'2dS CHAPTER XVII. 



Mana(jn)icnf of the Pn'hi/Iof' Islandu h}/ Russia and hij the United 



/States — (continued). 



CONDITION OF THE NATIVES. 



The United States Contentions. 



(1.^ United States Case, pp. 110. Ml— 



" The impvovoment in the condition of the natives of the Pribilof Ishinds is one of 

 the niarkeil featnres of the benedt whioh has resnited from the nianauoniont of 

 those ishmds under the svstem adopted in 1870 bv the Congress of the 1,'nited 

 States." 



(2.) United States Case. p. 141— 

 " When the United States assnnied control of tlie Territory of Alaska the condition 

 of these natives was Avrotchcd in the extreme, tlie Knssian- American Company 

 havini; neglected their welfare, and forced them into practical slavery." 



(3.) United States Case. pp. 1-4-1, 145— 

 " . . . . The management of the Pribilof Islands by the United States has 

 raised the inhabitants in a few years from a state of ignorance, wretchedness, and 

 semibarbarism, which seventy years of the Knssian Company's occnpation had 

 failed to alleviate, to a condition of liberty and civilization, which Europe and 

 America need not feel ashamed to find among their citizens. 



"The civil government of the islands is provided for by sections 1973-1976 of the 

 Revised Statutes of the United States, under which the Agent and his assistants 

 are practically the Governors of the islands. They have the entire control of 

 the natives, protect them from the impositions of the lessees and agents, if such 

 are attempted, and see that the supplies required by law for their sustenance 

 are provided." 



Summary of British Reply. 



The people now resident upon the TribylolV Islands are not natives properly so-called, 

 but Aleuts, or the descendants of Aleuts, imported for the purpose of killing 

 seals and curing the skins. The islands were uninhabited when discovered by 

 the Russians; and the number ot' so-called natives is now so small that provision 

 may easily be made for their support, irresjiective of any queslions relating to 

 the sealing industry. 



The condition of the native inhabitants of the Pribyloff Islands is, further, by no 

 means so satisfactory as the statements given prominence to in the Case of the 

 United States would indicate. Otlicial Reports show that their advancement 

 towards civilization is small, and their sanitary condition bad. 



The treatment accorded to the natives by the Company leasing the islands has 

 throughout been governed by principles of self-interest ; and interference liy 

 the Cioverument, in the interest of the natiA'es, has been wanting or practically 

 iuetiective. 



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