Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-06-20
A PROTEST ENTERED
Against the Bering Sea Agreement
by an Aggrieved Company.
ITS FUR SEAL RIGHTS INVADED.
A Contract With the Government That
Cannot Be Set Aside
BY ENGLAND OR THE UNITED STATES

WASHINGTON, June 19.-The North
American Commercial Company, through
Its attorney, Judge N. T. Jeffries, has filed
a protest with Acting Secretary Spauldlng'
of the Treasury Department, in which 1t re-
cites that it has the right to take fur seals
from the islands of st. Paul and st. George
for the period of 20 years from May 1, 1S9o,
and that it has and will continue to per-
form the stipulations of its lease. The COM
pany states that it was assured quota OF
co., 600 sealskins during 1890, and upon such
assurance submitted its bid st three times
the amount paid by former lessee. Upon
the acceptance of the lease the company
made large outlay in buildings and pro-
visions, and arranged for transporting the
60, 600 sealskins to San Francisco.
The company says that it was compelled
to cease taking seals on the goth day OF
July, when the sealing season had not ex.
pired, and only one-third of the quota OF
skins had been obtained, and the company
was further prohibited from taking any ad-
ditional number during said year. On this
account the company has sustained loss OF
100000.
Protesting Against the Order.
The company further represents that at
the time it was compelled to stop taking
seals at said islands it earnestly protested
against such action by the United States and
has continued to protest, and now again SUBJ
mits this, its formal protest, against the ac-
tion of the United States in preventing 1t
from taking the quota of sealskins it had
right to take by law and by the terms OF
said contract.
The company submits that it is Justly en-
10 fhn faH
such sum as will compensate it for the loss
it has sustained on account of the action of
the United States, as aforesaid, and gives
notice to the Secretary of the Treasury that
it will claim to be reimbursed by the United
States to the full amount of the loss it may
sustain by reason or it's being prohibited by
the United States from taking it full quota
of 10000 sealskins during the year 1891.
The company further represents that in pro-
viding for the maintenance and education of
the inhabitants of the islands of St. Paul
and st. George it has expended the sum of
S150,000, for which it has not been reim-
bursed.
Interference by England Not Legal.
The company respectfully invites the at
tention of the Secretary Of the Treasury to
the fact that the islands of st. Paul and st.
George in Alaska belong to and are in the
that the right of this Government to dis
pose of the fur seals born on said islands
has never been questioned. This being so,
said company assumes that the right of the
United States or its lessee to take fur seals
on said islands, within our unquestioned
jurisdiction, is beyond dispute and not SUBJ
ject to question or interference by England
or any other foreign state.
The right of this Government to take fur
seals on its own territory is not one of the
questions to be submitted to arbitration
and has no relation to the contention be-
tween the two countries. In that dispute
Great Britain affirms and the United States
denies the right of English and Canadian
poachers to slaughter fur seals In ''our
part of Bering Sea; and this company re-
spectfully insists that an agreement between
the two Governments, set forth in the Pres
ident's proclamation, in so far as it pro-
hibits said company from taking its lawful
quota of sealskins is in contravention of
vested rights of this company and subjects
it to great loss"
Standing by Its Lawful Rights.
IF it be assumed, as England has asserted,
and this Government has denied, that the
eastern portion of Bering Sea is not the
marine territory of the United States, but
is the 'high SEAS" the company respect
fully submits that it is not competent for
Great Britain and the United States alone,
or for any other two governments, to deter
mine who shall be permitted to navigate
these waters or to prohibit fishing or taking
seals on the high seas.
The company respectfully points out to
the Honorable Secretary of the Treasury
that its rights have been overlooked by said
agreement between the two Governments,
in that it deprives the lessee from taking
seals which it is authorized to take by law
and by its contract with the United States,
thereby inficting severe loss upon said
company, in order to obtain the consent of
England to arbitrate the question, as to the
right of Canadian poachers to destroy the
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