ORAL ARGUMENT OF SIR CHARLES RUSSELL, Q.' C. M. P. 83 



Sir Charles Eussell. — I thank you; that I gathered; but I think 

 it is not set out. 



819 General Foster. — Not here. 



Sir Charles Eussell. — It was the first Act authorising- the 

 lease : 



Wheu any future siniilax lease expires, or is snrreudered, forfeited or terminated, 

 the Secretary shall lease to proper and responsible ])arti(>s, for the best advantage of 

 the United States, having due regard to the interests of the Government, tlie nntive 

 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 lifty thousand dollars, to be reserved in such lease and secured 

 by a deposit of the United States bonds to that amount; and every such lease shall 

 bo duly executed in duplicate and shall not be transferable. 



Mr. Justice Harlan. — Sir Charles, if I might interrnpt you for a 

 moment, you read tiiat as if it referred to an Act passed in 1889. It is 

 Chapter 1 889, and the Act of tlie first July 1870. ^o doubt you will find 

 that provision in the act of 1870. 



Sir Charles Eussell. — I think very likely yon are right, Sir. I 

 misread the chapter for the year, IsTow section 1964 says: 



The Secretary of the Treasury shall take from the lessees of such islands iu all cases 

 a bond — 



And so on. I need not trouble about that. 

 Then section 19G5, passed in the same year, says: 



No persons other than American citizens shall be permitted, by lease or otherwise, 

 to occupy the islands of St. Paul or St. George, or either of them, for the purpose of 

 taking the skins of fur-seals therefrom, nor shall any foreign vessels 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 j)ersou other than American citizens. 



I am afraid with regard to this provision the idea of trusteeship for 

 the benefit of mankind was not quite present to the mind of the framer 

 of this ]3articular provision. 



Now section 196G, which was also passed iu the year 1870, says: 



Every lease shall contain a covenant on the part of tlie lessee that he will not keeji, 

 sell, furnish, give or dispose of any distilled spirits or spiritous liquors — 



I need not trouble you Avith that. 



Now section 19G7, passed also iu the year 1870, provides: 



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 

 employ6s in the lawful prosecution of their business, under the provisions of this 

 chapter, shall for each offense be jiunished as prescribed in section nineteen hundred 

 and sixty-one; and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, appurtenances and cargo, whose 

 crews are found engaged in any violation of the provisions of tlie sections nineteen 

 hundred and sixty five to nineteen hundred and sixty eight, inclusive, shall be for- 

 feited to the United States. 



Senator Morgan. — What is the penalty attaching to the provision iu 

 the last sentence that you read Sir Charles'? 



820 Sir Charles Eussell : 



Every person who kills any fur seal on either of those islands or in the waters 

 adjacent thereto, without authority of the lessees thereof — 



Senator Morgan. — The last clause. 

 Sir Charles Eussell. 



And every person who molests, disturbs, or interferes with the lessees, or either of 

 them, or their agents or employes in the lawful prosecution of their business under 



