of sealskins to that firm through 1968. Now, they have the right under the contract to continue processing and selling of the skins on hand until 1970, but in 1968 we will again have to invite proposals and we are hopeful to have some competition at that time and we didn't think this other method that you suggest would provide that. SHOULD RESEARCH CONTRACTS GO DIRECTLY TO RESEARCH COMPANIES? Senator METCALF. I suppose that that is a value judgment that you had to make. It just has been my experience in working with-I was on the Space Committee for a while and working with the electronic industry, and so on, that the contracts have been made largely for these experimental purposes directly with an experienced group, without a middleman as you have provided here. Mr. McKERNAN. I would like to add some more to the inquiry you have made, Mr. Metcalf. We did, I find, send the invitations for this fur seal research to a number of research companies. These included: Monsanto Research Corp., U.S. Testing Co., Midwest Research Institute, Kirschner Associates, Columbia Systems Co., Bergner International Corp., and Battelle Memorial Institute. We did not find any interest in any of these companies. Also the invitation was announced in the Commerce Business Daily which is followed closely by research and development firms. Senator GRUENING. I just want to go back once more to the correspondence with Mr. Meyer of Van Daal & Meijer. Here is a man with vast experience, a company that has been processing fur seals from other parts of the world, who was sufficiently interested to send for some Pribilof seals on their own account. They are now processing other seals in Alaska. And they make you an offer to buy these skins and process them at their expense and give you the results. And this letter was received before the negotiations had been concluded with the Battelle company. And I find it extremely difficult to understand why you could not accept this offer, why you really had to push them off and say, "In the future maybe we will consider you." Independently of whether you went ahead with Laclede, I find it difficult to see why you weren't sufficiently concerned with the financial aspects to accept this free, gratis offer from an experienced firm to do this at their own expense, and give you the benefit of the results. Mr. McKERNAN. Well, because their offer was not a complete offer. We have gone back to them and have indicated that there were other conditions that we wanted. One was an opportunity to inspect and evaluate these particular skins. Senator GRUENING. It was a complete offer. It certainly was as complete an offer as Laclede must have made at the beginning. You were negotiating with Laclede for 3 months. Did they make you a complete offer in response to your first inquiry? No; they did not. Mr. McKERNAN. They made us an offer that in general contained the elements we were looking for. Just as one example, there was no research whatsoever included or indicated by Van Daal & Meijer, that is no research aspects. They sent us skins, you will remember, through your office. These were inferior to the processing in this country. Senator GRUENING. They sent you some Cape of Good Hope skins which obviously were inferior to begin with just to show you what they could do with Cape skins, but in this situation they certainly make as complete an offer as you must have received from Laclede because you were still negotiating with Laclede, you were negotiating with Laclede for 3 months and these negotiations were still underway and these people said we will be glad to buy necessary skins, glad to process them at our own expense, and glad to turn over the results to you and you reply too bad we cannot accept your offer. Mr. McKERNAN. We did not reply to that extent. We replied that they were late for the original bid but that we would be glad to consider their particular proposal with certain conditions. Senator GRUENING. No. Well, the letter is introduced in the record and speaks for itself. (See exhibit 9, p. 148.) Senator GRUENING. You are sorry that you are unable to submit proposals pursuant to our invitation. Well, of course, but you didn't say that to the Laclede people. You didn't say we are sorry you were unable. Mr. McKERNAN. They did respond in time. Senator GRUENING. Why didn't you take these people up and say we will sell you these skins, we are giving them to another company, but we will sell them to you, we will be glad to see the results of your experimentation, that is what we are after, experimentation and research is what we are after. You are going to do it for nothing, going to give us the results. Mr. McKERNAN. Well, essentially we think that our letter was written in such a way to encourage this company to come back and make this suggestion. HEARINGS TO BE CONTINUED Senator GRUENING. We will have to adjourn at this time because there is a vote on the floor. Please produce all the documents required by the end of the week and hold yourself in readiness to return at the call of the Chair. (Whereupon, at 12:55 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned, subject to the call of the Chair.) APPENDIX EXHIBIT 1 International Convention providing for the preservation and protection of fur seals, 1911; also Interim Convention on the conservation of North Pacific Fur Seals, 1957 INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION-FUR SEALS, JULY 7, 1911 Convention between the United States and other Powers providing for the preservation and protection of fur seals. Signed at Washington, July 7, 1911; ratification advised by the Senate, July 24, 1911; ratified by the President, November 24, 1911; ratified by Great Britain, August 25, 1911; ratified by Japan, November 6, 1911; ratified by Russia, October 22, 1911, November 4, 1911; ratifications exchanged at Washington, December 12, 1911; proclaimed December 14, 1911. BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Whereas a Convention between the United States of America, Great Britain, Japan and Russia providing for the preservation and protection of the fur seals which frequent the waters of the North Pacific Ocean, was concluded and signed by their respective Plenipotentiaries at Washington, on the 7th day of July, one thousand nine hundred and eleven, the original of which Convention, being in the English language, is word for word as follows: The United States of America, His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, and His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, being desirous of adopting effective means for the preservation and protection of the fur seals which frequent the waters of the North Pacific Ocean, have resolved to conclude a Convention for the purpose, and to that end have named as their Plenipotentiaries: The President of the United States of America, the Honorable Charles Nagel, Secretary of Commerce and Labor of the United States, and the Honorable Chandler P. Anderson, Counselor of the Department of State of the United States; His Britannic Majesty, the Right Honorable James Bryce, of the Order of Merit, his Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Washington, and Joseph Pope, Esquire, Commander of the Royal Victorian Order and Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, Under Secretary of State of Canada for External Affairs; His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, Baron Yasuya Uchida, Jusammi, Grand Cordon of the Imperial Order of the Rising Sun, his Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Washington; and the Honorable Hitoshi Dauké, Shoshii, Third Class of the Imperial Order of the Rising Sun, Director of the Bureau of Fisheries, Department of Agriculture and Commerce; His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, the Honorable Pierre Botkine, Chamberlain of His Majesty's Court, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Morocco, and Baron Boris Nolde, of the Foreign Office; 51 Who, after having communicated to one another their respective full powers, which were found to be in due and proper form, have agreed upon the following articles: ARTICLE I. The High Contracting Parties mutually and reciprocally agree that their citizens and subjects respectively, and all persons subject to their laws and treaties, and their vessels, shall be prohibited, while this Convention remains in force, from engaging in pelagic sealing in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean, north of the thirtieth parallel of north latitude and including the Seas of Bering, Kamchatka, Okhotsk and Japan; and that every such person and vessel offending against such prohibition may be seized, except within the territorial jurisdiction of one of the other Powers, and detained by the naval or other duly commissioned officers of any of the Parties to this Convention, to be delivered as soon as practicable to an authorized official of their own nation at the nearest point to the place of seizure, or elsewhere as may be mutually agreed upon; and that the authorities of the nation to which such person or vessel belongs alone shall have jurisdiction to try the offense and impose the penalties for the same; and that the witnesses and proofs necessary to establish the offense, so far as they are under the control of any of the Parties of this Convention, shall also be furnished with all reasonable promptitude to the proper authorities having jurisdiction to try the offense. ARTICLE II. Each of the High Contracting Parties further agrees that no person or vessel shall be permitted to use any of its ports or harbors or any part of its territory for any purposes whatsoever connected with the operations of pelagic sealing in the waters within the protected area mentioned in Article I. ARTICLE III. Each of the High Contracting Parties further agrees that no sealskins taken in the waters of the North Pacific Ocean within the protected area mentioned in Article I, and no sealskins identified as the species known as Callorhinus alascanus, Callorhinus ursinus, and Callorhinus kurilensis, and belonging to the American, Russian or Japanese herds, except such as are taken under the authority of the respective Powers to which the breeding grounds of such herds belong and have been officially marked and certified as having been so taken, shall be permitted to be imported or brought into the territory of any of the Parties to this Convention. ARTICLE IV. It is further agreed that the provisions of this Convention shall not apply to Indians, Ainos, Aleuts, or other aborigines dwelling on the coast of the waters mentioned in Article I, who carry on pelagic sealing in canoes not transported by or used in connection with other vessels, and propelled entirely by oars, paddles, or sails, and manned by not more than five persons each, in the way hitherto practiced and without the use of firearms; provided that such aborigines are not in the employment of other persons or under contract to deliver the skins to any person. ARTICLE V. Each of the High Contracting Parties agrees that it will not permit its citizens or subjects or their vessels to kill, capture or pursue beyond the distance of three miles from the shore line of its territories sea otters in any part of the waters mentioned in Article I of this Convention. ARTICLE VI. Each of the High Contracting Parties agrees to enact and enforce such legislation as may be necessary to make effective the foregoing provisions with appropriate penalties for violations thereof. ARTICLE VII. It is agreed on the part of the United States, Japan, and Russia that each respectively will maintain a guard or patrol in the waters frequented by the seal herd in the protection of which it is especially interested, so far as may be necessary for the enforcement of the foregoing provisions. ARTICLE VIII. All of the High Contracting Parties agree to cooperate with each other in taking such measures as may be appropriate and available for the purpose of preventing pelagic sealing in the prohibited area mentioned in Article I. ARTICLE IX. The term pelagic sealing is hereby defined for the purposes of this Convention as meaning the killing, capturing or pursuing in any manner whatsoever of fur seals at sea. ARTICLE X. The United States agrees that of the total number of sealskins taken annually under the authority of the United States upon the Pribilof Islands or any other islands or shores of the waters mentioned in Article I subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to which any seal herds hereafter resort, there shall be delivered at the Pribilof Islands at the end of each season fifteen per cent (15%) gross in number and value thereof to an authorized agent of the Canadian Government and fifteen per cent (15%) gross in number and value thereof to an authorized agent of the Japanese Government; provided, however, that nothing herein contained shall restrict the right of the United States at any time and from time to time to suspend altogether the taking of sealskins on such islands or shores subject to its jurisdiction, and to impose such restrictions and regulations upon the total number of skins to be taken in any season and the manner and times and places of taking them as may seem necessary to protect and preserve the seal herd or to increase its number. ARTICLE XI. The United States further agrees to pay the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) to Great Britain and the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) to Japan when this Convention goes into effect, as an advance payment in each case in lieu of such number of fur-seal skins to which Great Britain and Japan respectively would be entitled under the provisions of this Convention as would be equivalent in each case to two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) reckoned at their market value at London at the date of their delivery before dressing and curing and less cost of transportation from the Pribilof Islands, such market value in case of dispute to be determined by an umpire to be agreed upon by the United States and Great Britain, or by the United States and Japan, as the case may be, which skins shall be retained by the United States in satisfaction of such payments. The United States further agrees that the British and Japanese share respectively of the sealskins taken from the American herd under the terms of this Convention shall be not less than one thousand (1,000) each in any year even if such number is more than fifteen per cent (15%) of the number to which the authorized killing is restricted in such year, unless the killing of seals in such year or years shall have been absolutely prohibited by the United States for all purposes except to supply food, clothing, and boat skins for the natives on the islands, in which case the United States agrees to pay to Great Britain and to Japan each the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) annually in lieu of any share of skins during the years when no killing is allowed; and Great Britain agrees, and Japan agrees, that after deducting the skins of their respective shares, which are to be retained by the United States as above provided to reimburse itself for the advance payment aforesaid, the United States shall be entitled to reimburse itself for any annual payments made as herein required, by retaining an additional number of sealskins from the British and Japanese shares respectively over and above the specified minimum allowance of one thousand (1,000) skins in any subsequent year or years when killing is again resumed, until the whole number of skins retained shall equal, reckoned at their market value determined as above provided for, the entire amount so paid, with interest at the rate of four per cent (4%) per annum. If, however, the total number of seals frequenting the United States islands in any year falls below one hundred thousand (100,000), enumerated by official count, then all killing, excepting the inconsiderable supply necessary for the support of the natives as above noted, may be suspended without allowance of skins or payment of money equivalent until the number of such seals again exceeds one hundred thousand (100,000), enumerated in like manner. |