216 APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
But in making this communication to you, I am instructed to state that this action 
on the part of Her Majesty’s Government must not be taken as an admission of the 
rights of jurisdiction in Behring’s Sea exercised there by the United States authori- 
ties during the fishing seasons of 1886-87 and 1887-88, nor as affecting the claims 
which Her Majesty’s Government will have to present on account of the wrongful 
seizures which have taken place of British vessels engaged in the seal-fishing 
industry. 
I have, &o. (Signed) L. S. SACKVILLE WEST. 
[Inclosnre 2 in No. 118.] 
Mr. Bayard to Sir L. West. 
DEPARTMENT OF Sate, Washington, March 30, 1888. ~ 
Sir: Ihave the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 26th instant, 
in which you inform the Department that the action of Her Majesty’s Government 
in respect to the proposal of this Government for an arrangement to protect the fur- 
seal from extermination in Behring’s Sea is not to be taken as an admission of the 
jurisdiction of the United States over Behring’s Sea, nor as affecting the claims 
which Her Majesty’s Government will have to present on account of the seizure of 
certain British vessels in those waters. 
I have, &c. (Signed) - T. F. BAyarD. 
No. 119. 
Sir L. West to the Marquis of Salishury.—(Received April 16.) 
WASHINGTON, April 5, 1888, 
My Lorp: With reference to my despatch of the 19th March, I have 
the honour to inclose to your Lordship herewith copy of a Memo- 
195 randum sent to me by the lawyer engaged in the case of certain 
seal-skins ordered to be sold at Sitka, from which your Lordship 
will perceive that the matter has been satisfactorily adjusted. 
Lhave communicated this Memorandum to the Marquis of Lansdowne. 
I have, &e. 
(Signed) L. S. SACKVILLE WEST. 
- [Inclosure in No. 119.] 
Memorandum by Mr. Benjamin. 
The District Judge for Alaska having refused to admit British Columbian claim- 
ants to the privileges of the Attorney-General’s Order of last December, prescribing 
that condemned sealing-vessels and cargoes might be released to their late owners, 
pending appeal, upon supersedeas bonds, with sureties, residing in Alaska, Califor- 
nia, Oregon, or Washington Territory (said District Judge contending that the 
Order related only to the cases of American claimants), I laid before the Attorney- 
General, on the 31st ultimo, the case of the British owner of 1,400 seal-skins, ordered 
to be sold under Condemnation Decree at Sitka on the 18th instant, said owner hay- 
ing tendered a valid appeal bond with sureties, residing at San Francisco. 
To-day, during my attendance upon the Attorney-General, he sent a joint telegram 
to the District Judge and the District Attorney at Sitka, advising them that his 
Order of last December was intended to apply to all claimants, irrespective of 
nationality. 
The telegram will go by mail from Port Townsend, and will reach Sitka before the 
day of sale in due course. 
The Attorney-General expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the officers 
at Sitka in putting so narrow a construction upon the original Order. 
(Signed) CHARLES F. BENJAMIN, 
Counsellor-at-Law. 
WASILINGTON, April 4, 1888. 
cei) a. oe 
