40 



Treasury has, from time to time, leased to an incorporated company the 

 right to engage in the business of taking fur seals on the islands of St. 

 Paul and St. George, under regulations x>rescribed by that officer. 



It was under this state of the law, so far as the statutes of the United 

 States were concerned, that seizures of vessels were made. The Brit- 

 ish Government protested against those seizures as an unauthorized 

 interference with the rights of its subjects on the high seas. Its Minis- 

 ter at Washington, Sir Lionel Sackville West, in a letter dated Janu- 

 ary 9, 1887, and addressed to Mr. Bayard, the American Secretary of 

 State, said: ''It is unnecessary for me to allude further to the informa- 

 tion with which Her Majesty's Government have been furnished respect- 

 ing these seizures of British vessels in the open seas, and which for 

 some time past has been in the possession of the United States Gov- 



parties, for tlie best advantage of the Uaitecl States, having dne regard to the in- 

 terest of the Government, the native inhabitants, their comfort, maintenance and 

 edncation, as well as to the interest of the parties heretofore engaged in trade, 

 and the protection of the fisheries, the right of taking fnr-sealson 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 fifty thousand dol- 

 lars, to be reserved in such lease and secured by a deposit of United States bonds 

 to that amount; and every such lease shall be duly executed in duplicate, and shall 

 not be transferable. 



Sec. 1964. The Secretary of the Treasury shall take from the lessees of such islands 

 in all cases a bond, with securities, in a sum not less than five liundred thousand 

 dollars, conditioned for the faithful observance of all the laws and requirements of 

 Congress and the regulations of the Secretary of the Treasury touching the taking 

 of fur-seals and the disposing of the same, and for the payment of all taxes and 

 dues accruing to the United States connected therewith. 



Sec. 1965. No persons other than American citizens shall be permitted, by lease or 

 otlierwiso, to occupy the islands of Saint Paul and Saint George, or either of them, 

 for thepurp(jse of taking the skins of fur-seals therefrom, nor shall any foreign vessel 

 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 persons other than American citizens. 



Sec. 1967. Every person who kills any fur-seal on either of these 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 employes, in the lawful prosecution of their business, under the provis- 

 ions of this chapter, shall for each offense be punished as described in section 1961; 

 and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, appurtenances, and cargo, whoso crews are 

 found engaged in any violation of the provisions of sections 1965 to 1968, inclusive, 

 shall be forfeited to the United States. 



Sec. 1968. If any pers(m or company, under any lease herein authorized, know- 



