The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1897-07-31
A RED HOT SEAL LETTER
Professor Elliott Says Foster Has
Bungled the Question.
NEED QUICK WITTEO MAN
II Is Charged That Foster Is Inex
perienced and Ignorant of Seal Mat
ters-Places the United States in
an Embarrassing Position.

Cleveland. July 30.-Prof ii. W. Ell
liott of the Smithsonian Institute to-
night gave out the complete text OF his
letter to Judge Day, assistant secretary
of state, regarding the seal fisheries. 1t
Is as follows:
Lakewood, Ohio. July Is. 1897.
Hon. W, II. Day Assistant Secretary
OF State, Washington. ID. c.:
Dear Sir-ln the Morning Recorder
OF this city appears the text of a letter
to Lord Salisbury. dated May 10. 1897.
and signed by John Sherman. secretary
OF state, on the fur seal question. This
letter is prefaced by an account OF the
great embarrassment which its publi-
cation has caused the president and
that II has been held up for several
days at the request of John w. Foster.
who now fears the effect of his own
work few weeks earlier.
"Inasmuch as ! have closer per-
sonal knowledge Of this present ques-
tion than any other man living. and
vastly extended. and inasmuch as am
the author of the modus vivendi OF
1s9l-93. which is the only creditable
step taken by our government towards
settling this seal dispute since 1t began
in 1890 | desire TO say that after a
careful perusal of this letter of May 10,
above cited the president has a right
to feel greatly embarrassed, because 1t
lays the state department open to a
crushing reply from the Canadian Off
GERS. and you will be in the same morti-
flying fix that Blaine found himself
during 1890. when the Canadians simply
crushed his letter by the data which
they promptly furnished in rebuttal.
inexperienced and ignorant men
should not write such letters dealing
with the data about which they know
no more than so many parrots. John
w. Foster Is utterly ignorant OF the
truth In regard to the salient features
of this seal question ON the islands.
That letter OF May 10 Is like all other
preparations from his hand on this
subject, full of gross errors.
His dullness In making up the Ameri-
can case in 1928 cost us that shame
full and humiliating defeat which we
met with at Paris In 1893. Had he been
bright and quick-witted he never
would have met with such disaster.
Taking this commonplace man now
after this record Of fiat failure Is
stamped all over his anatomy. and put
ting him In charge of your sealing
question, will only thrust you deeper
into the mire than he and your prede-
cessors have been placed before the
bright men over the line at Ottawa.
Il am moved 10 write on this point
because a senator of the United States
recently said to me that Foster had
assured the president that the infor-
nation which ] gave the British in
1890 caused the defeat of the American
case at Paris in 1890. The meanness
and untruth Of this charge will be
quickly seen by your turning to my
report of Nov. Il, 1890 which contains
this information. Foster and his as
sociatcs tried 10 suppress this report
because II contained the proof Of my
authorship of the modus vivenl cf
1S9l-93. which he meanly stole from
me, plagrarised In fact. but he was un-
able to suppress IL. And now that he
comes forward again to figure I'm this
question. intend that he shall be re-
qured, at the proper time and before
the proper tribunal. to give full ac-
count of his wretched record as the
agent of the United States in the
Bering sea tribunal at Paris in 1893
This whole sealing business from
the day the trouble began. in lS90-9i
up to date. has not been in the hands
of competent man for one moment.
1t has been and Is now the sport OF the
Canadians and the languid contempt
of the British queens counsel Is all
that II receives when IL comes up there.
Very truly yours.
"HENRY W. ELLIOTT"