CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 79 



ACT OF JULY 27, 18G8. KILLINCf OF SEALS PROniBITED. 



Aecoi'dingly, on the 27tli July, 1868, an Act passed tlie. 

 Congress of the United States, entitled " An act to extend 

 tlie Laws of the United States relating to Customs and 

 Navigation over tlie territory ceded to the United States 

 by Eussia, to establisli a Collection District therein, and 

 for other purposes," of which section provides: 



That it shall ho unlawful for any person or persons to killany otter, United States 

 mink, niarten, sable, or fur seal, or other fur-bearing animal within ^j^^g'^.^j'^ ^'^ 

 the limits of said territori/, or in the waters thereof. p. 241.' ' 



On the 3rd of March, 18G9, a Resolution was passed by ibid., p. 348. 

 the Senate and House of Kepresentatives specially reserv- 

 ing for Government ])urposes the Islands of St. Paul and 

 St. George, and forbidding any one to land or remain there 

 without permission of the Secretary of the Treasury. 



SECKETARY EOITTWELL'S REPORT. 



Mr. Boutwell's Report, as Secretary of the-Treasury, pre- 4istcong., 2nd 

 ceded an Act of the 1st July, 1870. This Report discloses l^f^'i'og^^- ^"''• 

 no suggestion of jurisdiction at a greater distance tlian 3 

 miles from tlie shore line. \Vith knowledge of the 

 10-1 ^ raids upon the islands and the existence of seal- 

 hunting schooners, Mr. BoutwcU dwelt upon the 

 means of ])rotecting the seal islands only. He recom- 

 mended that the Government of the United States should 

 itself nndextake the management of the business of the 

 islands, and should "exclude everybody but its own serv- 

 ants and agents . . . and subject vessels that touch 

 there to forfeiture, except when they are driven to seek 

 shelter or for necessary repairs." 



ACT OF .H'LY, 1870. 



On the 1st of July, 1870, an Act was ])assed entitled, see Blue Book. 

 " An Act to prevent the extermination of Fur-bearing Ani- iTnited sts 

 mals in Alaska," from which the following are extracts: ^ see Appen 



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 

 United States of America in Congress assembled, that it shall be 

 unlawful to kill any fur seal u]ion the islands of St. Paul and St. 

 George, or in the icaiers 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 use 

 other means tending to drive the seals away from said Islands. 



Section 2. And be it further enacted, that 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 ]>rovided; and it shall also be unlawful 

 to kill any seal in the ivaters adjacent to said islands, or on the beacheS; 

 clifl's, or rocks where they liaul up from the sea to remain. 



SE.\L ISLANDS TO \iV, IKASED, 



Section 4. And be it further enacted, that immediately after the 

 passage of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall lease, for the 

 rental mentioned in section 6 of this Act . . . for a term of twenty 

 years, from the 1st day of May, 1870, the right to engage in the busi- 

 ness of taking fur seals on the Islands of St. 1\tu1 and St. George, and 

 to send a vessel or vessels to said islands for the skins of such seals. 



States, 

 12. 

 Appendix, 

 vol. iii. 



