Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-16
JOHN AND JONATHAN.
Light on the Great International
Struggle for Seaiskins.
A FALSE IMPRESSION CORRECTED.
Uncle Sam Never Claimed Behring Sea, but
Simply the Seals.
A NEW SOLUTION OF TEE DIFFICULTY

defend in the wear 1856 course of conduct in
the Behring Sea which size had carefully
avoided ever since the discovery OF that sea?
By what reasoning did Her Maiesty's Govern
ment conclude that an act may be committed
with impunity against the rights of the United
States which had never been attempted against
the same rights when held by the Russian
Empirer'-Secretdry Blaine TO British Min
tSter.
Such is the last word in the Behring Sea
correspondence SO far as Congress or the
public has been taken into the confidence of
the State Department 1t was a matter OF
remark, and evidently of surprise, that the
correspondence when made public recently
did not show Mr.. Blaine contending for
American sovereignty over the whole of
Behring Ses, or at least over the American
half OF it. The impression has obtained
ground even in well-informed quarters that
Congress by its enactments has asserted such
q sovereignty. Nothing of the kind. No
impression could be more erroneous. The
authors of the legislation may have intended
to give the impression that they were assert
ing such a claim, but they carefully avoided
the use of any language that either ex-
pressed or implied it. In the whole series
of acts relating to Alaska and to the seal
fisheries there is not a word of the kind.
Neither is there in any of the orders of the
Treasury Department, the correspondence Of
the State Department, or the proclamations
OF the President. Only in the columns of
The newspapers and in the gossip of the day
has the claim Of American sovereignty over
Behring Sea been asserted.
BEHRING SEA NOT IN IT.
The convention between Russia and the
United States, concluded March 80, 1867,
and proclaimed at Washington June 20,
1867, "for the cession of the Russian poses
sions in North America to the United
States" says not a word about the Behring
Sea or any other water. The main clause of
the main article of the treaty reads as fol-
lows:
His Majesty, the Emperor of all the Russias
agrees TO cede to the United States by this con-
vention Immediately upon the exchange of the
Tatitcations thereof, all the territory and do
minion now possessed by his said Majesty on
the Continent of America. and on the adjacent
islands, the same being contained within the
geographical limits herein set forth.
If the sovereignty of all the waters in the
eastern half of Behring Sea was conferred
upon the United States by that treaty the
cession must have been expressed in the
language here quoted. No other clause in
the treaty cedes anything. Territory and
the treaty to describe the thing ceded, and if
the waters of Behring Sea now belong to us
they must be construed as either territory"
or dominion" They are not territory, and
whether or not Russia previously had do
minion or sovereignty over them cannot be
decided by any Interpretation of the terms
of the treaty.
Section of the act of March 2, 1889, "An
act to provide for the protection of the
salmon fisheries of Alaska" reads:
That section 1856 R. s., is hereby declared to
include and apply to all the dominion of the
United States in the Behring Sea; and it shall
be the duty of the President at timely season
in each year to issue his proclamation and
cause the same to be published for at least one
month in at least one newspaper, if any such
there be published at each United States port
of entry on the Pacific Coast, warning all per-
sons against entering said waters for the pur-
pose of violating the provisions of SAID section;
and he shall also cause one or more vessels of
the United States to diligently cruise said
waters and arrest all persons and seize all YES
sells found to be or to have been engaged in any
violations of the laws of the United States
therein.
KILLING LIMITS DEFINED.
Section 1856 of the Revised Statutes of the
United States, approved July q, lS6s, reads:
No person shall kill any otter, mink, marten,
sable, or fur-seal or other fur-bearing animal
within the limits of Alaska Territory or in the
waters thereof, etc
Section 1859, approved March 8, 1869,
reads:
The islands of St Paul and St George in
Alaska are declared special reservation for
Government purposes, and until otherwise pro-
vided by law It shall be unlawful for any person
to land or remain on either of these islands, ex-
eept by the authority of the Secretary of the
Treasury, and any person found on either of
these islands contrary to the provisions hereof
shall be summarily removed.
Section 1860, approved Ju ly /, 1870, says:
1t shall be unlawful to kill any fur seal upon
the islands of st. Paul and st. George or in
the waters adjacent thereto, except during the
months of June, July, September and October
in each year.
The language of this statute seems to be
fatal to any pretense of having contemplated
exclusive jurisdiction over the whole of
Behring Sea- So it is with section 1861,
which was approved July l, 1870, and which
reads:
1t shall be unlawful to kill any female seal or
any seal less than year old, at any season of
the year, except as above provided, and it shall
also be unlawful to kill any seal in the waters
ad1acent TO the islands of st. Paul and St.
George or on the beaches, cliffs, or rocks, where
they haul up from the sea to remain.
Section 1867, approved July 1, 1870, says:
Eyeryperson who kills any fur seal on either
Of those islands or In the waters adjacent
OF, and every person who molests, disturbs or
interferes with the lessees or either of them,
or their agents or employees, in the lawful prose-
cution Of their business under the provisions
OF this CHAPTER, shall for each otfense be pun
ikhable prescribed in section 1851; and all
vessels, etc, etc.
The act of March "a, 1874, says:
That the act entitled. IAN act to prevent the
determination of fur-bearing animals in
Alaska" approved July L 1870. is hereby
a M an a1 IN ha of
the Treasury, and he is hereby authorized, to
designate the months in which fur seals may
be taken for skins on the islands of st. Paul
and St George in Alaska, and in the waters
adjacent thereto, and the n amber to be taken
on or about each island respectively.
NO SOVEREIGNTY ASSERTED.
The title Of the act OF July 27, 1868, was
An act to extend the laws of the United
States relating to customs, commerce and
navigation over the territory ceded to the
United States BY Russia; to establish col
lection district therein, and for other pur-
poses" This comprehends all the legisla-
tion of Congress on the subject.
Then, turning to the executive papers, it
is impossible to find any OF them couched in
the phraseology that would imply the asser-
ton Of such sovereignty over the sea in
question; but il is easy TO find much that
Implies q more limited jurisdiction. For
instance: On September 10, 1870, William
A. Richardson, acting Secretary of the
Treasury, in promulgatirg an executive or
der for the information OF officers of the Gus
toms, said:
Revenue officers will, however see that the
granted to the said company is not
abzseo; that no firearms or any kind are ever
used by said company (the Alaska Commercial
Company in the killing OF seals or other fur
bearing animals on or near said Islands. or near
the haunts of seals or sea otters in the DISTRICT