8 AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC QUESTIONS 



. . . The second ground on which we object to the ukase is 

 that His Imperial Majesty thereby excludes from a certain con- 

 siderable extent of the open sea vessels of other nations. We 

 contend that the assumption of this power is contrary to the law 

 of nations ; and we cannot found a negotiation upon a paper in 

 which it is again broadly asserted. We contend that no power 

 whatever can exclude another from the use of the open sea; a 

 power can exclude itself from the navigation of a certain coast, 

 sea, etc., by its own act or engagement, but it cannot by right be 

 excluded by another. This we consider as the law of nations. . . . 



These protests from the eagle and the lion succeeded in 

 enlightening the bear, for Russia immediately began to recog- 

 nize the feebleness of her asserted right to control the North 

 Pacific Ocean. After a short period of correspondence, Rus- 

 sia yielded all these exaggerated pretensions and made a 

 treaty with the United States (April 17, 1824), in which it 

 was agreed : 



. . . that, in any part of the Great Ocean, commonly called the 

 Pacific Ocean, or South Sea, the respective citizens or subjects 

 of the high contracting powers shall be neither disturbed nor re- 

 strained, either in navigation or in fishing, or in the power of 

 resorting to the coasts, upon points which may not already have 

 been occupied, for the purpose of trading with the natives, saving 

 always the restrictions and conditions determined by the follow- 

 ing articles. 



The " conditions and restrictions " referred to illicit trading 

 and the formation of settlements. 



By the fourth article of this convention Russia granted to 

 United States vessels, for a period of ten years, the privilege 

 of frequenting " without any hindrance whatever the interior 

 seas, gulfs, harbors, and creeks upon the coasts mentioned in 

 the preceding article for the purpose of fishing and trading 

 with the natives of the country." By this treaty also Rus- 

 sian possessions in North America were limited on the south 

 by the 54 40' parallel of latitude. 



When the stipulated period of ten years had elapsed, the 

 United States sought to renew the privilege of trading with 

 the natives of Alaska and of navigating the inner waters of 



