CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. ^ • 95 



seal three or four years before tlie British sealers entered, 

 and they rapidly increased in numbers, but were only 

 occasionally interfered with or seized. 



DISCUSSION IX CONGRESS OF RIGHTS OF UNITED STATES. 



During the fiftieth Session of the House of Representa- 

 tives, in 18S9, the Committee on Marine and Fisheries was 

 directed " to fully investigate and report upon the nature h. r.. soth 

 and extent of the riohts and interests of the United States ^.^"^g-^^mi^^esa^, 

 in the fnr-seals and other fisheries in the Behring- Sea in p'.T^W accom- 

 Alaska, whether and to what extent the same had been ^^.^^^l ^"^ ^- ^• 

 violated, and by whom; and what, if any, legislation 



124 is necessary lor the better protection and preserva- 

 tion of the same.'' 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE OF HOUSE OF REPRESEN lATIVES. 



The Committee reported, upholding" the claim of the 

 United States to Jurisdiction over all waters and land in- 

 cluded in the geographical limits stated in the Treaty of 

 Cession by Russia to the United States, and construing 

 different Acts of Congress as perfecting the claim of 

 national territorial rights over the open waters of Behriug 

 Sea everywhere within the above-mentioned limits. 



The Report states : 



Tbo territory of Alaska consists of land and water. Exclusive of _n. R., 50th 

 its lakes, rivers, harbours, and inlets, there is a large area of marine p*'"^' "^^^'^ ^^im 

 territory which lies outside of the 3-mile limit from the shore, but is p'*jo. 

 within the boundary lines of the teriitoiy transferred by Russia to 

 the United States. 



The concluding portion of the Report states as follows: 



That the chief object of the purchase of Alaska was the acquisition Ibid., p. 23. 

 of the valualde products of Behring Sea. 



That at th<! date of the cession of Alaska to the United States, 

 Russia's title to Behring Sea was perfect and undisputed. 



That by virtue of the Treaty of Cession, the Ignited States acquired 

 complete title to all that portion of Behring Sea situated within the 

 limits prescribed by the Treaty. 



The committee herewith report a bill making necessary amendments 

 of the existing law relating to these subjects, and recommend its 

 passage. 



The Report describes these amendments as declaring — 



The true meaning and intent of section 1956 of the Revised Statutes ibid., p. 24. 

 which prohibit the killing of fur seals, &:c., in the waters of Alaska, 

 and requires the President to issue an annual Proclamation, and cause 

 one or more Government vessels to cruize said waters, in order to jiro- 

 hibit the unlawful killing of fur seals therein. 



The amendment increases the revenues of the Government from this 

 source by at least 150,000 dollars per annum. 



The Bill reported contained the following Section : 



Section 2. That section 1956 of the Revised Statutes of the United BillH.R.,l2432, 



States was intended to include and apply, and is hereby declared to ^ In e Book, 



include and apply, to all the waters of Behring Sea in Alaska embraced -^^^ ^2 fi890) ""' p. 



ivithin the boundary lines mentioned and described in the Treaty with 245. SeeAppen- 



Bussia, dated theSOth March, a.d. 1867, by which the Territory of dis, vol. iii. 



125 Alaska was ceded to the United Sta-tes ; and it shall be the duty 

 of the President, at a timely season in each year, to issue his 



Proclamation, and cause the same to be published for one month 



