422 ORAL ARGUMENT OF SIR RICHARD WEBSTER, Q. C. M. P. 



ing fur-bearinsj animals in the waters of Bebring Sea and on tlie Aleutian Islands as 

 a result of that ukase and of the grant of exclusive privileges to the Russian Amer- 

 ican Company. It was only when the i;kase of 1821 sought to extend the Russian 

 claim to the American continent south to latitude 51°, and to place the coasts and 

 waters of the ocean in that region under the exclusive control of the Russian Amer- 

 ican Company, that vigorous protests were made by the Governments of the United 

 States and Great Britain. 



Therefore, Sir, there stands to-day that statement, without — I say it 

 with great respect — a shadow of evidence to support it, that prior to 

 1824 the Ukase of 1799 had been used to exchide foreigners, and that 

 in fact the only complaint was the extention of the Ukase of 1S21. 



Now, Sir, I have said that the Riccord-Pigott iocident, struck out — 

 honestly and fairly struck out — from their case when they found that 

 they had relied upon falsified documents, when you look at the true 

 documents, is an absolute contradiction of their statement as to the 

 exclusion of foreign vessels from Behring Sea. I will take this as 

 briefly as I can, but it is of some importance. May I ask you to be 

 good enough to turn to page 18 of the British Counter Case. The 

 original documents are set out in the revised translation supplied us by 

 the United States at pages 13 to 17 of Volume one; but you need not 

 refer to that. You will find all that is material at pages 18 and 19 of 

 the Counter Case. Now, Sir, what are the facts'? 



Riccord and J igott had made a contract with the Russian American 

 Company to go whaling; the monopoly having been guaranteed to Rus- 

 sian subjects: the Government objected — not at all impropej'ly — to an 

 Englishman having any interest in it; and accordingly you will find at 

 page 18 the extracts from the letters referred to, from which it appears 

 that Riccllrd, the Superintendent of Kamtchatka, had made an agree- 

 ment with Pigott, an Englishman, for ten years, from 1819, 



with reference to fishing for whales and extracting oil from these and other marine 

 animals on the shores of Kamchatka and on those of all Eastern Siberia, in the 

 harbours and bays and amongst the islands. 



I need not remind you, Mr. President, that Eastern Siberia is washed 

 by Behring Sea. It is not a question of the Pacific Ocean only. It is 

 a question of the waters right up into Behring Sea. 



Justice Harlan. — That Pigott is marked on your map? 



Sir Richard Webster. — That is marked on the map at Kotzebue 

 Sound. That is on the other side. I was at present taking it up in the 

 order of time. At present we have got him only as far as Kamchatka. 



Lord Hannen. — You did not read all of that. It reads "On the 

 shores of Kamchatka ". 



Sir Richard Webster. — Perhaps I did not express myself plainly. 

 I am now merely dealing with the Western side, Kamchatka and East- 

 ern Siberia, not with the United States side. 



Now, what is the objection which the Governor takes? T will tell 

 you, Mr. President, if you will look at tlie original correspondence. It 

 turns out that the company were unwilling to enter into the whaling 

 trade. It did not pay or they supposed it would not pay. Whereupon 

 they were directed to turn their attention to the whale fishery; and 

 the Government further ordered that no foreigner should be allowed to 

 enter a merchant guild, or to settle at Kamtchatka or Okhotsk, and that 

 no foreign merchant-vessel should be permitted, 



to trade at those places under any circumstances, or to enter the ports of Eastern 

 Siberia except in case of distress. . . Furthermore, the Englishman Davis at Okhotsk, 

 and Dobello's agi^nt in Kamtchatka are to be informed. . . that the Government 

 refuses them permission to remain at those places, or to build houses or hold real 

 property there; the local authorities shall afford them all proper facilities for 

 disposal of their property and leaving the country. 



