89 



Sliortly thereafter the Eussian-Ariieiican Coinpany represented to the 

 Eussian Government that conseqnences injurious to its rights might 

 result from its ratification. The subject was referred by the Emperor 

 to a committee, at the head of wliich was Count Nesseh'ode. Tliat 

 committee, July 21, 1824, made a report, wiiich received the approval of 

 the Emperor. After enumerating the advantages that would accrue to 

 Eussia from carrying out the treaty, the report proceeds: "7. That as 

 the sovereignty of Eussia over the coasts of Siberia and the Aleutian 

 Islands has long been admitted by all the powers, it follows that the 

 said coasts and islands can not be alluded to in the articles of the said 

 treaty, which refers only to the disputed territory on the northwest 

 coast of America and to the adjacent islands; that, even supposing 

 the contrary, Eussia has established permanent settlements, not only 

 on the coast of Siberia but also on the Aleutian group of islands; 

 hence, x\merican subjects could not, by virtue of the second article of 

 the treaty of April 5-17 land at the maritime places there, nor carry 

 on sealing and fishing without the permission of our commandants or 

 governors. Moreover, the coasts of Siberia and the Aleutian Islands 

 are not washed by the Southern Sea, of which alone mention is made 

 in the first article of the treaty, but by the Northern Ocean and the 

 seas of Kamchatka and Ohkotsk, which form no xjart of the Southern 

 Sea on any known map or in any geography. 8. Lastly, we must not 

 lose sight of the fact that, by the treaty of April 5-17 all the disputes 

 to which the regulations of September 4 (16), 1821, gave rise, are termi- 

 nated, which regulations were issued at the formal and reiterated 

 request of the Eussian- American Company; that those disputes had 

 already assumed important proportions, and would certainly be renewed 

 if Eussia did not ratify the treaty, in which case it would be impossible 

 to foresee the end of them or their consequences. These weighty 

 reasons impel the majority of the members of the committee to state 

 as their opinion : 



" That the treaty of April 5-17 must be ratified, and that, for the pre- 

 vention of any incorrect interpretation of that act, Gen. Baron Tuyll 

 may be instructed at the proper time to make the declaration men- 

 tioned in the draft of the communication read by Count Nesselrode. 

 The Minister of Finance and Acting State Counselor Drushinin, while 

 admitting the necessity of ratifying the treaty of April 5-17, express 

 and place on record the special opinion hereto annexed in the proctocol, 

 to the effect that Baron Tuyll should be instructed at the exchange of 



