APPENDIX TO COUNTER-CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



345 



8. lu conclusion we must not lose sight 

 of the fact that the Convention of the 

 5th (17th) April settles all disputes to 

 which the Edict of the 4th (16th) Sep- 

 teniher, 1821, gave rise; an Edict issued 

 at the formal and repeated request of the 

 Russian-American Company. These dis- 

 putes have become of considerable im- 

 portance, and might be renewed again if 

 Russia should fail to uphold the Conven- 

 tion, and in that case it would be impossi- 

 ble to foresee the end or the consequences. 

 These weighty reasons induce a majority 

 of the members of the Committee to re- 

 cord their opinion : "That the Convention 

 of the 5th (17th) April must be sustained, 

 and that, in order to avoid an unnecessary 

 and unjustifiable altercation over this 

 Act, General Baron de Tuyll should, at 

 the proper time, offer a declaration pur- 

 suant to the project suggested in the com- 

 munication of Count Nesselrode." The 

 Minister of Finance and Actual State 

 Councillor Drushiniu agreed as to the 

 necessity of sustaining the Convention 

 of the 5th ( 17th) April, but they presented 

 and spread upon the Minutes a special 

 opinion, here appended, to the eifect that 

 Baron de Tuyll should, on the exchange 

 of ratifications, demand that the privi- 

 lege of free trade andtishorj', granted by 

 Article IV of the said Convention, 

 35 should extend only from latitude 

 54^ 40' to the latitude of Cross 

 Sound. 



A majoritj'^ of the members of the Com- 

 mittee remarked that since within the 

 designated latitudes the Russian-Ameri- 

 can Company possessed many Settle- 

 ments, the Ilnd Article of the Conven- 

 tion of the 5th (17th) April would afl:ord 

 them the desired protection, and if noth- 

 ing could be done in those regions but 

 hunting and fishing, it would be exceed- 

 ingly doubtful whether American citizens 

 would incur the risk and expense of navi- 

 gation for the purpose of carrying on 

 trade which gave such email promise of 

 reward for outlays in those high northern 

 latitudes, in which they could enjoy their 

 privileges for ten years only, and where, 

 at any rate, they would in hunting and 

 fishing meet with the active competition 

 of the Company which had preceded 

 them in those waters by so many years. 



On the other hand, it would appear 

 that thelimitation contained in the opin- 

 ion of his Excellency the Minister of Fi- 

 nance and of the Actual Councillor of 

 State Drushinin would put an end to the 

 comjilaints of the American Company, 

 and consequently the majority of the 

 Committee found it necessary to examine 

 further into the character of the limita- 

 tions, in order to ascertain to what extent 

 they may be adopted without infringing 

 upon the rights and advantages resulting 

 to Russia from the Convention of the 5tn 

 (17th) ApriL 



8. Lastly, we must not lose sight of the 

 fact that by the Treaty of the 5th (17th) 

 April all the disputes to which the Regu- 

 lations of the 4th (16th) September, 1821, 

 gave rise are terminated, which regula- 

 tions were issued at the formal and reit- 

 erated request of the Russian-American 

 Company; that those disputes had al- 

 ready assumed important proi)ortions and 

 would certainly be renewed if Russia did 

 not ratify the Treaty, in which case it 

 would be impossible to foresee the end 

 of them or their consequences. These 

 weighty reasons impel the majority of 

 the members of the Committee to state 

 as their opinion : 



That the Treaty of the 5th (17th) April 

 must be ratified, and that for the preven- 

 tion of any incorrect interpretation of 

 that Act, General Baron Tuyll may be in- 

 structed at the proi)er time to make the 

 declaration mentioned in the draft of the 

 communicationread by Count Nesselrode. 

 The Minister of Finance, and Acting 

 State Councillor Drushinin, while admit- 

 ting the necessity of ratifying the Treaty 

 of the 5th (17th) April, express and place 

 on record the special opinion hereto an- 

 nexed in the Protocol, to the effect that 

 Baron Tuyll should be instructed at the 

 exchange of the ratifications of that 

 Treaty to stipulate that the right of free 

 hunting and fishing granted by the Xllth 

 Article of the said Treaty shall extend 

 only from 54° 40' to the latitude of Cross 

 Sound. 



The majority of the members of the 

 Committee could not but observe, on the 

 one hand, that, as the Russian-American 

 Company has founded many Settlements 

 in the said latitude. Article II of the 

 Treaty of the 5th ('17th) April gives it the 

 desired security on this subject; that 

 even if it had simply organized hunting 

 and fishing in those regions it is extremely 

 doubtful whether American subjects 

 would undertake the expense necessary 

 for voyages to those northern latitudes, 

 in which they can enjoy their privileges 

 for only ten years, and whether in that 

 case they would expose themselves to 

 dangerous competition and would visit 

 those waters for hunting and fishing, 

 where they had long been anticipated by 

 the Company, as there would be little 

 hope for them of indemnifying themselves 

 for their expenses and losses. 



But seeing, on the other hand, that the 

 restrictions stated in the opinion of the 

 Minister of Finance and of State Council- 

 lor Drushinin put an end to aU the com- 

 plaints of the American Company, the 

 majority of the members of the Committee 

 have found it necessary to investigate 

 the nature of those restrictions, in order 

 to ascertain how far it is possible to in- 

 sist upon them without prejudice to the 

 rights and advantages accruing from the 

 Treaty of the 5th (17th) April. 



