ORAL ARGUMENT OP SIR CHARLES RUSSELL, Q. C. M. P. 81 



both ; and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, furuitnre and. cargo, found engaged in 

 violiitionof this section shall bo forfeited. But the Secretary of the Treasury shall 

 have power to authorize the killing of any such mink, marten, sable or other fur- 

 bearing animal, except fui'-seals, under such Regulations as he may prescribe; audit 

 shall be the duty of the Secretary to prevent the killing of any fur-seal, and to pro- 

 vide 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. 



Now I make the same comment iu passing: there is the vagueness as 

 regards the phrase " within the waters of Alaska territory", leaving it 

 undetermined whether it means tbe whole of the waters east of the line 

 of demarcation, or whether it means only the ordinary three-mile belt. 

 I am not talking of bays, land-locked waters, or matters of that kind — 

 that will be always understood ; but so far as it was limited to the three- 

 mile limit, then it was perfectly within the competence of the United 

 States to bind foreign subjects as well as its own nationals; but if it 

 extended further than those limits, it could have no application to 

 foreigners at all. 



Now the next section — section 1957, was also passed in 1868. It 

 says: 



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 

 817 United States in California or Oregon, or in the district Courts of Washing- 

 ton ; and the collector and deputy collectors appointed for Alaska Territory, 

 and any person authorized iu writing by either of them, or by the Secretary of the 

 Treasury, shall have jjower to arrest persons and seize vessels and merchandize 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 herein 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. 



I merely ask the Tribunal to take notice, in passing, that such Courts 

 are to have original jurisdiction. They are " Instance Courts ", as they 

 are sometimes technically called. 



Section 1958 was also passed in the year 18G8, and is in these terms. 

 It is not very important : 



In all cases of fine, penalty, or forfeiture, embraced in the Act approved 3rd 

 March, one thousand, seven hundred and ninety-seven, chapter 13, 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 



to exercise the power of remission, and so on. 



Now comes the first section of the legislation dealing with the Islands 

 of St. George and St. Paul — the first legislative Act of the United 

 States in which the Islands of St. George and St. Paul are directly 

 dealt with, and that was passed on the 3rd March 18G9. 



The islands of St. George and St. Paul in Alaska are declared a special reservation 

 for Government purjjoses, and until otherwise provided by law it shall be unlawful 

 for any person to laud 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 clFect. 



I have no comment to make on that exce])t to observe that it was 

 entirely within the com])etence of the Legislature of tbe United States 

 to make that provision, if it desired, binding on the whole world. It 

 was their territory: they had the right to say who shall and who shall 

 not land there. 



Sir John TnoMPSoN.-^Cao you give tbe date of that? 



B S, PT XIH 1) 



