APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 809 
No. 75. 
Sir hk. Morier to the Marquis of Salisbury.—( Received June 29.) 
ST. PETERSBURGH, June 19, 1891. 
My Lorp: M. De Giers having, when I was at his country place 
Sunday week, promised to let me have an answer on the subject of the 
Behring’s Sea seal fisheries in the course of last week, and Saturday 
having come without my receiving a reply, I wrote an urgent letter to 
his Excellency Saturday night, reminding him of his promise. 
On Monday I learnt his Excellency was coming up to town, and on 
Wednesday I called at the Foreign Office to inquire whether any deci- 
sion had been come to. I pointed out to his Excellency that your Lord- 
ship’s last proposal communicated to him in my note of the 29th May 
(10th June) seemed to me to have much simplified matters, and that I 
regretted that there seemed so little prospect of a decision being come 
to by the Imperial Government. His Excellency said that he regretted 
more than he could say that he had not as yet succeeded in obtaining 
an answer from the Minister of Domains; he had in a large measure 
come up from Finland to see what could be done by personal discussion 
with M. Ostrovsky and the Representative of the Ministry of Marine— 
that Department having started difficulties as to the ships that would 
be required to enforce the arrangement, and he had arranged a meeting 
for this purpose that evening. 
I did not see M. de Giers prior to his return to Finland, but M.Shish- 
kine, whom | saw to-day, told me that the question had been referred 
to a Committee, consisting of himself as Representative of the Minis- 
try for Foreign Affairs, M. Wyshniakoff, the Under-Secretary of the 
Ministry of Domains, as the Representative of that Department, and 
Admiral Titacheff as the Representative of the Ministry of Marine. 
He promised to let me know as soon as the result was come to, but 
as yet I have heard nothing from him. He was himself, no Jess than 
M. de Giers, most strongly in favour of Russia’s joining in the proposed 
action not only for the sake of a year’s close season, but because, if the 
Russian Government did not join with us and herself enforce a close 
season, the sealing boats driven out from the waters to the east of the 
line of 1867 would all swarm westwards and make war on Russian 
seals. The present difficulty seemed to be that the Ministry of Marine 
refused to provide the coals necessary for the naval operations; light 
eruizers would not suffice; one large man-of-war at least would be 
required to accompany the eruizers, and act as a central point from 
which to direct the operations of the latter, but this would require her 
to be continuously under steam for several months, and this was an 
expense which at present they were not prepared to meet, but he had 
every hope that the matter would nevertheless be settled in a satisfae- 
tory manner. 
I have, &e. 
(Signed) Kt. B. D. MORTER. 
P.S. JUNE 24.—I have not yet heard from M. Shishkine, and hav- 
ing called at the Ministry to-day, which is the ordinary day of reception, 
I did not find his Excellency in. 
KiB: DM, 
