The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1912-09-01
House and Senate Bill Provides for
the protection Of Seals on Land
and Sea for the Next
Five Years.
BIG TREASURY LOSS
In the Last Two Years About $780,
900 Was Turned Into the Treas
ury From Sale Of
Skins.

Uulleu FIeSS Opecldl SeFVlC6.I
WASHINGTON, August 31.-After
all the fuss and Tuning that has at
tended the enactment into law of a
bill designed to give effect TO the in
ternational convention between the
United States, Russia, Japan and
Great Britain to protect the fur seals
of the North Atlantic ocean, there is
good reason for believing that the
question has not yet been settled and
that the next congress will be called
upon further to alter the legislation
which has been passed at this SEES
sion of congress.
Charges of lobbying have been
freely banded about. Officials of the
department of commerce and labor
have privately accused senators and
congressman of lobbying and the same
charge has been hurled at the de-
partment by senators. Senator Hitch
cock of Nebraska openly made this
accusation against a high official of
the department, and there is consid-
cradle dissatisfaction over the out
come.
Department officials think their
stand has not been indicated. The
bill which has just been enacted into
law by congress, in their opinion,
seems to be an attemp. to sustain
the criticism of their policies.
The BILL as amended in the house
and senate, provides that there shall
be no killing of seals either on land
or at sea for the next five years. The
policy of the department has been
for the past several years to kill the
so-called supperfuous male seals and
turn the profits thereby obtained into
the Golfers of the treasury. Many
biologists and biologists have been
quoted to the effect that there is no
necessity for preserving more than
a certain percentage of the male
seals in order to insure the perpetu-
alton of the herd. The five year
lapse, they claim, will result in a
big economic loss as the extra num-
Der of males allowed to live will
have no effect toward increasing the
seal population and at the same time
many of the "bull" seals will be al
lowed to live SO long that their skins
will be useless for commercial pur-
poses. Sealskins have no market
value after certain time in the
lives OF their owners have passed.
For the last two years in the neigh
borhood of 100000 each year has
been turned into the treasury from
the sale of skins
The original purpose of the legis-
lation was to prevent pelagic sealing.
1T has long been conceded that the
killing of female seals which natur-
ally are the main factor in the propa-
cation of their kind, could not be
stopped unless pelagic sealing
hunting them in the water-could be
stopped. The killing on land was
easy enough to supervise. it was the
slaughter in the water which the
government wanted to wipe out.
Also 1t was obvious that this
slaughter could not be prevented UNI
less the nations concerned, the Unit
ed States, Great Britain, Russia and
Japan, agreed to cooperate. With
that end in view the international
convention OF 1911 was called in
Washington and the agreement made
at this meeting is what congress
sought to ratify when it passed this
bill.
The history of the seal industry
dates back to the time of Russian
navigator named Gerrasim Pribilof.
After the discovery of Alaska, in 1741.
the Russians devoted their entire at
tention to the hunting of the valuable
sea otter. The supply of this animal
became so depleted that the Russians
turned their attention to other game.
The existence of the fur seal was
known to the Russians, but they
knew only Of it's existence at sea.
They did not know that the animal
possessed a land habitat. Pribilof
was the first to discover this fact