The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-02-01

b:Iiecuy remember that in the co,rse &c
HIS travels he had seen 4 pbaan; "a
aug he obligingly undeceiyed ne of 10.
selgar error that there Is b,,t orc
u .nat species at time, assuring us thew
mere not uncommon in Tpner Eerri
hitherto he had found the most ,ss,; p.
listeners. His dreamy fancies had trars y
ported US beyond the Ignorant nrasa a.la !.
put Wnen he went on to affirm thai be baj
actually sailed through the legs nf tba eau 1n
Iossus OF Rhodes, it really became neces-
sary 70 make a stand. A youth present
ti,au pold 70 assure the gentleman that
there must be q mistake. when our baaS
was obliging enough to concede this ,, ,,eto
mat the flgure was indeed a little dam,
ased, put THIS opposition did not seem tn
sS.agger nln at all, for he proceeded with
ms tables as compIacently as ever
low nave made stand at Elliott,s as.
s st ina. seal pup will sink like a
s.une, ana ne complacently comedies that
IL VIII mop around q little" The eytrama
candor of this concession s,,rnr;~sd my M
aiter MS positive assertions to members IF
trary. ~ 'no eoli-
Mr. Elliott resided long time on the
Aieutian islands. He is a skillad art;st
ana DIS faclie brush and ready pencil have
auoea Inuch to the. pictorial information
ABOUT 1ur seals. and all other marine ami.
mails. His illustrations in various nnhl;-
catlons OF the Smithsonian institution and
the United States fish commission are
peautiIui, true to nature and artisticaIIv
Drawn. As an artist. Mr. Elliott exceIs.
OUT ne Is not naturalist or a scientist His
worst enemy never accused him of being
s.leh.ist. true science seeks after the
truth by patient research and courteous
discussion. Mr.. Elliott is simplv a dog
maflst. making his dogmatic assertions in
a VICIOUS manner, and substitutes cIamor
Tor argument He had PROMULGATED the
theory that all the fur seals of the North
Pacific resort to the Pribilof islands and
lhey must be protected, else they will be
eAIerhinated. This theory was asserted
III " ashlngton in season and out of sea-
son, and backed up with all the powerful
influence of the Alaska Commercial Com
pany. which, like a huge octonus. has
spread over the city of Washington. send
ing Its snake-like arms into every depart
ment, from the capitol to the White
House. Everything is under the baleful
ent monopoly of the PribiIof islands its
successor
1t would never do 10 admit any other
theory about seals, and when in nv report
to Professor Baird in 1880 about Neah -bay
mention the fact about the seal pups being
there every season, while the great herds are
slowy knowing north, a fact which proved
further investigation, the monopoly be-
came alarmed. l never have succeeded in
all these twenty years in having this in
vestigatlon. | suggested to Professor Baird
TO have blank forms printed, to be given to
the captain of every vessel bound to China
or Australia, these to be hlled by the cap
tains il they met with any seals in the
ocean, showing date, latitude and longi-
tude, and such observations as could be
made. l thought that in a series of years
the observations collected by these cap
tains could be collected and condensed,
as Lieutenant Maury collected the log
books OF vessels for many wears, and from
them deduced his valuable charts. In
this way | thought that desirable results
could be reached regarding the habits of
fur seals after they leave the Pribilof
islands. i was particularly DESTROYS to
find out where the little pups are born,
which are seen every season. But such
would be fatal to the theories
of Mr.. Elliott. He makes his unsup-
ported assertions against my proved facts,
and the influence of the octopus monopoly
is sufficient to stop all further investiga-
ton. Had Professor Baird lived this in
vestigation could have been made simply
as question of natural history regarding
the fur seal. The fact that all these
years this investigation never has been
commenced shows that | am correct in
is not for the interest of the seal monopoly
to have this myth shown up. What has
caused the present commotion and frantic
clamor OF Mr.. Elliott is that two years ago,
when the Senate committee on relations
with Canada were here, they sent for me
to appear before them at Tacoma and tell
what ] knew about fisheries. Then [ told
the senators about my reports of 1850 and
1858, which Senator Hoar said they had
never seen. They had been kept in
the background, and only Mr.. Eli
otis report was produced whenever
wanted any information about
fur seals. No information was permitted
except that relating to the Pribilof
On their return To Washington
the senators found that was correct and
Mr.. Elliott was called upon to rise and ex-
plain, and Secretary Blaine got after him
also. This is the whole animus of the
case. / only have wanted to inquire into
the cause of fact regarding seals, which
| have proved, but thus far | am only met
with clamor. When the truth is known
about fur seals, when the people become
aroused to understand the great wrong
done and doing to our own citizens
by driving all our fishermen TO Vic
toria to seek protection under the
British flag, which is refused them
by our government, the people, or some of
them at least, will pause and ask: Is this
L.
ment TO iniure our citizens for the benefit
of monopoly? Ii has been shown by
Bancroft as well as by the government re-
ports, that for more than fifty years Boring
sea has been an open sea trequented by
hundreds of our whale ships. | say with
out fear of contradiction that where our
whalemen go our fishermen have right
to go and be protected. The Russian
American Company, with its headquarters
Al Sitka. petitioned the emperor of Russia,
saws Bancroft, TO send heet
TO Beripg sea and drive oil
American vessels. But the ear
refused The Alaska Commercial Company
succeeded to the RusSian-American Com
pany and they petltioned the government
Of the United States to drive of American
and other vessels from Boring sea, and
they have succeeded in inducing the
American government, the government OF
A land of free men, to do that which the
emperor of Russia has refused to do for
his subjects, and instead of encouraging
the fishermen of the North PACING as they
30 those of the North Atlantic. our
fishermen have been har led with revenue
cutters. their vessels seized and connscated,
not for the good of the public, not to
encourage our citizens TO develop the
resources of the North Pacific but simply
10 CRAFTY the greed of n monopoly TO
procure articles of luxury for tine rich
Where is that fine Meet of fishing vessels
which came around Cape Horn with every
prospect of success IN their vocation OF
taking the products OF the ocean of every
Sind as a reward for their honest and
labors and bringing their cargoes
10 the ports OF Puget sound2 OF that fine
-ieet not one remains; all have been forced
1nder the British flag, for under its foster
nc and protecting care, Ameri-
rams 80 into American waters