152 FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



There is no ambiguity in this plain and emphatic assertion of the 

 distinguished Senator who had the undisputed charge of this subject ; 

 and, again referring to the subject in the course of his remarks, he de- 

 clared that — 



Iq the Aleutian range, besides inunmerable islets and rocks, there are not less 

 than fifty-live Islands exceeding 3 miles in length ; there are seven exceeding 40 

 miles, Avith Oonimak, which is the largest, exceeding 73 miles. In our part of Ber- 

 ing Sea there are live considerable islands, the largest of which is St. Lawrence, 

 being more than 96 miles long. 



Tliis announcement of the distinct understanding of our Government, 

 made by its chief representative, the chairman of the Committee on 

 Foreign Affairs of the Senate of the United States, not only gave no- 

 tice to our own people but to those of the entire civilized world that 

 our western boundary of empire was fixed by this treaty in Bering 

 Sea, and that this pelagic boundary was the "dividing line" between 

 Asia and America, and that " in our part of Bering Sea there are five 

 considerable islands, the largest of which is St. Lawrence, being more 

 than 9G miles long;" the others, not then specifically named by him, 

 are the famous Pribylov or Seal Islands, St. Matthew, and Nunivak. 



There was no concealment of the real purpose of Russia * when she 

 made this cession of her Alaskan territory to us, and we were equally 

 frank in accepting it. She declared her ownership of this sea of Ber- 

 ing, and proved her title by dividing it with us in the presence of the 

 nations of the earth, without a single remonstrance coming from any 

 quarter. We accepted this partition of Bering Sea as final, and Con- 

 gress by act (approved July 27, 18G8, 15 Stat. L., 240) declared : 



That the laws of the United States relative to customs, commerce, and navigation 

 be, and the same are hereby, extended to and over all the mainland, islands, and 

 waters of the territory ceded to the United States by the Emperor of Russia, by 

 treaty concluded at Washington on the 30th day of March, A. D. 1867, so far as the 

 same may be applicable thereto. 



In obedience to this treaty stfpulation and law, the highest authority 

 in the laud, the Treasury Department has regularly ordered and en- 

 forced that command of Congress which prohibits the killing of fur seals 

 and other fur-bearing animals within the waters of Alaska. The en- 

 forcement of this law is the cause of seizure during the last two years 

 of both British and American sealing vessels, as they were engaged up 

 there in busily killing fur seals without the permission of our Govern- 

 ment. 



Note. — Chapter 3, title 23, Revised Statutes, section 1956. The record of the Treas- 

 ury Department has been in perfect accord with the law. A letter of Secretary liont- 

 well, dated April 19, 1872, has been erroneously quoted as placing the Treasury De- 

 partment on record as opposed to the claim of control of the waters of Bering Sea. 

 Tlie letter, however, will not bear this Anolent interpretation, for it refers only to the 

 open waters of the Pacific Ocean, which fill the entrance to Oonimak Pass of the Aleu- 

 tian chain. 



Mr. Boutwell, himself, in a letter recently written, objects to this mistaken inter- 

 pretation above cited of his official writing, and declares that he referred only to 

 those waters of the North Pacific Ocean outside of the "3-mile limit," as being be- 

 yond the control of our Government, and did not relate to Bering Sea. 



The Chairman. In connection with that history, will you also make 

 drawings of the Territory and boundary lines? Our dominion over 

 that sea is very important. 



The Witness. I will furnish the drawings with pleasure. 



Adjourned. 



* See the significant letters of Mr. Clay, U. S. minister at St. Petersburg, and the 

 informal memoranda sent to the Senate Avith the treaty by Secretary Seward. 



