Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1908-03-31
Senator Foraker Permitted
Withdraw Document
Submitted 10 Senate Under Mis-
apprehension as 10 Contents.
Paper on eaIIHerds, Rejecting on
Integrity Of Officials.

Washington, March Ex-senator For
aker today obtained leave to with
draw from the Senate files n paper in
troduced by him Wednesday last and
printed as a public document, and the
order today carried with it the sup
preston of all the printed copies of the
kpaper.
The paper was prepared by Henry
W. Elliott of Lakewood, Ohio, and
purported to be THE official record of
the loot and ruin of the fur seal herd
of Alaska"
1t was stated in chronological or
der, beginning with 1868 and continue
ing to the present time. 1t was writ
ten in long hand, closely spaced and
difficult to read. Prof. Elliott had sub
mitted records of pelagic sealing sey-
eral times and they had always been
printed as public documents. There
fore when Senator Foraker was asked
to have the alleged official record
printed he made the request in due
form, and did not take the trouble to
read it. Today he made apologies to
Vice President Fairbanks and several
senators.
IItV pppCi hft.r IobHt W lNiiStl tIolL
the integrity of the presiding officer of
the Senate and upon members of the
Senate and House of Representatives
and other government officials. 1t
transgresSed one of the established
though unwrtten rules of both houses
of Congress and caused Il sensation Of
no small magnitude. Passing over 30
years of the Official record Prof. Ell
lott dealt with the work of Anglo
American high joint commission in
connection with the sealing question
and told of an argument made by Mr..
Fairbanks in opposition to a sealing
bill before the Senate committee on
foreign relations in 1923, when he was
a member of the committee. This
paragraph is taken from the report:
"Mr Elliott secured on Feb 2, 1908,
the passage of the bill in sthe House;
but on Feb. II in the Senate foreign
relation committee Senator Fairbanks
deliberately tells the committee that
this bill is not needed; thatSthe fur
seal question has been all agreed upon
in the high joint commission and only
waits the formal publication by that
commission when it re-assembles; he
convention of the commission is to take
place soon after March 4, 1903. This
statement of Senator Fairbanks was
an untruth in every respect-a square
and wholesale fabrication on his part
to defeat the pending bill. Under the
circumstances his colleagues could not
dispute his false report; therefore. they
took no action on this bill, at his re-
quest"
The "Officiali record" refe s. in dis
para ging manner to the part taKel by
the late Secretary Of State Haydn re-
gard to the sealing question and
charges that legislation was bitterly
opposed by the LAM and sea butchers
of the fur seal herd, who had suborned
certain senator's, congressman and de-
partment officials. II refers also to the
extended trip of inspe ton over Alas
ka" made by Senators Dillingham;
Nelson. Burnham and Patterson and
mentions the fact that no legislatio
was accomplished. Fault is found also
with the fact that Secretary Root and
Assistant Secretary Bacon had done
absolutely nothing although fully in
formed that plan of mutual conces-
sion and joint control of United States
and Canadian seal fisheries could be
successfully negotiated in six weeks
time" The long record closes as fol-
lows:
why should this infamous work Of
the land and sea butchers of our fur
seal herd go thus unchecked, and that,
too, when the Canadian government
asks us to unite with it on a proper
plan to suppress it? No quibbling or
nonsense abou the necessity of seeing
or sounding Japan or Russia first WI
bear the light o. honest discussion.
those Cove, 'ments have both been
:eady at any hour sine" 1897 40 unite
With us on any plan to suppress ne
lagic lur sealing to which we
first get Canada to assent"