388 HISTORY AND METHODS OF THE FISHERIES. 



XII. All transfers of the capital stock of this company, made to persons not citizens of the 

 United States, or made for the use or benefit of any citizen or citizens of any foreign Government, 

 are absolutely void. 



XIII. Dividends from the net profits of the company may be declared and paid by order of 

 the board of trustees, in accordance with law. 



XIV. These by-laws may be altered or amended by the board of trustees in the manner pre- 

 scribed by law. 



REGULATIONS FOB CONDUCT OF AFFAIRS ON THE SEAL ISLANDS. 



OFFICE ALASKA COMMERCIAL COMPANY, 



San Francisco, January, 1872. 



The following regulations are prescribed for the guidance of all concerned : 

 1. The general management of the company's affairs on the islands of Saiut Paul and Saint 

 George is intrusted to one general agent, whose lawful orders and directions must be implicitly 

 obeyed by all subordinate agents and employe's. 



* 2. Seals can only be taken on the islands during the months of June, July, September, and 

 October in each year, except those killed by the native inhabitants, for food and clothing, under 

 regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. Female seals and seals less than one 

 year old will not be killed at any time, and the killing of seals in the waters surrounding the 

 islands, or on or about the rookeries, beaches, cliffs, or rocks, where they haul up from the sea to 

 remain, or by the use of fire-arms, or any other means tending to drive the seals away from the 

 islands, is expressly forbidden. 



3. The use of fire-arms on the islands, during the period from the first arrival of seals in the 

 spring season until they disappear from the islands in autumn, is prohibited. 



4. No dogs will be permitted on the islands. 



5. No person will be permitted to kill seals for their skins on the islands, except under the 

 supervision and authority of the agents of the company. 



6. No vessels other than those employed by the company, or vessels of the United States, 

 will be permitted to touch 'at the' islands, or to land any persons or merchandise thereon, except in 

 cases of shipwreck or vessels in distress. 



* 7. The number of seals which may be annually killed for their skins on Saint Paul Island is 

 limited to seventy-five thousand, and the number which may be so killed on Saint George Island is 

 limited to twenty-five thousand. 



8. No persons other than American citizens, or the Aleutian inhabitants of said islands, will 

 be employed by the company on the islands in any capacity. 



9. The Aleutian people living on the islands will be employed by the company in taking seals 

 for their skins, and they will be paid for the labor of taking each skin and delivering the same at 

 the salt-house 40 cents, coin, until otherwise ordered by the Secretary of the Treasury. Tor 

 other labor performed for the company, proper and remunerative wages will be paid, the amount 

 to be agreed upon between the agents of the company and the persons employed. The working 

 parties will be under the immediate control of their own chiefs, and no compulsory means will ever 

 be used to induce the people to labor. All shall be free to labor or not, as they may choose. The 

 agents of the company will make selection of the seals to be killed, and are authorized to use all 

 proper means to prevent the cutting of skins. 



Sections 2 and 7 of the above regulations were based upon the law of July 1, 1870 ; but since then Congress has 

 given the Secretary of the Treasury the power to fix the ratio for each island upon a more intelligent understanding 

 of the subject, and also to extend the time for taking from the 1st of June up to the 15th of August. 



