The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-08-17

"whence did the ships of Canada derive the
right to do in 1856 that which they had retralneu
from doing for more than ninety years? Upon
what grounds did Her Maiesty's government de-
fend in the year 1886 course of conduct IN the me
BehrinC Sea which she had carefully avoided
ever since the discovery OF that sea BY what
reasoning did Her Majesty's grvernment CON
ciude that an act may be committed with impu-
nitv against the rights of the United States
which had never been attempted against the
rights ac T6fm helf o Bs PE Se Mniste Tsie
Such is the last word in the Behring Sea cor
respondence so far as Congress or the public has
been taken into the confidence of the State De
partment 1t was 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 Behrng Sea, or at least over
the American half of 1t. The impression has
obtained ground even in well-intormed quarters
that Congress by its enactments has asserted
such sovereignty. Nothing OF the KIND. NO
impression could be more erroneous. Inc au-
thors of the legislation may have intended to
give the impression that they were asserting
such a claim, but they carefully avoided the
use of any language that either expressed or I'M
piled 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
The convention between Russia and the
United States, concluded March 30 1867, and
proclaimed at Washington June 20, 1867, Tor
the cession of the Russian possessions in North
America to the United States" " says not word
about the Behring Sea or any other water. The
main clause of the main article OF the treaty
reads as follows:
'sHis Majesty the Emperor OF all the RuSsias
agrees to cede TO the United States by this con-
vention Immediately upon the exchange of the
ratifcations thereof all the territory ana domln-
ion now possessed by his sald Sla9esty on one
islands the same being contained within the geo.
graphical 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 dominion" is the
phrase used all through the treaty to describe
the thing ceded and If the waters of Behring
Sea now belong to US they must be con-
strued as either territory or dominion"
They are not territory, and whether or not Rus-
sia previously had dominion or sovereignty over
them cannot be decided by any Interpretation OF
the terms of the treaty
Section of the act of March 2, 1889, can act
to provide for the protection OF the Salmon
Fisheries of Alaska,' reads
THAT section 1856, r. g. is hereby declared to in
clude and apply to all the dominion Of the United
States in the Behring Sea; and it shall be the duty
issue his Proclamation and cause the same to be
published for at least one month IN at least one
United States port Of entry on the Pacific Coast
warning all persons against entering SAID waters
for the purpose of violating the provisions OF
said sectIon; and he shall also cause one or moro
vessels of the United States to diligently cruise
said waters and arrest all persons ana selze @ al al
vessels found TO be or to have been engaged IL
any violation of the laws or the united states
therein"
Section 1856 of the Revised Statutes Of the
United States, approved July p, 1865, reads:
mo person shall kill any otter, mink, marten
sable. or fur.seal or other fur-bearing anima
lCttlit the limits Of Alaska Territory or in TN
qUdters thereof" etc.
Section 1859, approved March g. 1862 reads
THE islands of st. Paul and st. George il
Alaska declared special reservation 10
Government purposes, and until othervlse pro
vided by law it shall De unawful Tor any persol
to land or remain on either of these islands. eX
cept by the authority of the Secretary of tn
Treasury and any person found on either o
these islands contrary to the provisions bereo
shall be summarily removed
Section 1860, approved July l, 1870, says:
1T snail be unlawful to kill any fur-seal up0
the islands Of st. Paul and st. George, or in til
qodters adjacent thereto, except during the month
of June, July, September, and October in eac
year."
The language of this statute seems to be fata
to any pretense of having contemplated exclu
sive Jurisdiction over the whole OF Behring Sea
So it is with section 1861, which was approve
July !, loiO, anu WHICH Ieaus'
1T shall be unlawful to kill any female seal O
any seal less than one year old, at any season O
the year, except as above provided; and il sha
also be unlawful TO kill any seal in the lUdters az
jdcent to the islands Of ST. Paul and st. George
on the beaches cltGS, or rockS where they haul u
from the sea 10 remain"
Section 1867, approved July /, 1870, says:
Every person who kills any fur-seal on Githl
Of those islands or In the lCdteTs adjacent there
without authority of the lessees thereof an
every person who molests, dsturbs, or interfere
with the lessees, or either of them, or their agent
business, under the provisions of this chapte
shall for each otfense be punished as prescribe
in section 1861; and all vessels y etc, etc
The act of March "A, 1874, says:
"That the act entitled An act to prevent ii
determination of fur-bearng animals in AlaskG
approved July /, 1870, is hereby amended so as
authorize the Secretary of the Treasury, :, and
is hereby authorized, TO designate the months
which fur. seals may be taken for their skins I
the islands of ST. Paul and St. George IN AldSI
ana IN the lOdteTs adjacent thereto and the nuI
Der TO be taken on or about each island respeC
ively.m
The title of the act of July 81, 1863 was "A
act TO extend the laws of the United States r
lating TO customs, commerce. and navigate
over the territory ceded to the United States I
Russia; TO establish collection district there
and for other purposes"
This comprehends all the legislation of Co
gress on the subject.
Then, turning to the executive papers, 1t
impossible to find any of them couched in Il
phraseology that would imply the assertion
such sovereignty over the sea IN question; b
ii is easy to find much that implies a more lii
tied jurisdiction. For instance:
On September 10, 1870, William A. Richar
son, acting Secretary of the Treasury in Or
mitigating an executive order for the inform