The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1893-08-19
AGAINST TNCLE Sam.
Opinion of an Expert on the Beh-
ring Sea Decision.
OUR GOVERNMENT TIE LOSER.

The Decision. Says This Expert, Gives
the Poachrrs of other Nations, More
Than our own and Greet Britain, an
Advantage over Honest sealers.
WASHINGTON, Aug 1Q-The recent de-
csion of the Behring sea tribunal Is still
under consideration in official and legal
circles, aud the opinion that the United
States will profit by 10 is not altogether
unanimous. A leading lawyer, who has
for the past twenty-five years made a
study Of the subject Of seal life in Behring
ser 8 related to the commercial interests
Of ne country, has sent thefollowing opin-
ION to promineu New York stocbe5,Oer
IN the North American CONNIE. clal com
pany, which has the contract for taking
seal on the islands of st. George and st.
Paul
"Io begin with, the English won and
the United States lost every point of the
contention submitted to the arbitration.
The r ilations providing for the restric-
tion OF pelagic sealing, such as they are,
are all the consolation that is afforded us
for the total defeat of our contention and
the loss of our prestige and standing among
nations by having been found guilty Of
presenting an unfoundcd claim.
"Pror to this award the jurisdiction as
serted by the legislative and executive
/ branches of this government over Alaskan
waters was not disputed by any power ex-
| cept Great Britain. The right of our gov
ernment to protect seal life and control
the fur seal industry was concealed but by
| this award the waters of Alaska are de-
cided to be the high seas and thrown open
to every pocher in Christendom, except
our own and the English.
"Our right of property in the seals
which are born and reared on our soil is
destroyed if the seals are found three
miles from the shore, and they become the
lawful prize of any poacher who sails
under any flag other than that of England
or the United States, for it will not be
contended by anybody that these regula-
tions bind any nation which was not a
party to the arbitration.
Not only that, any English, Canadian
or American poacher who flies the flag Of
any nation other than that of England or
our own can capture seals at all seasons in
every part of Behring sea where he can
find them up to within three miles Of the
rookeries or other coasts to the islands or
the mainland of Alaska,
"The prohibition against pelagic sealing
north of the thirty-fifth parallel, and
within the sixty miles circle, only applies
to the English and our own pOaChers, and
even they will pay as little attention to it
as they did to the attempted prohibition
OF the modus vivendi, which resulted in
placing greater number of pelagic seal
skins on the market each year than ever
before
ut would be difficult to prove that a
given vessel when seized was within the
interdicted circle; the almost constant
fogs and olouded skies Of Behring sea pre-
vent an approach to accuracy as to a ships
position, and the accused would have this
benefit of the doubt
Firearms are prohibited but shotgunl
are permitted Now, rifles are no good il
sealinR and shotguns are used almost ex
] clusively. The explanation of this i.
simple. Seals shot at long range with
rifles invariably sink before the hunter
can reach them, but shotguns can be useC
at such short range that the seals ar,
easily caught before they have time t.
t sink. Therefore the prohibition of fire
arms does not accomplish its purpose if an
exception is made in the case of shotguns
, The result of this arbitration seems to bt
the loss Of everything we claimed and the
surrender of even the right of poachinl
10 outsiders"