New-York tribune., 1910-07-24

harems
idle Bulls Harass Females.
The idle bulls loiter about the boun-
daries of the breeding rookeries, inter-
cepting the cows as they come ana go
to feed, keeping UP constant warfare
The COWS are thus annoyed and mar
assed throughout the season, when they
should be permitted to rest and care for
their young. Every COW that leaves the
island is pursued by one or more oi
these big. strong, young bulls. How Tar
this pursuit is kept up cannot De deter
mined 1t is believed by some tnat THIS
is the cause Of the cows going so Tar out
to sea before stopping to procure 1ooo'
and it seems plausible enough.
IF regulations cannot be made at once
to prohibit pelagic sealing in Berlng
Sea. there is one remedy left, that OF
taking such a number of seals on the
islands as to reduce the herd to such
proportions as will make the business OF
sealing at sea Improbable
1t is, of course, merely the killing Oh
| these superfluous males which Secretary
Nagel proposes, every care being taken
to protect the females. The peiaslc
sealers operate only at distance oi
three miles or more from shore. ana II Is
the belief of the Secretary and his ad-
visers that everything which tends to
drive the females to or beyond tha- limit
contributes to the success Of the pelagic
sealers, and by just SO much roos the
herd of breeding females.
In his open letter Mr.. Hornaday quotes
Secretary Nagel as saying to the Senate
committee Il would like to have the
right to kill seals in order that l might
hold it as a club over the heads or the
pelagic sealers,'' and Mr.. Hornaday COM
ments on this: The meaning of that
statement is unknown to u.s." Had Mr.
Hornaday consulted further with his ad-
wiser, Professor Elliott, he could easily
have ascertained the Seeretary's mean
ing, as Elliott haunted the corridors of
Congress for several years, endeavoring
to secure legislation providing for the
killing of all seals until the total number
was reduced to ten thousand adult fe-
males and one thousand young males,
the purpose being to obviate the neces-
Sly of individuals going far to sea for
food, and thus to render the business OF
pelagic sealing improbable.
While Secretary Nagel has not said so,
it is generally believed that Mr.. Horna-
day weakened his case to some extent
by urging in his first communication to
Secretary Nagel, under date Of May 10,
1910, the appointment Of Professor
Elliott to the advisory board, recon-
nlendation which may have been as
sumed by Mr.. Nagel to constitute some
reflection on Mr.. Hornaday's judgment.
No Specific Charges Presented.
Attention is also called by the friends
of Secretary Nagel to the fact that in
response to Mr.. Hornaday's insinuations
that Special Agent Len1bkey is an i'm
proper person to be intrusted with the
duties delegated to him, Mr.. Nagel wrote
Mr. Hornaday, demanding specific
charges, which demand Mr.. Hornaday
ignored then and does still, merely re-
ferring to some charges which have in
the past been preferred against Lembkey
by Elliott, but failing to go into detail
or to father the charges himself.
While one of Mr.. Hornaday's letters to
secretary Nagel contains thinly yelled
reference to the difficulties which Secre-
tary Ballinger has experienced at the
hands of his adversaries, it is hardly be-
lieved that even in the absence of Mr..
Nagel from this country prima facie
case can be made against him which will
excite popular Indignation.
Mr. friends also remark fbaf
it is strange, in view of the fact that
Secretary Nagel wrote M. Hornaday as
long ago as May % avowing his pur-
pose to kill the superfluous males and
suggesting that if Mr.. Hornaday pur
| posed to take further steps to prevent
the carrying out of this policy they
should be taken promptly, as the killing
season was close at hand, Mr.. HOrnaday
should have waited two months and
until Mr.. Nagel had sailed or was about
to sail for Alaska, before making his
appeal to the American people,
| At Option of the Secretary.
| Benjamin s. Gable, Acting Secretary
of Commerce and Labor, when advised
| to-day of the attack on Secretary Nagel
| dictated a statement of Secretary
Nagers position, which is in part as fol-
| lows:
The statement that Congress by the en-
! aCtnent of the seal law approved April
| o. 1916 specifically intended closed sea-
son is refuted by reference to the law
| itself, which begins in these words
THAT the Secretary of Commerce and
| Labor shall have power to authorize the
| killing OF fur seals and the taking of seal
| skins on the Pribylov Islands, il Alaska,
! under regulations esta blished by him i'm
! iting the manner in which such killing
| shall be done and limiting the number OF
! seals to be killed, whenever be shall de-
| termine that such killing is necessary or
desirable and not inconsistent with the
| preservation of the seal herd; provided,
| that male seals only shall be killed. and
| that not more than 50 per cent of three
| year-old male seals shall be killed in any
| one year
| ANY statement that Congress specifically
| Intended the establishment of closed sea-
! son is further refuted by the report made
| by the Senate Committee on Conservation
| of National Resources when the bill was
| reported 70 the Senate:
Instead of the leasing system heretofore
provided for, the present bill proposes to
| nut the control of the seals wholly within
| the jurisdiction of the Secretary of Com
! merce and Labor giving him the right to
establish closed seasons if he sees Mt to do
| so and giving him the right to Kill such
| of the male seals the experience of the
| last thirty wears seems to justify.
The suggestion that Secretary Nagel de-
! bn committee. either of the House