Xir FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



office was called to this subject on April 4, 188L Tbis conimmiication is aflrlressod 

 to yon, inaaiimcli as it is nnilerstood tliat certain parties at your port couteiiiplato the 

 fifliiigoiit of I'xpedifioiis to kill fur seals in these waters. Yon arereqiietted to give 

 <lae publicity to such L-itcrs iu order that such parties may be iiifuriiiod of the cou- 

 stniciiou placed by this Department upon the provision of lavv rot'erred to. 

 ResiJcctfuIly, yours, 



D. MANXINTr, 



Sccniarif. 

 Collector of Customs, 



San Francisco. 



It having been claimed by the Canadian authorities, in their brief re- 

 lating to the seizure of Canadian vessels in Bering iSea by our rcve- 

 ikue-cutters, that ex-Secretary Boutwell had decided that the IJiiited 

 States had no jurisdiction over Bering Sea outside of the three-mile 

 limit, the attention of Mr. Boutwell was called to the matter by Hon, 

 VV. W. Eaton, late chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, tTnited 

 States Senate, to which Mr. Boutwell made the following reply : 



Washington, January 18, 1888. 



Sir: Since the receipt of your letter of the 16th instant I have examined with care 

 the letter addressed to me, as Secretary of the Treasury, by T. G. Phelps, esq., then 

 ccliftctor of customs at the port of San Francisco, dated March 25, 1872, and also iny 

 offi-^ial reply thereto, dated' April 19, 1872, in relation to the purpose of certain parties 

 to capture fur seal on their annual migration to the islands of St. Paul and St. George 

 through the Ouiinak Pass and through the neighboring approaches to the islands. 

 Upon tbe examination of the correspondence my recollection is in a degree refreshed 

 and my knowledge of the circumstances revived. 



The fourth sentence of Mr. Phelps's letter appears to proceed upon the idea that it 

 was the purpose of the hunters, as their purpose was then tinderstood by him, to 

 take the seals upon the P.icific Ocean side of the Aleutian range of islands and near 

 the passes mentioned and through which the animals were destined to move, and 

 such was the view taken by me and on which my reply was based. 



Nor can I now see that there is ground for any other reasonable construction of the 

 correspondence. 



Mr. Phelps appears to have apprehended a diversion of seals from the Onimak 

 Pass and the narrow straits near tliat pass, and his suggestion of a remedy was limited 

 to the same field. Therefore, neither upon my recollection of i'acts as thi'y were un- 

 derstood by me in 1872, nor upon the present reading of the correspondence, do I ad- 

 mit the claim of Great Britain that my letter is an admission of any right adverse to 

 the claims of the United States in the waters known as Bering Sea. My letter had 

 reference solely to the waters of the Pacific Ocean south of the Aleutian Islands. 

 Very respectfully, 



George S. Boutwkll. 



Hon. W. W. Eaton, 



TVashingtnn, D. C. 



On the 12th day of October, 1870, Secretary Boutwell wrote to the 

 collector of customs at San Francisco as follows : 



Your communication of the 27th ultimo is received, in relation to the illegjil killing 

 of the fur seals at places in Alaska other than the islands of St. Paul and St. George. 

 In reply, I transmit herewith a letter addressed to the collector at Sitka, instructing 

 him to issne strict orders to his subordinates for the prevention of such illegal killing 

 and traffic and for the bringing of the offenders to punishment ; and also for the seiz- 

 ure of all such seal skins illegally taken as aforesaid, and for their transmittal to 

 your port for forfeiture. • • # (^gge Ex. Doc. No. 83, first session Forty-fourth 

 Congress.) 



In October of last year the question as to the right of the United 

 States to exclusive dominion and jurisdiction over our part of Bering 

 Sea came before the United States district court in Alaslca, in the 

 cases of the United States vs. The British schooners Do/j>/<i», AnnaBech, 

 Grace., and Ada, charged with violating the law prohibiting the killing 

 of fur seals in Alaskan waters. 



A stipulation, signed by the Queen's counsel, Mr. N. W. T. Drake, on 

 the part of the British owners, and Mr. A. K. Delaney, upon the part 

 of the United States, was filed, in which it was agreed and conceded that 



