221 CHAPTER XII. 



Management of the Pribyloff Islands by Bussia and by the United States. 



HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF MANAGEMENT. 



The United States Contentions. 



(1.) United States Case, p. 131 — 

 "Under the general protective system adopted by Russia for seal life and the 

 restrictions added from time to time, the seal herd continued to increase, until 

 the Managers of the Russian-American Company considered it possible and 

 expedient to talie 70,000 skins from St. Paul Island without danger of depleting 

 the seal population." 

 (2.) United States Case, p. 74 — 

 "It was the fur industry more than all other considerations which decided the 

 United States to pay the sum of 7,200,000 dollars required by Russia for the ces- 

 sion and transfer of her sovereign rights and property." 

 (3.) United States Case, p. 132— 

 "When the United States came into possession of these islands by the cession of 

 1867, it was impossible immediately to formulate an administrative system for 

 all portions of the territory then so little known and so distant from the seat of 

 government. The year 1868 was one of interregnum in the Pribilof Islands." 

 (4.) United States Case, p. 133— 

 "The following spring (1869) the Government Agent, Dr. H. H. Mclntyre, and a 

 revenue vessel, under command of Captain John A. Henriques, reached the 

 islands, and immediately took precautions to protect the seal herd from moles- 

 tation." 

 (5.) United States Case, p. 134 — 

 " Various recommendations and suggestions were made to the Congress of the 

 United States in relation to this luattt r, but after a thorough and careful exami- 

 nation of the various methods proposed the most expedient was found to be the 

 leasing of the islands to a single, reliable Company, under the immediate super- 

 vision and control of Agents of the United States Treasury Department duly 

 appointed for that purpose." 

 (6.) United States Case, p. 153— 

 " I do not see how it is possible to conduct the sealing process with greater care 

 or judgment." 

 (7.) United States Case, p, 296— 



"That the present existence of the herd is due wholly to the care and protection 

 exercised by the United States and by Russia." 



Summary of British Reply. 



A historical review of the management of the Pribyloff Islands by Russia, shows 

 that till 1806 practically no care was exercised; that between 1806 and 1835 

 222 the number of seals generally diminished; that from about 1842 it gradually 

 increased, under an improved control ; and that the rookeries were in excellent 

 condition when Alaska was ceded to the United States in 1867. 

 During the years from 1820 to 1867, statistics show that the aimual average number 

 of seals killed did not exceed 45,000. 

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