280 FUR-SEAL FISHERIES OF ALASKA. 



that section shall, for each offense, be fined, not less than two hundred nor more than 

 one thousand dollars, or be imprisoned not more than six months, or both ; and that 

 all vessels, with their tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo, found engaged in viola- 

 tion of that section shall be forfeited. 



No fur-bearing animals will, therefore, be allowed to be killed by persons other 

 than the natives within the limits of Alaska Territory, or in the waters thereof, ex- 

 cept fur seals taken by the Alaska Commercial Company, in pursuance of their lease. 

 The use of fire-arms by the natives in killing otter during the months of May, June, 

 July, August, and September is hereby prohibited. No vessel will be allowed to 

 anchor in the well-known otter killing grounds, except those which may carry parties 

 of natives to or from such killing grounds ; and it will be the duty of the officers of 

 the United States, who may be in that locality, to take all proper measures to enforce 

 all the pains and penalties of the law against persons found guilty of a violation 

 thereof. White men lawfully married to natives and residing within the Territory 

 are considered natives within the meaning of this order. 



John Sherman, 

 Seo-etary of the Treasury. 



WINE AND BEER. 



The Treasury Department, in a letter to the collector of customs at Sitka, Alaska- 

 dated October 7, 1881, held that section 1955, Revised Statutes, which prohibits ship 

 ments of distilled spirits to Alaska, does not include Avine; and also by letter dated 

 December 5, 1881, to the collector of customs at Port Townsend, Wash., that said sec- 

 tion does not include beer, which is a fermented liquor and not a distilled spirit. 



Previous instructions were modified accordingly. 



COPY OF LEASE FROM THE UNITED STATES TO THE ALASKA COMMERCIAL COMPANT 

 OF THE RIGHT TO TAKE FUR SEALS IN ALASKA. — DELIVERED AUGUST 31, 1870. 



This indenture, in duplicate, made this third day of August, A. D. eighteen hundred 

 and seventy, by and between William A. Richardson, Acting Secretary of the Treas- 

 ury, in pursuance of an act of Congress approved July 1st, 1870, entitled "An act 

 to prevent the extermination of fur-bearing animals in Alaska," and the Alaska Com- 

 mercial Company, a corporation duly established under the laws of the State of Cal- 

 ifornia, acting by John F. Miller, its president and agent, in accordance with a reso- 

 lution of said corporation duly adopted at a meeting of its board of trustees held 

 January 31st, 1870, witnesseth: 



That the said Secretary hereby leases to the said Alaska Commercial Company, with- 

 out power of transfer, for the term of twenty years from the first day of May, 1870, 

 the right to engage in the business of taking fur seals on the islands of St. George 

 and St. Paul within the Territory of Alaska, and to send a vessel or vessels to said 

 islands for the skins of such seals. 



And the said Alaska Commercial Company, in consideration of their right under 

 this lease, hereby covenant and agree to pay for each year during said term, and in 

 proportion during any part thereof, the sum of fifty-five thousand dollars into the 

 Treasury of the United States, in accordance with the regulations of the Secretary 

 to be made for this purpose under said act, which payment shall be secured by de- 

 posit of United States bonds to that amount ; and also covenant and agree to pay 

 annually into the Treasury of the United States under said rules and regulations a 

 revenue tax or duty of two dollars upon each fur-seal skin taken and shipped by 

 them in accordance with the provisions of the act aforesaid ; and also the sum of 

 sixty-two and one-half cents for each fur-seal skin taken and shipped, and fifty-five 

 cents per gallon for each gallon of oil obtained from said seals for sale on said islands 

 or elsewhere and sold by said company. And also covenant and agree, in accordance 

 with said rules and regulations, to furnish, free of charge, the inhabitants of the 

 islands of St. Paul and St. George annually, during said term, twenty-five thousand 

 dried salmon, sixty cords fire-wood, a sufficient quantity of salt, and a sufficient num- 

 ber of barrels for preserving the necessary supply of meat. 



And the said lessees also hereby covenant and agree, during the term aforesaid, to 

 maintain a school on each island in accordance with said rules and regulations, and 

 suitable for the education of the natives of said islands, for a period of not less than 

 eight months in each year. 



And the said lessees further covenant and agree not to kill upon said island of St. 

 Paul more than seventy-five thousand fur seals, and upon the island of St. George 

 not more than twenty-five thousand fur seals per annum; not to kill any fur seal 

 apou the islands aforesaid in any other month except the months of June, July, Sep- 



