SEIZURES OF 1886 AND 1887. 1()5 



generally recognized by the laws and usages of nations wliicli can war- 

 rant tlie claiuis and regnlaticnis." 



The Eussian minister in his rejily, dated the 28th February, after ex- 

 plaining how Eussia had acquired her possessions in North America, 

 said : 



I ought, in the last place, to request yoii to coBsirler, sir, that the Eiissian posses- 

 sions ill the Pacific Ocean extend on the northward coast of America from Behring's 

 Strait to the 51st degree of north latitude, and on the opposite side of Asia and the 

 islands adjacent from the same strait to the 45tli degree. The extent of sea of which 

 these possessions form tlie limits comprehends all the conditions Avhich are ordinarily 

 attacliedtoshut seas {' mers fermees') , and tiie Russian Government might consequently 

 judge itself authorized to exercise upon this sea the right of sovereignty, and esjieci- 

 ally that of entirely interdicting the entrance of foreigners; but it preferred only 

 asserting its essential rights without taking advantage of localities. 



On the 30th March Mr. Adams replied to the explanations given by 

 the Eussian minister. He stated that, with respect to the iiretension 

 advanced in regard to territory, it must be considered not only with ref- 

 erence to the question of territorial rights, but also to tliat prohibition 

 to the vessels of other nations, including those of the United States, to 

 api)roach within 100 Italian miles of the coasts. That from the period 

 of the existence of the United States as an indexiendeut nation their 

 vessels had freely navigated these seas, the right to navigate them be- 

 ing apart of that independence; and with regard to the suggestion that 

 " the Eussian Government might have justified the exercise of sover- 

 eignty over the Pacific Ocean as a close sea, 'because it chxims territory 

 both on its American and Asiatic shores,' it may suffice to say that the 

 distance from shore to shore on this sea, in latitude 51° north, is not 

 less than 90° of longitude or 4,000 miles." Mr. Adams concluded as 

 follows: 



The President is persuaded that the citizens of this Union will remain unmolested 

 in the prosecution of their lawful commerce, and that no effect will he given to an 

 interdiction manifestly incompatible with tlieir rights. 



The convention between the United States of America and Eus.sia of 

 the 17th April, 1824, ])ut aii end to any further pretension on the part of 

 Eussia to restrict navigation or fishing in Behring Sea so far as Ameri- 

 can citizens were concerned; for by Article 1 it was agreed that in any 

 part of the Great Ocean, connnoidy called the Pacific Ocean or South 

 Sea, the respective citizens or subjects of the high contracting x^ 'wers 

 shall neither be disturbed nor restrained, either in navigation or fish- 

 ing, saving certain restrictions which are not material to the i^resent 

 issue; and a similar stipulatinn in the convention between this country 

 and Eussia in the foHowing year (15th May, 1825), imt an end as re- 

 garded British subjects to the jn-etensions of Eussia to which I have 

 referred, and which had been entirely repudiated by Her Majesty's 

 Government in correspondence with the Eussian Government in 1821 

 and 1822, which for your more particular information I inclose herein. 



Her Majesty's Government feel sure that, in view of the considera- 

 tions which I have set forth in this dispatch, which you will communi- 

 cate to Mr. Bayard, the Government of the United States will admit 

 tliat the seizui<e and condemnation of these British vessels and the im- 

 ]nisonment of their masters and crews were not warranted by the cir- 

 cumstances, and that they will be ready to aftbrd reasonable compen- 

 sation to those who have sufi'ered in consequence, and issue immediate 

 instructions to their naval ofiicers which will i^revent a recurrence of 

 these regrettable incidents. 

 I am, etc., 



Sajlisbury. 



