ORAL ARGUMENT OF JAMES C. CARTER, ESQ. 129 



The corainunicatiou of June 12, 1824, presented to nie by the directors of the com- 

 pany, coutaininff their reuiarlcs on the consequences which may result from the 

 ratiticatiou of the convention concluded April 5, 1824, between our t'ourt and the 

 North American Republic, was comnmnicated by me nt that time in the original to 

 the minister in charge of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Having now received 

 from him the infornuition that the recorded protocol of the proceedings of the special 

 committee which examined this subject by imperial order has received the full and 

 entire approval of His Imperial Majesty, I think it necessary to communicate to the 

 board of administration of the Russian American Company, for their information, 

 copies of the above-mentioned communication of Count Nesselrode to me, and also 

 the proceedings of the committee of July 21, 1824, inclosed in it, together with a 

 draft of a communication to me, prepared by His Excellency; which was also read 

 in the above-named committee and was left unsigned after it had been given final 

 consideration. 



From tliese documents the board will see that, for the avoidance of all misunder- 

 standings in the execution of the above-mentioned convention, and in conformity 

 with the desire of the company, the necessary instructions have already been given 

 to Baron Tuyll, our minister at Washinuton, to the effect that the northwestern 

 coast of America, along the extent of which, by the provisions of the convention, 

 free trading and tishing are permitted subjects of the North American States, extends 

 from 54'-' 40' northwards to Yakutat (Bering's) Bay. 



Lieut. Gen. Kankrin, 



Minister of Finance. 

 Y. Dkushinin, 



Director. 



That shows the interpretation placed by the Government of Russia 

 at that time upon the phrase used in the Treaty. The letter encloses 

 the abstract of a communication from Count Nesselrode to the Minister 

 of Finance. Count Nessclicx'e had much to do witli the negotiations 

 and conclusion of the Treaty. Now, that communication is quite a long 

 one, and I shall not read the whole of it; but I call attention to the 

 concluding passages of it at page 158: 



But seeing, on the other hand, that the restrictions stated in the opinion of the 

 Minister of Finance and of State Councilor Drushinin put an end to all the com- 

 plaints of the American Com])any, the majority of the members of the committee 

 have found it necessary to investigate the nature of those restrictions, in order to 

 ascertain how far it is possible to insist ui)on them without prejudice to the rights 

 and advantages accruing from the treaty of April 5-17. 



As the proj)osed restrictions refer to two chief points lying under different paral- 

 lels of latitude, namely : 



First. To Yakutat (Bering's) Bay, under parallel 59° 30'. 



Second. To Cross Bay or Sound (Cross Sound) under parallel 57° — the American 

 Comjiauy desires that subjects of the United States may not be permitted to hunt or 

 hsh in those bays; therefore, the majority of the members of the committee resolve: 



That, as regards the first of these points (Bering's Bay), it lies in a latitude where 

 the rights of Russia have never formed a subject of dispute, and that this important 

 circumstance permits us to include it in the general declaration concerning the 

 Aleutian Islands and the other northern places. 



That, as regards the second (Cross Sound), however, as it lies under the fifty- 

 seventh degree of north latitude, and consequently within the limits of those islands 

 and regions to which Russia's right of sovereignty has been disputed, it is imprac- 

 ticable to apply the same rule or to base the claim, of which it must be the subject, 

 on any other satisfactory jiroof. 



That apart from this, in order to exhaust all the measures showing the care of the 

 Government of His Imperial Majfbty for the interests of the Russian American Com- 

 pany, it is still possible to instruct Gen. Tuyll to use every eft'ort to persuade the 

 Washington Cabinet that, by accepting this restriction relating to Cross Sound, it 

 will prevent all unpleasant collisions between the subjects of the two powers. That 

 Gen. Tuyll must not, however, make this last proposition until he is convinced that 

 it will be accepted, and that it will not deter the Government of the United States 

 from ratifying the treaty of April .5-17. 



This resolution was unanimously adopted by all the members of the committee. 



St. Petersburg, July 21, 1824. 



Nesski.rode. 

 G. L. Kankrin. 

 Spehansky. 

 Drusiunin. 

 poletxca. 

 B S, PT XII 9 



