1 :^,,S siBi:i:iA. 



oW^W) roubles per arinurn. However, iiotwiUi^iainJiiig Uie obvious ailvanta^/eousuess of thi-^ 

 proposition, nearer acquaintance with tlie matter showed the necessity of deferrinf: for some 

 lime the solution of ilie (luestidii of retaxinj/ the seal industry, in consequence of the question 

 raised in 1887 of an international agreement for the adoption of measures ai^ainst the pirat- 

 ical destruction of seals in Behring Sea. The result of this agreement determined, to a 

 considerable degree, the prolitableness of the undertaking. Moreover, it was borne in mind that 

 the renewal (if the rating of the Pribylov Islands, immiiifiit in 18!/', must afiv-ct the issue of 

 the lixing of the rent of the Commander Islands. 



The subsequent circumstances fully justified all llic above stated presup|)OSitions and 

 at the new auction a mass of candidates appeared fmrn among the n.-presentatives of Russian 

 industry with more advantageous propositions. Out of many competitors the Government gave 

 the preference to the firm «The Russian Seal Fisheries Association ;>, founded by (jriinwaldt, 

 Lepeshkin, Prozorov and Savich, and concluded a contract with it on the following princi- 

 pal bases: Section 1. Tiie terra of the lease is for 10 years, till February 19, 1901; the asso- 

 ciation is to receive from the administration of the Commander Islands the skins of seals, 

 beavers, and arctic foxes. Section 2. The quantity, season, place and method of killing the 

 animals is determined by the local authorities. Section 4. The association pays to the Crown 

 per sealskin 10.38 roubles; per first class beaver, 115.33') roubles; per second class beaver. 

 57.6675 roubles; per first class blue fox, 11 . 535 roubles; per second class blue fox, 5.77 roubles, 

 and per white fox, 2.31 roubles, all in gold. Section 8. The association is bound once a year to 

 furnish the islands with all necessaries with an addition of only 20 per cent to the purchase price. 

 Section 11. The association must employ ships exlusively under the Russian flag. During the first 

 year of its existence, 1891, the «Russian Seal Fisheries Association;) took from the administration 

 of the islands 30,689 sealskins, one first class and one second class beaver. In the following 

 year, 1892, there were handed over to the same association 31,315 sealskins, to the amount 

 of 325,049.70 roubles gold; beaver skins of the first class, 88, for 10.149.40 roubles, of the 

 second class 108, for 6,228.9 roubles; arctic foxes of the first quanlity 1,601 for 18.467.535 

 roubles; of the second 807, for 4.656.39 roubles, and finally, 9 white foxes, for 20.79 roubles, 

 or a total of 364,571.95 roubles gold, which is equivalent to half a million paper 

 roubles. 



Thus the new lessee from the Crown, notwithstanding a considerable diminution in 

 the number of animals killed, gave the Government fully five times as much as, in the course 

 of 20 years, was received from Hutchinson, Cool and Filipeus. 



The falling off in the number of animals killed, above referred to, is explained by the acti- 

 vity of the piratical schooners in Russian waters, which is increasing with every year. This is 

 caused by the increased protection of the American waters on the part of the Government 

 of the United States. The question of the preservation of the seal industry from destruction 

 by persons occupied in the illegal catching of these animals, possesses an extremely great 

 international Importance and therefore it is necessary to elucidate it as fully as possible. Already 

 in the lime of llie Russian - American Company, which acted almost without control in Behr- 

 ing Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk, foreign vessels were sometimes observed to appear off Russian 

 shores with the object of secretly bartering various goods for furs with the local inhabitants, or 



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