28 ORAL ARGUMENT OF JAMES 0. CARTER, ESQ. 



Then on tlie 2()Mi of April, 1888, Mr. White again writes Mr. Bayard: 



Mr. White in Mr. Bayard. 



No. 725.] Lkgatiox of the United States, 



London, April 20, ISSS. (Received April 30.) 



Siii: I?clVniii<,v to vonr instructions Nos. 685, 782, and 810, to Mr. PLelps'.s dis- 

 patclies Kos. iil.-^ ;uul (i;'{), and to subsefpient coriespondence, I have the honor to 

 acquaint you tiiat 1 call";! at the foreign office on the Kith iust.iiit for the purpose of 

 discussing witli the Marfjuis of Salisbury and M. de Staal, tlie Russian euibassador, 

 the details of the projiosed conventional arrangement for the protection of seals in 

 Bering Sea. 



M. de Staal expressed a desire, on helialf of his Government, to include in the area 

 to be protected by tlie convention tlie Sea of Okhotsk, or at least that ])ortion of it 

 in which Roliben Island is situated, there being, he said, in ttiat region large num- 

 bers of seals, whose destruction is threatened in the same way as those in iiehriiig 

 Sea. 



He also urged that measures be taken by the insertion of a clause in the proposed 

 coiTfention or otherwise, for prohil)iting the iinjtortation, by merchant vessels, into 

 the seal-protected .area, for sale therein, of alcoholic drinks, tirearms, gunpowder, 

 and dynamite. 



Lord yalisbury expressed no opinion with regard to the latter proposal, but, with 

 a view to meeting the Russian Goveniinent's wishes respc^ctuig the waters surround- 

 ing Robben Island, he suggested tliat, besides the whole of Behring Sea, those 

 portions of the Sea of (Okhotsk and of the Faeilic Ocean north of north latitude 47'-' 

 should be included in the proposed arrangement. 



This suggestion of Lord Salisbury's, therefore, carried the protected 

 areafurtlier iSoiith. 



Mr. Phelps. The vsuggestion of M. de Staal, you mean. 



Mr. Cautek. No, of Lord Salisbury. Lord Salisbury's suggestion 

 carried the i)r<)tected area further South from the aOth parallel of lati- 

 tude down as far as the point upon which my pointer rests (indicating 

 on nsap), and to include the whole of that part of the Pacific Ocean, so 

 as to embrace not only the Commander Islands, but also liobben Island 

 in the Sea of Okotsk. 



His Lordship (that is Lord Salisbury) intiinated further that the 

 period proposed by the United States for a close time from April 15th 

 to November 1st miglit interfere with the trade longer than absolutely 

 necessary for the protection of the seals, etc. 



The learned Arbitrators will perceive that at this i)oint the communi- 

 cating diplomats were so far agreed upoti the subject that it was con- 

 ceived by L<nd Salisbury to be in a condition for the preparation of a 

 draft convention. 



Afterwards, on the first of May, Mr. Bayard addresses Mr. White: 

 and it is iu answer to the last note of Mr. White, which I have just 

 read : 



Mr. Bayard to Mr. Wliite. 



No. 864.] Depaktment of State, Washington, May 1, ISSS. 



Sin: Your dispatch No. 725 of the 20th ultimo stating the result of your interview 

 with Lord Salisbury and the Russian embassador relative to the protection of seals 

 in Behring Sea, and requesting further instructions as to their proposals, has been 

 received. 



As you have already been instructed, the Department does not object to the inclu- 

 sion of the Sea of Okhotsk, or so much of it as may be necessary, in the arrange- 

 ment for the protecticui of the seals. Nor is it thought absolutely necessary to insist 

 on the extension of the close season till the 1st of November. 



Only such a period is desired as may be retjuisite for the end in view. But in order 

 that success may be assured iu the eti'orts of the various Governmeiils interested in 

 the protection of the seals, it seems advisable to take the 15th of October instead of 

 the 1st as the date of the close season, although, as I am now advised, the 1st of 

 November would be safer. 



