Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-11
KILLING THE SEALS
A Presidential Message and Core
spondence on the Subject.
INFORMATION FURNISHED TO CONGRESS
Insufficiency Of the Present Regu-
Iation Clearly Set Forth.
LARGE NUMBER OF LETTERS


The President today sent the following
message to Congress on the Bering sea
question:
To the Senate:
On the Sth day Of January I received
copy of the following Senate resolution:
Resolved, That the President be request
ed, if not incompatible with the public in
terests, to communicate to the Senate all
reports, documents and other papers. In
Guiding logs of vessels, relating to the en-
forcement by the United States and Great
Britain of the sealing regulations, In
accordance with the decision OF the
tribunal of arbitration convened at
Paris, and the resolution (regulationsO un-
der which said reports are required TO be
made as well as relating to the number or
seals taken during the season OF 1871 py
pelagic hunters and hy the lessees OF the
Pribilof and Commander Islands; also re-
lating to the steps which may have been
taken to extend the said regulations to the
Asiatic waters of the North Pacific ocean
and Bering sea, and to secure the concur
renee of-other nations in said regulations;
and further, all papers not heretofore pup
lished, including communications Of the
agent of the United States before SAID
tribunal at Paris, relating to the claims or
the British government on account OF tne
seizure Of the sealing vessels In Berins
sea-"
In compliance with said request I here
With transmit Sundry papers, documents
and reports which have been returned to
me by the Secretary of State, the Secretary
of the Treasury and the Secretary of the
Navy. to whom said resolution Vas refer
red ! am not in possession of any further
information touching the various subjects
embodied in such resolution.
1t will be seen from letter of the Secre-
tary Of the Navy, accompanying the papers
and documents sent from his department,
that 1t is impossible to furnish a this time
naval vessels referred to in the resolution:
but venture to express the hope that the
reports of the commanders of such vessels
herewith submitted will be found to con-
tain in substance so much of the matters
recorded in said log books as are import
ant in answering the inquiries addressed
to me by the Senate.
Executive Mansion,
February IL, 1895.
Secretary CarIisle's Letter.
The message is accompanied by letter
from the Secretary of the Treasury trans
mitting statement taken from the logs of
vessels engaged in the Bering sea seal fish
cries which have reported the latitude and
longitude in which seals were taken. He
says that of the thirty-two American ves-
sells engaged in this business only ten have
made reports of the latitude and longitude
of the catches made on these points, and
states that the collector of customs at
San Francisco reports that the captains
of the other vessels depOsed, under oath,
that they cleared without notice of the
regulations, and therefore made no record
of the places of capture.
He puts the number of seals killed by
pelagis hunters in the North Pacific aHd
Berng sea durira. the seasonaof 1894 at
142, ,00O ard says that of this number about
IN Ial ir,I ~, or,d fhn
American side of the North Pacific. He
also states that 1908 seals were taken
on the Priblylof Islands, by the North
American Commercial Company. The TN
official figures place the number killed on
the Commander Islands at 27,2S5. The
Secretary also trans mits the logs Of the
Rush. Bear and CorWin in relation to the
enforcement of the Paris tribunal regula-
tiohs and closed with the statement that
the papers forwarded constitute all the
reports and documents in the department
which it Is deemed mpatible with the in
terests to transmit to Congress at this
time
VOluminOus Correspondence.
The correspondence includes 100 letters
and kilograms, some of them quite volumi-
Eous, beginning with a proposition made
by Sir Julian Pauncefote on the 22d of
August, 1893, that the Bering sea award be
laid before parliament and closing with a
Julian Pauncefote, of January % last, in
which he communicates the deep feeling Of
solicitude of the President and people of
the United States relative to the future of
the Alaskan seal herd as disclosed by Of
fetal returns of seals killed at sea during
the present season in the North Pacific
ocean, and gives statistics upon the sub
ject.
In this last letter of the list, after re-
ferring to the seal killing of the year.
which was he says, unprecedented in the
history of pelagic sealing, the Secretary
says: 1T would appear that the vessels en-
third of the total number employed in the
North Pacific, in four or five weeks killed
315S5 seals, not only 5000 more than were
killed in Bering sea in 1881 the last year
total number killed during the four months
on the American side of the North Pacific
this season.
Regulations Do Not Protect.
He continues: ''This startling increase in
the pelagic slaughter of both the American
and Asiatic herds has convinced the Presi-
dent and cannot fail to convince her
majesty's government that the regulations
enacted by the Paris tribunal have not
operated to protect the seal herd from that
destruction which they were designed to
prevent, and that unless speedy change
in the regulations be brought about, ex-
terminat ton of the herd must follow. Such
a deplorable result must, if possible. be
averted."
SOUTHERN PASSENGER TRAFFIC..
Railway Men to Hold an Important
Meeting.
ATLANTA, Ca, February 11.-Today, to-
morrow and Wednesday, representatives of
the passenger traffic departments of all