76 RUSSIAN CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO 



Company and the organization of the Russian American Colonies, 

 directs, by a resohition approved by the Emperor on June 14, tliat in 

 the prei)aration of a new charter for the liussian American Company 

 and of the reguhitions for the government of the Colonies, the following 

 piinciples shall be adopted : 



1. Tlie term of the privileges, rights, and obligations of the company 

 expires the 1st day of January, 1882. 



2. The Company is authorized to issue, as heretofore, tichets for use in 

 the Colonies in the ]>laceof coin, which tickets shall have a fixed value 

 in commercial transactions within the Colonies. But, at the same time, 

 it shall be the duty of tlu^ Company to establish at several points in 

 the Colonies offices for the redemption of such tickets in coin or pa])er 

 cuirency. At the same time, both the terms of redemption and the 

 points at whirh redemjition shall take place must be determined by the 

 new charter of the C<»m)>any. 



3. It shall be, as heretofore, the duty of theCompaiiy to iiiiintain in 

 the Colonies churches and tluM'lergy, schools and hosi)itals; to furnish 

 supplies to all its emjjloyes, servants, and laborers; to organize at 

 places remote from ])orts o\)en to foreign commerce warehouses of ])ro- 

 visious and other necessary articles of consum])tion for the use of the 

 natives; to bear tlie expense of provisioning tlie garrison at Ncav Arch- 

 angel; and to authorize the chiefs of stations, managers, and other 

 offiicials in the service of the Company, to exercise all local administra- 

 tive functions. 



4. In the preparation of the new charter, the question should be 

 considered as to which of the rights granted by the last charter to the 

 Company's employes shonhl be i)reserved, and whether some distinction 

 should be made between ])eisons in the Company's service at St. I*e- 

 tersburg and those in the Colonies. At the same time, the Board of 

 administration should be relieved from the political function now form- 

 ing part of tlie scope of its oi)erations. 



5. The Company stands under the special protection of the Emperor, 

 and short yearly re])orts of its operations are to be submitted through 

 the proper ministry for the consideration of His Majesty. 



6. The following riglits of the Com]iany are to be preserved: 



The right of flying the flag specially designated by His Majesty for 

 the Comi)any vessels, of using uniforms for their employes on the ves- 

 sels; and a seal with the imperial escutcheon; all the privileges now 

 enjoyed by the Company in regard to the recruiting of nu'u in Eussia 

 and Siberia; in regard to the terms of tbeir passports and the paynuMit 

 of taxes for them; in the preparation of the new charter, the terms 

 should be fixed beyond which the hired men shall not be lial)le to de- 

 tention in the Colonies for debts dne the Com])any; also the i)eriod of 

 time within which the men in the service of tlie Company inay be re- 

 turned to the iilaces of their birth at the reriuest of courts of justice 

 and (government officials. The exemjttion of the (-ompiuiy from the 

 duty of furnishing quarters to the military should be abolished, as also 

 the exemption from the duty of procuring every year a trade certificate 

 of the first guild, and proper licenses for the factories, warelumses, and 

 stores of the Company in Russia^ and Siberia, except for those situated 

 at the port of Ay an. 



7. The charter shall contain the conditions for the transfer to the 

 Government, after the cessation of the Comi)any's existence, of all 

 ])ublic buildings and works erected by tlu^ Company, designating tlios(^ 

 which shall be transferred without compensation, and those for which 



