bury instructs me to inquire whether the information and papers rela tive to the seizure of the British schooners Carolena, Onward, and Thorn ton have reached the United States Government.

I have, etc.,

L. S. SACKVILLE WEST.

No. 9.

Mr. Bayard to Sir L. S. Sackville West.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, February 3, 1887. SIR: I beg to acknowledge your note of yesterday's date, received to-day.

Upon its receipt I made instant application to my colleague, the Attorney-General, in relation to the record of the judicial proceedings in the cases of the three British vessels arrested in August last in Ber ing Sea for violation of the United States laws regulating the Alaskan seal fisheries.

I am informed that the documents in question left Sitka on the 26th of January, and may be expected to arrive at Port Townsend, in Washington Territory, about the 7th instant, so that the papers, in the usual course of mail, should be received by me within a fortnight.

In this connection I take occasion to inform you that, without conclusion at this time of any questions which may be found to be involved in these cases of seizure, orders have been issued by the President's direction for the discontinuance of all pending proceedings, the discharge of the vessels referred to, and the release of all persons under arrest in connection therewith.

I have, etc.,

No. 10.

T. F. BAYARD.

SirL. 8. Sackville West to Mr. Bayard.

WASHINGTON, February 4, 1887. (Received February 5.)

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 3d instant, informing me that without conclusion at this time of any questions which may be found to be involved in the cases of seizure of British vessels in Bering Sea, orders have been issued, by the Presi dent's direction, for the discontinuance of all pending proceedings, the discharge of the vessels referred to, and the release of all persons under arrest in connection therewith.

I have, etc.,

L. S. SACKVILLE WEST.

No. 11.

Sir L. S. Sackville West to Mr. Bayard.

WASHINGTON, April 4, 1887. (Received April 4.)

SIR: In view of the approaching fishing season in Bering Sea and the fitting out of vessels for fishing operations in those waters, Her Majesty's Government have requested me to inquire whether the owners of such vessels may rely on being unmolested by the cruisers of the United States when not near land.

Her Majesty's Government also desires to know whether the documents referred to in your note of the 3d of February last connected with the seizure of certain British vessels beyond the three-mile limit and legal proceedings connected therewith have been received. And I have the honor therefore to request you to be good enough to enable me to reply to these inquiries on the part of Her Majesty's Government with as little delay as possible.

I have, etc.,

L. S. SACKVILLE WEST.

No. 12.

Mr. Bayard to Sir L. S. Sackville West.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, April 12, 1887.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge your note of the 4th instant relative to the fisheries in Bering Sea, and inquiring whether the documents referred to in my note of February 3, relating to the cases of seizure in those waters of vessels charged with violating the laws of the United States regulating the killing of fur seals, had been received. The records of the judicial proceedings in the cases in the district court in Alaska referred to, were only received at this Department on Saturday last, and are now under examination.

The remoteness of the scene of the fur-seal fisheries and the special peculiarities of that industry have unavoidably delayed the Treasury officials in framing appropriate regulations and issuing orders to United States vessels to police the Alaskan waters for the protection of the furseals from indiscriminate slaughter and consequent speedy extermination.

The laws of the United States in this behalf are contained in the Revised Statutes relating to Alaska, in sections 1956-1971, and have been in force for upwards of seventeen years; and prior to the seizures of last summer but a single infraction is known to have occurred, and that was promptly punished.

The question of instructions to Government vessels in regard to preventing the indiscriminate killing of fur-seals is now being considered, and I will inform you at the earliest day possible what has been decided, so that British and other vessels visiting the waters in question can govern themselves accordingly.

I have, etc.,

T. F. BAYARD.

Sec.

[Annex.]

TITLE XXIII.-THE TERRITORIES.

REVISED STATUTES RELATING TO ALASKA.

CHAPTER III.—Provisions relating to the unorganized Territory of Alaska.

Sec.

SEC. 1954. The laws of the United States relating to customs, commerce, and navigation, are extended to and over all the main-land, islands, and waters of the Territory ceded to the United States by the Emperor of Russia by treaty concluded at Wash ington on the thirtieth day of March, A. D. one thousand eight hundred and sixtyseven, so far as the same may be applicable thereto.

SEC. 1955. The President shall have the power to restrict and regulate or to prohibit the importation and use of fire-arms, ammunition, and distilled spirits, into and within the Territory of Alaska; the exportation of the same from any other port er place in the United States, when destined to any port or place in that Territory, and all such arms, ammunition, and distilled spirits, exported or attempted to be exported from any port or place in the United States and destined for such Territory, in viola tion of any regulations that may be prescribed under this section, and all such arms, ammunition, and distilled spirits, landed or attempted to be landed or used at any port or place in the Territory, in violation of such regulations, shall be forfeited: and if the value of the same exceeds four hundred dollars the vessel upon which the same is found, or from which they have been landed, together with her tackle, apparel and furniture, and cargo, shall be forfeited; and any person willfully violating such regulations shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned no more than six months. Bonds may be required for a faithful observance of such regulations from the mast er or owners of any vessel departing from any port in the United States having on board fire-arms, ammunition, or distilled spirits, when such vessel is destined to any place in the Territory, or if not so destined, when there is reasonable ground of suspicion that such articles are intended to be laded therein in violation of law; and similar bonds may also be required on the landing of any such articles in the Territory from the person to whom the same may be consigned.

SEC. 1956. 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; and every person guilty thereof shall, for each offense, be fined not less than two hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or imprisonment not more than six months, or both; and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo, found engaged in violation of this section shall be forfeited. But the Secretary of the Treas ury shall have power to authorize the killing of any such mink, marten, sable, or other fur-bearing animal, except fur-seals, under such regulations as he may prescribe; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary to prevent the killing of any fur-seal and to provide for the execution of the provisions of this section until it is otherwise provided by law; nor shall he grant any special privileges under this section.

SEC. 1957. Until otherwise provided by law, all violations of this chapter and of the several laws hereby extended to the Territory of Alaska and the waters thereof committed within limits of the same, shall be prosecuted in any district court of the United States in California or Oregon, or in the district courts of Washington; and the collector and deputy collectors appointed for Alaska Territory, and any person authorized in writing by either of them, or by the Secretary of the Treasury, shail have power to arrest persons and seize vessels and merchandise liable to fines, penalties, or forfeitures under this and the other laws extended over the Territory, and to keep and deliver the same to the marshal of some one of such courts; and such courts shall have original jurisdiction, and may take cognizance of all cases arising under this act and the several laws hereby extended over the Territory, and shall proceed

therein in the same manner and with the like effect as if such cases had arisen within the district or territory where the proceedings are brought.

SEC. 1958. In all cases of fine, penalty or forfeiture embraced in the act approved the third March, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven, chapter thirteen, or mentioned in any act in addition to or amendatory of such act, that have occurred or may occur in the collection district of Alaska, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized, if, in his opinion, the fine, penalty or forfeiture was incurred without willful negligence or intention of fraud, to ascertain the facts in such manner and under such regulations as he may deem proper without regard to the provisions of the act above referred to, and upon the facts so to be ascertained he may exercise all the power of remission conferred upon him by that act, as fully as he might have done had such facts been ascertained under and according to the provisions of that act.

SEC. 1959. The islands of Saint Paul and Saint George, in Alaska, are declared a special reservation for Government purposes; and until otherwise provided by law it shall be unlawful for any person to land or remain on either of those islands, except by the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury; and any person found on either of those islands, contrary to the provisions hereof, shall be summarily removed; and it shall be the duty of the Secretary of War to carry this section into effect.

SEC. 1960. It shall be unlawful to kill any fur-seal upon the islands of Saint Paul and Saint George, or in the waters adjacent thereto except during the months of June, July, September, and October in each year; and it shall be unlawful to kill such seals at any time by the use of fire-arms, or by other means tending to drive the seals away from those islands, but the natives of the islands shall have the privilege of killing such young seals as may be necessary for their own food and clothing during other months, and also such old seals as may be required for their own clothing and for the manufacture of boats for their own use; and the killing in such cases shall be limited and controlled by such regulations as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury.

SEC. 1961. It shall be unlawful to kill any female seal, or any seal less than one 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 adjacent to the islands of Saint Paul and Saint George, or on the beaches, cliffs, or rocks where they haul up from the sea to remain; and every person who violates the provisions of this or the preceding section shall be punished for each offense by a fine of not less than two hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment not more than six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment; and ali vessels, their tackle, apparel, and furniture, whose crews are found engaged in the violation of either this or the preceding section, shall be forfeited to the United States.

SEC. 1962. For the period of twenty years from the first July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy, the number of fur seals which may be killed for their skins upon the island of Saint Paul is limited to seventy-five thousand per annum; and the number of fur-seals which may be killed for their skins upon the island of Saint George is limited to twenty-five thousand per annum; but the Secretary of the Treasury may limit the right of killing, if it becomes necessary for the preservation of such seals, with such proportionate reduction of the rents reserved to the Government as may be proper; and every person who knowingly violates either of the provisions of this section shall be punished as provided in the preceding section.

SEC. 1963. When the lease heretofore made by the Secretary of the Treasury to "The Alaska Commercial Company" of the right to engage in taking fur-seals on the islands of Saint Paul and Saint George, pursuant to the act of the first July, chapter one hundred and eighty-nine, or when any future similar lease expires, or is surrendered, forfeited, or terminated, the Secretary shall lease to proper and responsible parties, for the best advantage of the United States, having due regard to the interests of the Government, the native inhabitants, their comfort, maintenance, and education, as well as to the interests of the parties heretofore engaged in trade and the protection of the fisheries, the right of taking fur-seals on the islands herein named, and of sending a vessel or vessels to the islands for the skins of such seals, for the term of twenty years, at an annual rental of not less than fifty thousand dollars, to be reserved in such lease and secured by a deposit of United States bonds to that amount; and every such lease shall be duly executed in duplicate, and shall not be transferable.

SEC. 1964. The Secretary of the Treasury shall take from the lessees of such islands in all cases a bond, with securities, in a sum not less than five hundred thousand dollars, conditioned for the faithful observance of all the laws and requirements of Congress, and the regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury touching the taking of fur-seals and the disposing of the same, and for the payment of all taxes and dues accruing to the United States connected therewith.

SEC. 1965. No persons other than American citizens shall be permitted, by lease or otherwise, to occupy the islands of Saint Paul and Saint George, or either of them, for the purpose of taking the skins of far seals therefrom, nor shall any foreign ves

sels be engaged in taking such skins; and the Secretary of the Treasury shall vacate and declare any lease forfeited if the same be held or operated for the use, benefit or advantage, directly or indirectly, of any persons other than American citizens.

SEC. 1966. Every lease shall contain a covenant on the part of the lessee that he will not keep, sell, furnish, give or dispose of any distilled spirits or spirituous liquors on either of those islands to any of the natives thereof, such person not being a physician and furnishing the same for use as medicine; and every revenue officer, officially acting as such on either of the islands, shall seize and destroy any distilled or spirituous liquors found thereon; but such officer shall make detailed reports of his doings in that matter to the collector of the port.

SEC. 1967. Every person who kills any fur seal on either of those islands, or in the waters adjacent thereto, without authority of the lessees thereof, and every person who molests, disturbs, or interferes with the lessees, or either of them, or their agents or employés, in the lawful prosecution of their business, under the provisions of this chapter, shall for each offense be punished as prescribed in section 1961; and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, appurtenances, and cargo, whose crews are found engaged in any violation of the provisions of sections 1965 to 1868, inclusive, shall be forfeited to the United States.

SEC. 1968. If any person or company, under any lease herein authorized, knowingly kills, or permits to be killed, any number of seals exceeding the number for each island in this chapter prescribed, such person or company shall, in addition to the penalties and forfeitures herein provided, forfeit the whole number of the skins of seals killed in that year, or, in case the same have been disposed of, then such person or company shall forfeit the value of the same.

SEC. 1969. In additional to the annual rental required to be reserved in every lease, as provided in section nineteen hundred and sixty-three, a revenue tax or duty of two dollars is laid upon each fur-seal skin taken and shipped from the islands of Saint Paul and Saint George during the continuance of any lease, to be paid into the Treasury of the United States; and the Secretary of the Treasury is empowered to make all needful regulations for the collection and payment of the same, and to secure the comfort, maintenance, education, and protection of the natives of those islands, and also to carry into full effect all the provisions of this chapter except as otherwise prescribed.

SEC. 1970. The Secretary of the Treasury may terminate any lease given to any person, company, or corporation on full and satisfactory proof of the violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or the regulations established by him.

SEC. 1971. The lessees shall furnish to the several masters of vessels employed by them certified copies of the lease held by them respectively, which shall be presented to the Governmeut revenue officer for the time being who may be in charge at the islands as the authority of the party for landing and taking skins.

SEC. 1972. Congress may at any time hereafter alter, amend, or repeal sections from nineteen hundred and sixty to nineteen hundred and seventy-one, both inclnsive, of this chapter.

SEC. 1973. The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to appoint one agent and three assistant agents, who shall be charged with the management of the seal fisheries in Alaska, and the performance of such other duties as may be assigned to them by the Secretary of the Treasury.

SEC. 1974. The agent shall receive the sum of ten dollars each day, one assistant agent the sum of eight dollars each day, and two assistant agents the sum of six dollars each day while so employed; and they shall also be allowed their necessary traveling expenses in going to and returning from Alaska, for which expenses vouchers shall be presented to the proper accounting officers of the Treasury, and such expenses shall not exceed in the aggregate six hundred dollars each in any one year. SEC. 1975. Such agents shall never be interested, directly or indirectly, in any lease of the right to take seals, nor in any proceeds or profits thereof, either as owner, agent, partner, or otherwise.

SEC. 1976. Such agents are empowered to administer oaths in all cases relating to the service of the United States, and to take testimony in Alaska for the use of the Government in any matter concerning the public revenues.

No. 13.

Sir L. S. Sackville West to Mr. Bayard.

WASHINGTON, July 8, 1887. (Received July 9.)

SIR: With reference to your note of the 12th April, stating that the records of the judicial proceedings in the cases of the British vessels