the present lessees In
securing renewal of the lease
since any one inclined to bid for
the lease would I've expected to do so
on the basis of 10000 catch ; whereas
the limit of the present catch Is 100, 900.
The company now enjoying the lease
can better afford to take the risk of hav-
ing the 10000 limit raised than could n
new company, since 1t has all its cstab-
lishment for the business on hand. The
fact that the authorized catch is re-
duced from 100000 to 10000 when
new lease is to be made, and that only
for one year, is fair ground for sus-
picion that the secretary of the treasury
desires TO aid the present company In
getting renewal of the lease ut the ex-
pense of the government n suspicion
which is strengthened by the demand
made for the deposit Of 100000 as SC.
curity for the fulfilment Of the con-
tract, which Is new requirement and
not calculated to increase the humber of
the competitors for the prize.
That it is a great prize is unquestion-
able. The present company is known
to have made an enormous amount from
its monopoly. At present II seems to be
engaged In very natural effort to dep,
reciate the value of the grant, claiming
that there is IA falling off in the number
Of seals visiting the islands. But as they
have had no trouble In taking as many
as they were authorized to take and asthe
count made two years ago by the United
States agent Of the number OF breeding
reals returning to ST. Paul and st. George
islands mounted up to over six and II
half millions, there is small probability
that the supply will give out so long as
no more than 100000 seals are permitted
to be taken annually. 'r~ss
There il no good reason why the United
States should desire to favor tho present
1essees of the seal islands ; but there il
reason why the lease should not be re-
newed to the same parties, without ut
least stipulation that the skins shall
be sold within the country, instead Of
being all shipped to London, us they
now are. 1t IL a shame that this
product Of our own country should
not be able to reach its con-
sumers until after it has passed
through the hands Of foreign agents and
been saddled with costs Of insurance,
commission freight and other charges
that SWEET It's cost twenty per cent. in
the home market. Aud when the
skins are dyed in England they have
to bring from the consumer here the
further cost of the duty.
There is no reason why the seal skin
catch should not be sold in this country,
and this should be a requirement of the
grant. Furthermore, there does not seem
to b, any sufficient reason why
the skins should not be taken
and sold for the account of the
government. 1t is business which
necessarily must be monopoly in order
that the seals may be preserved. 1t is
one also which is subject to the invasion
OF poaching vessels that are said to de-
stroy as many seals as they capture. 1t
IL necessary for the United States to
keep revenue cutters patrolling the
Alaskan seas 10 preserve the seals.
1t seems, then, to be proper for the gov
ernment TO control the business which
Is monopoly and which it must pro-
tect at so much cost and instead of
selling for twenty years the privilege of
taking seals it would seem TO be better
for II to enter into annual contracts for
the taking of the years catch and its