pression of their views upon the subject, in which they made positive declarations of opinions already formed upon nearly, if not quite, all questions at issue, and this before they were even appointed as commissioners. This fact was made the subject of a note by Mr. Blaine to the British minister, on February 6, 1892, and was discussed in a reply by Sir Julian Pauncefote. On the other hand, the American commissioners had taken no part in the current discussion, and, as a matter of fact, had been for several months prior to their appointment engaged in professional work in regions of the country remote from newspapers or telegraphs, and were entirely ignorant of the remarkable wave of public excitement and anxiety by which the country had been swept in consequence of the rather stirring diplomatic correspondence which had been going on. Without returning to Washington, or in any way coming in touch with the generally prevailing irritation due to the attitude of Great Britain, they proceeded to Bering Sea and the Pribilof Islands, having only in mind that they were charged to investigate "the facts having relation to seal life in Bering Sea, and the measures necessary for its proper protection and preservation." They were accompanied in their investigations by the British commissioners, to whom every facility for a thorough study of the situation was accorded. Rookeries were visited together, abandoned beaches were examined in their company, and as far as could be all data from which conclusions might be drawn were made the common property of both commissions. The evidence of great diminution in the number of the seals herding upon the islands seemed to be overwhelming, and much of it, especially the physical condition of the rookeries themselves, was quite independent of human testimony; natives and Government officers who had resided on the islands for many years were practically unanimous in their opinion that the herd was being destroyed. The attention of the British commissioners was called to the unmistakable evidences of depopulated breeding rookeries and deserted hauling grounds, but there were early indications that they were looking for support for a hypothesis carried with them to. the field of observation. After considerable "joint and several" investigation, the commissioners separated, to meet again in conference for the preparation of a report early in the year 1892.
It is not necessary to enter into the details of the extensive observations and studies which led the American commissioners to conclude, first, that the number of seals was rapidly diminishing; second, that the principal cause of this diminution was and had been pelagic sealing; third, that the only effective remedy was the complete cessation of taking seals at sea. Their report, published as a part of the case of the United States, may be referred to by those who wish to
