8 ? 
the Extermination of Eur bearing Animals in Alaska,” approved July 
1st, 1870, and that by the terms of said lease, and the above mentioned 
Act, the said Company have the exclusive right to engage in the busi¬ 
ness of taking fur seals on said Islands and the Islands adjacent thereto. 
No vessels other than those belonging to said Alaska Commercial 
Company, or to the United States, will be permitted to touch or land at 
either of said Islands, or the Islands adjacent thereto, nor will any 
person be allowed thereon except the authorized agents of the United 
States, and of said Company. 
T. G. PHELPS, Collector of Customs. 
This villainous law, passed ostensibly for the protection of 
far bearing animals, should have been more justly entitled : An 
Act to Enslave the People of Alaska , to Obstruct the Fisheries , 
and to Check the Development of the North-west Coast . By the 
terms of this act the inhabitants of St. Paul, St. George and 
the adjacent islands are strictly walled in, being forbidden any 
intercourse with u the rest of mankindthey are forced by 
necessity to sell their products to the company, and to receive 
such considerations in return as this soulless monopoly may see 
fit to give. The obstructions which the fur company has in 
former years thrown in the way of individual traders and fisher¬ 
men in those regions, are very w'ell known. The subsidized 
federal officers in the interests of the company, have given much 
trouble to private enterprises ; several vessels have been seized, 
on very flimsy pretexts, and sent for trial to San Francisco. 
In every instance those vessels have been liberated, and the 
masters and supercargoes exonerated by the courts. Voj'ages 
have thus been broken up, heavy losses have fallen upon humble 
adventurers, failures have followed, and peaceful commerce has 
been seriously obstructed. Several suits for heavy damages 
are now pending in the courts on the North Pacific coast, 
against the revenue officers formerly serving on the coast of 
Alaska. 
During our sojourn in Alaska we met Gen. J. C. Davis, 
Commander of the Department of Alaska; in him we found a 
kind, Christian officer, free from sordid motives, and strongly 
imbued with the future welfare of the helpless people over whom 
he governed. The opinions of this brave officer deserve 
respect. We submit his expressed views on the “ Fur-Seal 
Monopoly,” and the influence which this privileged body exerts 
over the helpless people dependent upon it. He says : “ Since 
the declaration of Congress, at its last session, of St. Paul and 
