Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1892-02-09
ENDANGERED.
The Seal Industry Threatened
With Complete Ruin
BY the Present Disastrous
Methods of Killing.


Information Cleaned from the Report of
Special Agent ElIiott-DepIorabIe Com
dition OF the Rookeries rs Compared
with Those About Twenty Years Since
All should BE Known.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 9.-The Behring
sea commissioners, who are now in this
city, will be furnished in a few days
with very interesting report to be used
as basis for arranging settlement of
the long standing controversy. The
senate. on motion of Senator Morgan,
recently called ON the United States
treasury for certain information con-
tanned in the report of Special Agent
Elliott, which has been carefully guard
ed from the public by the state depart
ment officials for more than year.
Professor Elliott's report was submit
ted to Secretary Window on Nov. l.
1890, and will probably be sent to the
senate during the present week. The re-
port contains the following information:
First the number of fur seals
on the breeding grounds and rookeries
of the Pribylov islands during the sea-
son of 1890 were only $4,000 while in
1S72-74 he found thereon 5000, 600 in
round numbers, a decrease since 1872 of
more than two-thirds Of the herd
Secondhand the number of the kill
able seals or young males (Which the
law only allows the lessees to slaughter)
was not more than 100, 900 all told, in
stead of some 200, 900 as found on the
hauling grounds of these islands in 1872.
Third-That such driving on the land
since 1882 and hunting in the water
since 1888 by pelagic sealers were and are
the two factors at work in creating this
remarkable shrinkage of the herd
Fourth-That unless the methods of
killing on land are reformed, and the
work of pelagic sealing stopped i'll tie
waters of Behring sea and certain area
of the north Pacific ocean during the
breeding season of the fur seals, the
ruin of the fur sealing industry is close
at hand.
Fifth-That therefore, all killing for
commercial purposes on land be stopped
on the island permitting, however, the
killing of 5000 or 1000 food seals fer
natives only, for seven years from date,
and that the pelagic fleet be duly
checked, as above cited, at the same
time.
Sxth-That unless these checks are at
once applied to operations both ON land
and in the sea it will be useless to at
tempt to save that herd from ruin by en-
forcing only one of them.
Seventh-That in order that the truth
of what he declares be at once established
a joint commission of British Russian and
American experts be invited to visit the
seal islands and report fairly upon the
condition of affairs.
On the strength of Mr.. Elliott's recon-
mendations the existing modus yiyendi
was adopted, and a joint committee was
appointed. 1t visited the islands last
summer, and its members are now here,
ready to submit their view of Mr.. Elli-
otis work. 1t is stated that the com
mission agrees in finding the number of
seals diminished, as Mr.. Elliott said that
they were, but that steps necessary to
prevent our fur seal herd from destruc-
tion by pelagic fleet, which Mr.. Elliott
and the American commissioners deem
imperative, are not thought necessary
by the British agents, Sir George Ba-
den Powell and DIR. Dawson.
Mr.. Elliott's report is an elaborate and
itemized review of the very detail of the
land operations and condition of the
breeding grounds of the fur seal islands
Tor lSyU as COntTaSleu WIN Gne COnulllOn
of affairs in 1S12-'74 when everything
was in fine form and the number of seals
was large.
1t is illustrated by fifty-eight p'H-
lures, showing the present condition
the rookeries and fifteen maps, in which
the contrasts between the surveys which
Lieutenant Washburn Maynard, of tNe
United States navy, and himself maze
in 1874 and his surveys of 1890 are
strikingly brought out.
There is disposition on the part of
the two governments to conduct the G =
aminations OF the reports of experts IN
secret 1t is suggested that if the truth
is wanted and both sides are desrous of
of doing the right thing the most desir-
able way would be to publish all the
reports on the subject and allow the
naturalists of both countries to partici-
pate in the discussion.
The English commissioners made a
more extended examination than did
their American colleagues. If the real
object of the investigation is to save the
seals, too much light can not be had ON
the subject.