The record-union., 1897-08-03
The determination of the Seal in North
ern Waters Will Result.
Henry w. Elliott Writes
Scathing Letter to an Ohio
Newspaper Regarding Lord Sal
Not Have the Slightest Effect in
Settling the Controversy.

LONDON, Aug. Herman IiebeS,
President of H. Liebes d Co. of San
Francisco, which firm, with David
ogden Mills, the New York Banker, and
Lloyd Tevis, President of Wells, Fargo
q Company's Express system, and also
of that banks firm of San Francisco,
compose the North American CONNER
cial Company, lessee from the United
States Government of the Prybyloff
Island sealeries, has addressed a letter
to the Times" in which, among other
things he SAYS:
L and my colleagues of the North
American Commercial Company entire
~ disclaim any desire for measures
made in the interests of one nationality
and against the interests of the other
and we do not, and never have, sug-
gested that the English Government
should surrender the exercise of a lucra-
tive industry without receiving an
equivalent, merely in order to increase
our actual and prospective profits.
"Pelagic sealing is open to ourselves
and to the whole world, and speaking for
myself (and [ am sure l should have
the cooperation of my colleagues)
should be perfectly willing TO concur in
any reasonable arrangement with our
own and also with the British Govern
ment with view entirely or at any
rate for given number of years. dis
continuing the killing of seals on the
islands in question, as also palagic seal
ing, and l would do this, not because
the killing of young bachelor seals as
conducted upon the Prybyloff Islands
in any way endangers the propagation
of the seal because l am sure it is not,
but simply to assist in bringing about
an arrangement for the suspension OF
pelagic sealing in order to avoid what I
am absolutely satisfied will otherwise
very shortly come to pass, viz. the en-
tire determination of the seal from the
waters in sesssestion, and further because
will not share the responsibility of
those who, by allowing the present bar
barous system to be continued, are rap
idly destroying in a very cruel way a
valuable industry
OUR POLICY CRITICISED.
CLEVELAND (O), Aug. 2.-Profes-
sor Henry w. Elliott wrote a scathing
letter to the "Plaindealer' regarding
Lord Salisburys seal conference, sup
plementing the one of few days ago,
to Assistant Secretary Day. He wrote:
In the foreign dispatches Sunday
morning there appears an entirely mis-
leading account of our fur seal confer
ence, which Lord Salisbury has finally,
at the urgent personal appeal of John
Hay, authorized
4 protest against this studied attempt
to deceive the people as to the scope and
extent of that conference and the in
ference which may be drawn, that it is
to be of the slightest gain to the Ameri-
can case.
In the first place, we have had the
official and curt refusal of Lord Sails
bury to reopen this seal question in any
way. This refusal was made on April
21st, and not a thing has taken place
since that has altered Salisbury's stand.
Fosters trip to London only strengthen
ed the British Premier's hand.
Nov, what is the warrant for this
erroneous story of what the fur seal
conference is to compass at Washing
ton next October? Simply this, and
nothing more: John Hay, to break the
force of his humiliating failure to re-
open the question in that shirt sleeve"
letter of May 10th, begged Salisbury to
let the British naturalists who have
been studying the seals on our islands
since 1891, meet our naturalists at
Washington next fall and compare their
biological notes as to those animals,
all reference as to the revision of the
existing regulations to be expressly
barred from the discussion.
Salisbury has permitted this. That
is all there is of it, and it is simply moth
ing for the American case; and as to
an agreement of biological notes. that is
very unlikely, judging from the work
of Jordan on our side and Thomson on
the British, last season.
Calling in Russian and japanese
agents to this informal conference will
not have the slightest effect one way
or the other on the stand which the
British agents may take and have taken
Canada controls this matter absolute
ly: she has an unusually easy task as
things are now directed on our side;
she will again skin Foster as clean as
she did at Paris in 1893.