Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-06-27
OUR SEAL FISHERIES.
NO DOUBT OF OUR OWNERSHIP OF
BEHRING SEA.
Our Rights Are Derived From Bussia
and We Hold an Indisputa-
Bile Title.

Hon. James A. Whitney, an eminent
authority on international law and on the
istory OF American diplomatic relations,
talked to New York Press reporter re-
Gently on American rights in Behring Sea.
He said:
at is well understood that we derive our
rights in Behring Sea from the Russians.
But what were their rights and how did
they originate?
TO answer that question properly we
must first consider the character of that in
land sea, for such it is to all intents and
purposes. The shores of Asia trend to the
northeast, those of America to the north
west, thus forming the two sides of a
triangle, the apex OF which terminates in
BehriDg Sea. The base of the triangle is q
curved line of islands, extending from
Asia to America. These islands are the
summit of q chain of mountains, one end
ofwhich joins the backbone of kamtchatka,
and the other terminates with Mt. st. Elias
on our northwest coast. The bottom of
Behring Sea is thus a deep bowl, sur
rounded by volcanic coasts ana ridges, and
segregated by the chain of islands from the
larger bed of the Pacific"
And has this geographical popularity
any practical bearing on the subject of
national jurisdiction ?"
1T lies behind the dominion of man
and animals in that part of the world.
| Those inhospitable shores and rockbOund
islands could yield neither haryests nor
precious metals, but were the home of
III yriads of fur-bearing animals. 1t was
this fact that caused the Russians, in ad-
vance of all other peoples, to haunt this
region, the furs from which were collected
ut lrkootSk, in Siberia, and then distrIb-
uted, some to Moscow, some to the markets
of China. The navigation of this sea
for such purposes dates back nearly POO
years"
Then the Russian title rested on the
discoveries of the fur traders-Is that the
case?"
BASIS OF RUssIAs TITLE.
at is only part of the case. The discov-
cries in that region were mostly the result
OF deliberate plans of exploration, which
also included Siberia ana Western Asia,
countries at that time little known even to
the Russians. In 1876 the ST. Petersburg
Imperial Academy of Sciences dispatched
a savant, Krashbeninicotf, who explored
| kamtchatka. In 1873 the same institution
dispatched one of its adjuncts named Stel-
lar to Kamtchatka by sea, from whence
two years later he continued his travels 10
the coast of America. Stellar died soon
after his return to St. Petersburg in 1743,
and his papers were given to Krashbenini-
colt, with instructions to combine their
contents with his own in the preparation
of a report.
This was the first authentic account of
Kamtchatka and the adjacent seas. 1t
contains description of the Behring Sea,
its islands and the American mainland,
which shows the Russians to have been
fully familiar with them. About the same
time Behring, under Government instruc-
tons, discovered the strait that bears his
name and the major portion of the chain
of islands which form the southern limit
OF that sea, as well as those that stud its
surface, and had discovered and named
Mount st. Elias, in America. The disc0v-
cries of Behring and Krashbeninic0ff and
Stellar were comprehensive, and left only
minor opportunities for the numerous
other explorers, whose discoveries were
duly reported and kept on record in the
archives of the Imperial Government.
THAT Russia thus acquired title, by right
of discovery, to the entire region northward
of and including the Aleutian Islands is
beyond dispute. And this right was not
disputed. This is illustrated by the fact
that the Behring Sea, all the islands there
in and Cape Alaska were included in the
government with Kamtchatka that of
Kohlyvana, and they are thus described in
English publications in the early part of
the present century"
"When was that claim to Russian SOW
ereignty first objected to by other coun-