ORAL ARGTJMENT OF JAMES C. CARTER, ESQ. • 11 



to any account; and this successful exi)eriment was, of coui\se, followed 

 during the succeeding years by many repetitions of the same enter- 

 prise. 



The extent to which pelagic sealing was thus carried on in Bering 

 Sea, its j>robable consequences upon tlie herds which made their homes 

 upon the Pribilof Islands, was not at first appreciated either by the 

 United States, or by the lessees of the Islands. There was no means 

 by which the}' could easily find out liow nmny vessels made such excur- 

 sions, and they did not at first seem to suppose that their interests 

 were particularly threatened by it. Consequently, for the first two or 

 three years no notice seems to have been taiceii of these enterprises by 

 the Government of the United States, although it had laws against 

 them. But in 1886, this practice of taking seals at sea became so 

 largely extended that it excited apprehensions for the safety of the 

 herd; and it was perhaps thought at that time that there was already 

 observable in the condition of the herd some damaging, destructive 

 consequence of that i)ursuit of them by sea. 



The attention of the United States having been called to the prac- 

 tice, that Government determined to prevent it, and the first method 

 to which it resorted was an attempt to enforce the laws upon its statute- 

 book, which prohibited the practice and subjected all vessels engaged 

 in it to seizure and confiscation. Instructions were accordingly given 

 to the cruisers of the United States to sui)press the practice, and to 

 enforce those laws. The result was that in the year 1880 three British 

 vessels and some American vessels Avere taken while engaged in the 

 pursuit illegally under the laws of the United States. They were car- 

 ried in and condemned. 



These sei/Aires were in 1886. They were followed by protest on the 

 part of Great Britain and that protest was made by a note addressed 

 by Sir Lionel Sackville West to Mr. Bayard. 



Sir Charles Russell. Give us the reference, Mr. Carter, please, as 

 you go along. 



Mr. Carter. It is on page 153, Vol. 1 of the Appendix to the Amer- 

 ican Case : 



Sir L. S. Sackville West to Mr. Bayard. 



Washington, September 27, 1S8Q. (Received September 28.) 

 Sir: I have the honor to inform you that Her Majesty's Government have received 

 a telegram from the commander-in-chief of Her Majesty's naval forces on the Pacitic 

 station respecting the alleged seizure of the three British Columbian seal schooners 

 by the United States revenue cruiser Corioin, and I am in consequence instrncted to 

 request to be furnished with any particulars -which the United States Governmeut 

 may possess relative to this occurrence. 



I have etc., L. S. Sackville Wkst. 



That was the first note addressed by the British Government in con- 

 sequence of these seizures and, as the learned arbitrators will perceive, 

 it called only for information. Mr. Bayard, who was then the Ameri- 

 can Secretary of State, did not immediately respond to this note. He 

 could not give the requisite information. The locality, as you w ill per- 

 ceive, is exceedingly remote from Washington, and communication 

 with it could only be had on rare occasions. The opportunities for com- 

 munication were very few, and therefore it was necessary, it was una- 

 voidable, that a very considerable period of time would elapse before 

 the United States could procure the information desired by the British 

 Government, and acquaint themselves with tlie particulars. But, 

 by reason of this demand the United States Government was called 

 upon to consider questions that would thus be likely to arise and to 



