76 CESSION OF ALASKA 



Eeport of con- fQj.^]^gj. gtates: "It scems to the committee to 



gressional c o m - 



lives' for^ purchase ^^^^^® been taken for granted that by the purchase 

 m.delfwto'^baveof Alaska the United States would acquire ex- 



been acquired. t. \ • r i ' ' t •' "d- 



elusive ownership ot and jurisdiction over Joeriiig 

 Sea, including its products, — the fur-seal, sea- 

 otter, walrus, whale, codfish, salmon, and other 

 fisheries; for it is on account of these valuable 

 products that the appropriation of the purchase 

 money was urged. 



"The extracts above quoted in reference to 

 these products are emphasized by the fact that 

 the fur-seal fisheries alone have already yielded 

 to the Government a revenue greater than the 

 entire cost of the territory. 



"It seems clear to the committee that if the 

 waters of Bering Sea were the 'high seas' these 

 products were as free to our fishermen and seal- 

 hunters as the Russians, and there was, therefore, 

 no reason on that account for the purchase. But 

 it was well understood that Russia controlled 

 these waters; that her ships of war patrolled them, 

 and seized and confiscated foreign vessels which 

 violated the regulations she had prescribed con- 

 cerning them; and the argument in favor of the 

 purchase was that by the transfer of the main- 

 land, islands, and waters of Alaska we would 



