THE RUSSIAN AMERICAN COMPANY. 65 



Mnjesty's ministers primarily consider the rigiit and justice of a ques- 

 tion, and when rigiit or justice can not be obtained without sacrifice, 

 they make tlie lesser interests yiehl to the greater, and above all they 

 strive to secure the object in view Avithout resort to force or embroil- 

 ment with friendly powers. Without such sentiments no success could 

 be expected in any negotiations, and these principles will guide the 

 plenipotentiaries named l)y His Imperial j\lajesty to negotiate the ques- 

 tions in which the Russian American Company is interested. Our 

 cabinet, by the right of discovery, tirst settlement, and development, 

 claims sovereignty over the islands and western coast of America from 

 the nortl'.ernmost point to the r)5th degree of northern latitude. Great 

 Britain, on the other hand, advances the rights of the Hudson's Bay 

 Company, whose trading posts and stations are being pushed farther 

 and fartiier into the interior of the (jountry, and have almost reached the 

 Northwest Coast under the same parallel. The basis upon which these 

 contlcting claims are founded is almost identical, and it can not be 

 denied that through injudicious action on either side the most serious 

 and unfortunate consequences might at any time arise. Prudence de- 

 mands a speedy agreement between both sides interested. The most 

 practicable solution seemed this: To establish at a certain distance 

 from the shore a boundary line Avhicli both our trappers and hunters 

 and the employes of the Hudson's Bay Company must be for- 

 bidden to cross. The representatives of both powers recognized 

 the necessity of such a boundary, but the width of the strip of 

 coast necessary for the peaceable prosecution of the enterprises of 

 our Colonies, the direction of the line, and its initial point on the 

 mainland of America, .are subjects still under discussion, since the 

 envoy of His Britannic Majesty declares he must wait for further in- 

 structions from his couit. It is hardly necessary for me to repeat 

 that in all these negotiations with England we liave recognized, 

 and always Avill recognize, the paramount importance of the interests 

 of the Russian American Company in this matter; on the other 

 hand, we must consider the extent of rights in tlie interior and 

 the most practicable means of securing and maintaining the same. 

 As I observe above, it is necessary for the peaceable existence of our Col- 

 onies that their boundariesbe deftnedAvith the greatest possible accuracy. 

 The extent of territory between tlie coast and this l)ouudary should l)e 

 sullicient for the reciuirements of all our establishments now exisiting, 

 as Avell as of such as maybe founded in the future. At this pi)int,most 

 gracious iSir, you will permit me to remark that Ave have no right or 

 power to extend our claims in the interior of the American continent 

 to the Rocky Mountains. Such claims Avould. only give rise to disputes 

 and ]>ossible coniplications Avithout any visible advantages resulting 

 therefrom. On the other hand it is your Excellency's OAvnoj)inion that 

 those regions are nearly barren and Avithout proper soil to produce 

 breadstutts for our Colonies, and since the princijjal and almost exclu- 

 sive industry of our settlers consists in the capture, not of land, but of 

 marine animals, there seems to exist no necessity for an extended terri- 

 tory to the eastAvard of the boundary noAV proposed. Consequently 

 there can be no cause for a dispute on the subject of fixing the boun- 

 dary of this strip of coast. We must also consider that as long as we 

 avoid such disputes, the neighborhood of an enlightened people can not 

 oe injurious, but must be of adA'antage to the Colonies, affording facili- 

 ties for the purchase of suj)plies in case of need. There is no reason 

 to apprehend that the mere fact of having such a neighbor Avould compel 

 us to abandon any of the islands and coast heretofore occupied by us 

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