APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 63 
out means, and, had they been detained until the expiration of their sentences, would 
have become objectsof charity among strangers until the sailing of the next monthly 
steamer. 
As these seizures have most probably raised an international question involving 
the right of the United States to exclusive jurisdiction over the waters of the 
Behring’s Sea north of the Aleutian Islands and east of the 193rd meridian west lon- 
gitude, it may not be unbecoming in me to suggest that unless that right is insisted 
upen and maintained, an industry which now yields a revenue equal to a fair rate of 
interest on the amount paid for the whole of Alaska will not only be destroyed, but 
the means of livelihood will likewise be taken away from a large number of people 
whom the Government is bound by every consideration of honour and public policy 
to protect. I can conceive of no other plan by which the seal fisheries can be pre- 
served than the one long ago adopted and now in vogue; whether they ought not 
now to be yielding a very much larger revenue to the Government is a question to be 
discussed a year or two hence. It is reasonably certain, however, that unless our 
Government asserts and maintains the jurisdiction ceded to it by Russia, the Seal 
Tslands willin a very few years be robbed of all present or prospective value to 
any one. 
It is just as essential to the preservation of this industry that the seals be pro- 
tected against indiscriminate slaughter while on their way to and from their breed- 
ing places as that the number to be taken on the islands should be limited, and every 
necessary restriction imposed as to age, sex, and the mode of killing. The use of 
fire-arms is prohibited by law, even to the natives, in the killing of seal and other 
fur-bearing animals in Alaskan waters and on the islands thereof, and it would be 
a manifest act of injustice to them to permit either foreign or American vessels to 
enter and engage in the indiscriminate shooting of such animals in waters 
46 over which tle United States claims and exercises exclusive jurisdiction and 
control. Unless our right to such jurisdiction be waved or abandoned, seals 
once in Behring’s Sea are as much the property of the United States as the islands 
themselves, and should be no less zealously guarded than are the Newfoundland 
cod-banks by the Dominion of Canada. Unless so guarded, chartered rights will 
not only be impaired, but a source of large and perpetual revenue to the Government 
utterly destroyed. 
But there are other than selfish reasons why the United States should insist upon 
its right to exclusive jurisdiction over the waters of Behring’s Sea as far west as 
the boundary line described in the Treaty of Cession. The principal occupation 
of the inhabitants, some 10,000 or 12,000 in number, of the islands therein and adja- 
cent thereto, is sea-otter hunting, an occupation which will be completely destroyed 
if its waters are thrown open to all who choose to enter. It is manifestly the duty 
of the Government to protect these people in the enjoyment of rights which to them 
are inherent; an abandonment of the jurisdiction claimed by us would be practi- 
cally assenting that the people in question may be driven from their homes and the 
employment by which they and their fathers for generations remote have obtained 
a livelihood. 
TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES NEEDED. 
In the foregoing connection I desire to call attention to the imperative necessity 
which exists for some means of transportation for the officials of the Civil Govern- 
ment to and from the different parts of the Territory. In the present condition of 
affairs the Marshal canonly reach a very few points to serve the processes of the Court, 
and in each and every case must undergo an enforced absence of at least a month. 
The civil officials are charged with the responsibility of enforcing the laws, and yet 
are not furnished with the means absolutely necessary to enable themto do so. The 
authorities at Washington do not seem to realize the fact that there are no waggon or 
other roads in Alaska, and that all travel must necessarily be by water. Crimes are 
reported from the various places of settlement, but the executive officers have no 
available means of going from place to place to make arrests and enforce the laws. 
Smuggling is carried on, distilled spirits are being surreptitiously imported into the 
Territory in spite of the decision of the District Court, thousands of dollars’ worth 
of dutiable merchandize is imported across the border from British Columbia, and 
we are powerless to prevent any of these things. 
If a sprightly Revenue cutter could be stationed here with orders to cruize in the 
inland waters of South-eastern Alaska, and give aid to the Civil Government, by 
carrying its officers to points necessary to be visited by them on official business, 
bringing witnesses and jurors, &c., 1 am reasonably certain the lawlessness now 
so prevalent could be broken up, the Governmenf’s revenue secured, the laws 
enforced, and life and property rights fully protected. Until something is done in 
this direction to enable the officials to perform their duties, civil government in 
Alaska will be little better than a ridiculous farce. 
