New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-09-27
on Tons of Roses
OU Years Success.
Colgate's
Soaps and Perfumes.
RETIRING SEA DISPATCHES
FROM THE BRITISH COLONIAL AND
FOREIGN OFFICES

.nt,rAurp PRESENTATION OF THE BRITISH SIDE
ON THE cAsr-MR. cHAMBERLA1S's REPLY
TO SECRETARY sHERMAN-IoRD
sAr1spuRYs AGREEMENT TO
A CONFERENCE
Tn. Tribune recently published tne 90 ,a.,
-, sscr.tarv Sherman's dispatch OF May w TO-
10 Ambassador Hay on the su'I re-
pe,r,np Sea sealing controversy. IL no"
.,,,, from a Blue Book just issueu
-, IN. Rr,,,sh Foreign Office, what may oe
oy ~ 80 tho british official reply there.o'
Tb,. ,s IN the form OF a dispatch iio'' 49,,
r,n,o,,., Oe,ce 70 the Foreign Office sig"eu =!
A. Vo,yard wingneld but evidently ihSp'ieO
-. .hs Colonial Secretary himself anu f
,.ssoalv expressive OF his views. foho"i"s -
e nr,nted also from the same source
>ror, the British Prime Minister 10 inc
cen Ambassador agreeing 10 the hoiuiie
International sealing conference Ill ."e
.entence Of the latter the date May w.
uted 10 Mr. Shermans letter is app"'
printer's error for May ~ Inc "N
two dispatches follow:
Cor ONIAI, OFFICE TO FOREIGN of
Dovning-st July g. 1881
Cir. I'm, directed by Mr. Secretary Oh"'. '
~ acouaint YOU for the Information Oh "e -
q, SALISBURY. that he has had under MS oo.S -
t,on the dispatch from MI secretary
Mr.. Hay regarding the seal iishel!' ,, s,,r.
t. a. p.- Natesty's Government having reJecte"
the proposals made By the Government -,
United States. Mr. Sherman pToceeos 10 .,
on the delay which occurred IN ore lie saws (par-
agrapn 1yid have been gratifying to me and usefHl
=
iect under consideration. II froiessppiI, w.b the
nromb,ness which marked the appearance OF .an,
Of Dr. Jordan In that there " 10 have
med the reports of these two eminent sciehsts De-
fore the opening Of another seane Of Her
seems to have better suited the Professor
Majestys Government 10 witMsTiI, was AZ
Thompson's report unit, an GppiI ordan and thus
enable the former to pass the iatter IN ,Nio.
eriticse his ans n sS peasan, TO have
TO state that the impartial character whcn ~ has
netaraiists Of high standing has been greatly i'm.
paired by the apparent sub}eciion OF th,s
further 10 be regretted that the report was so
long delayed that no oPporuhX was ,be dsne
and anal rejection Of the Presidents proposals
based mainly upon Its "af The nc,Snnt
which preceded the arbitration at Paris and which
repof of i B
held until after The case OF eae en- dInan COM
mission made public"
Again paragraph 81: u,,.o,
with a view TO minimize as far as possible me de-
pleted condition of the herd on the pri2yio
Thompson has been very careful throughout the
report to say nothing likely to ernbaTrass his Gov
The reasons for the delay in the prepsration and
publication Of Professor Thompson'ss report Were
foe Of the 7h q May Those exganaOns Sannq 5
inents in his dispatch, and Mr. Chamberlain would
met met fsfsT s he pUdHi not e
ihe vlndcation Of Professor Thompson's high char
ons made AGAINST him 40 are totally and
therefore equally unjustihabe Turning 10 the
am to point out that he is mistaken in assuming I
condition and prospective early extinction Of the
no wera o Mheb Her Mare su
ment were replying, and they must adhere TO their
opinion that the statement is not warranted by
facts contained in the report.
The passages cited from that paper are merely
expressions of opinion, and the grounds, upon which
such opinions are based are rot set forth IN the
asserted "he clearly recognizes dlminution. evil
denced by photography. as also by dcrease OF
there is no assurance that photographs taken the
same date or successive years show the same or
relative conditions as the arrival Of the seals. and
doubtless their movements on the rookeries, are
affected by the state OF the weather ond the ad-
DIR. JORDAN'S REPORT
The statement quoted from Dr. Jorcdns nnal re-
port, with which Her Majestys Government have
not yet been furnished. is interesting. 1t says:
From a careful study Of all the conditions IN
our opinion the fur-2cal herd the Pribyloff
Islands has decreased to about one-ffth Of It's size
in ls72-'74 TO somewhat less than half It's size IN
1890 and that between the OF 1895 and 1896
there has been decrease Of about 10 per cent"
ON page p OF his PrT ra III report Or Jordan
IisO7 breeding females, or total number of about
10000 Of seals OF al! gradss and he adds, there
total Of as 600 DR. Jordar's aturcd reflection
therefore. the comparative state Of the herd
s says ahe perd was not - pe cent 'os
he thought in November; but about % per cent"
r:es his comparison back 20 $50 when he estimate,
erades" but he has apparently carried his
Comparison further back, and estimates that ir
b HE w nsTn en Fs at ha pedG b
numbered 10000 breeding females and. 200 b.
government viii await with interest hi. ex
PLANTATION of the, disaPPearanee Of 10000 breed
the period between 1924 and 1880 when pellg
sealing had not yet begun. Mr. Chemberian f, no
that there was decrease in TIE herd betweer
is7s-7i and 1850 and apparently Or. Jordan himsel
s"f perhaps bh sT 5s aeT J hS IS
1878 il doubtless remained practically in state 0
II. OF which the ,rampiing Of pups was the chief
the Northwest catch. which remained stationar
another element OF check" Whether the earlier o
later views Of DR.. Jordan ore to be taken o. ex
pressing his nnal opinion. the discrepancy show
the difficulty attending the discussion OF the quoq
lion IN consequence OF the absence OF any reall
trustworthy data on which comparisons Of the siz
Of the herd at different periods can be based. an
tlsti1es the action OF Her Majestys Government
In refusing TO be drawn into d discussion of Nh
question unit! further information has been az
quirsd.
THE CATCH OF SEALS
Mr. Sherman again refers to the falling of IN m
peasic catch last year In Behring Sea n supper
Of the contention that the herd has declined an
cites the figures Of the catch for 1884, 1886 and Is9
from which !, would appear tina; the catch 70
vessel N 1896 had fallen or yearly one-ha rs con
pared with jS5i.
The catch OF 1891 altogether exceptional n
viii bc seen from the table printed at page l9S {
the report Of the Secretary Of the United State
Treasury for 49,. ard exceeded that Of any pre-.
ous year, as well that OK the subsequent year
and the extraordinary variations Ia the catch frol
year TO year which characterize the Industry rer
Ger II impossible TO deducc from the average cate