No. 3.
Earl of Iddesleigh to Sir L. S. Sackville
West.
*
Sir: Her Majesty’s Government a: e still awaiting a report on the result of the application which you were directed by my dispatch No. 181, [Page 1747] of the 9th. ultimo, to make to the Government of the United States for information in regard to the reported seizure by the United States revenue-cutter Corwin of three Canadian schooners while engaged in the pursuit of seals in Bering’s Sea.
In the mean while, further details in regard to these seizures have been sent to this country, and Her Majesty’s Government now consider it incumbent on them to bring to the notice of the United States Government the facts of the case as they have reached them from British sources.
It appears that the three schooners, named respectively the Carolina, the Onward, and the Thornton, were fitted out in Victoria, British Columbia, for the capture of seals in the waters of the Northern Pacific Ocean, adjacent to Vancouver’s Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, and Alaska.
According to the depositions inclosed herewith from some of the officers and men,* these vessels were engaged in the capture of seals in the open sea, out of sight of land, when they were taken possession of, on or about the 1st August last, by the United States revenue-cutter Corwin—the Carolina in latitute 55° 50′ north, longitude 168° 53′ west; the Onward in latitude 50° 52′ north, longitude 167° 55′ west; and the Thornton in about the same latitude and longitude.
They were all at a distance of more than 60 miles from the nearest land at the time of their seizure, and on being captured were towed by the Corwin to Oonalaska, where they are still detained. The crews of the Carolina and Thornton, with the exception of the captain and one man on each vessel detained at that port, were, it appears, sent by the steamer St. Paul to San Francisco, Cal., and then turned adrift, while the crew of the Onward were kept at Oonalaska.
At the time of their seizure the Carolina had 686 seal-skins on board, the Thornton 404, and the Onward 900, and these were detained, and would appear to be still kept at Oonalaska, along with the schooners, by the United States authorities.
According to information given in the Alaskan, a newspaper published at Sitka, in the Territory of Alaska, and dated the 4th September, 1886 it is reported:
- (1)
- That the master and mate of the schooner Thornton were brought for trial before Judge Dawson, in the United States district court at Sitka, on the 30th August last.
- (2)
- That the evidence given by the officers of the United States revenue-cutter Corwin went to show that the Thornton was seized while in Bering Sea, about 60 or 70 miles south south-east of St. George Island, for the offense of hunting and killing seals within that part of Bering Sea which (it was alleged by the Alaskan newspaper) was ceded to the United States by Russia in 1867.
- (3)
- That the judge in his charge to the jury, after quoting the first article of the treaty Of the 30th March, 1867, between Rnssia and the United States, in which the western boundary of Alaska is defined, went on to say: “All the waters within the boundary set forth in this treaty to the western end of the Aleutian archipelago and chain of islands are to be considered as comprised within the waters of Alaska, and all the penalties prescribed by law against the killing of fur-bearing animals must, therefore, attach against any violation of law within the limits heretofore described. If, therefore, the jury believe from the evidence that the defendants, by themselves or in conjunction with others, did, on or about the time charged in the information, kill any otter, mink, marten, sable, or fur-seal, or other fur-bearing animal or animals on the shores of Alaska or in the Bering Sea east of 193° of west longitude, the [Page 1748] jury should find the defendants guilty, and assess their punishment separately at a fine of not less than $200 nor more than $1,000, or imprisonment not more than six months, or by both such fine (within the limits herein set forth) and imprisonment.”
- (4)
- That the jury brought in a verdict of guilty against the prisoners, in accordance with which the master of the Thornton, Hans Guttounsen, was sentenced to imprisonment for thirty days, and to pay a fine of $500; and the mate of the Thornton, Norman, was sentenced to imprisonment for thirty days, and to pay a fine of $300; which terms of imprisonment are presumably now being carried into effect.
There is also reason to believe that the masters and mates of the Onward and Carolena have since been tried and sentenced to undergo penalties similar to those now being inflicted on the master and mate of the Thornton.
You will observe, from the facts given above, that the authorities of the United States appear to lay claim to the sole sovereignty of that part of Bering Sea lying east of the westerly boundary of Alaska, as defined in the first article of the treaty concluded between the United States and Russia in 1867, by which Alaska was ceded to the United States, and which includes a stretch of sea extending in its widest part some 600 or 700 miles easterly [westerly?] from the main-land of Alaska.
In support of this claim, those authorities are alleged to have interfered with the peaceful and lawful occupation of Canadian citizens on the high seas, to have taken possession of their ships, to have subjected their property to forfeiture, and to have visited upon their persons the indignity of imprisonment.
Such proceedings, if correctly reported, would appear to have been in violation of the admitted principles of international law.
I request that you will, on the receipt of this dispatch, seek an inter view with Mr. Bayard, and make him acquainted with the nature of the information which which Her Majesty’s Government have been furnished respecting this, matter, and state to him that they do not doubt that, if on inquiry it should prove to be correct, the Government of the United States will, with their well-known sense of justice, at once admit the illegality of the proceedings resorted to against the British vessels and the British subjects above mentioned, and will cause reasonable reparation to be made for the wrongs to which they have been subjected and for the losses which they have sustained.
Should Mr. Bayard desire it, you are authorized to leave with him a copy of this dispatch.
I am, etc.,
- Left at the Department of State by Sir L. S. Sackville West November 12, 1886.↩
- (1) Copy of a letter from Daniel Munroe, master of the Canadian sealing schooner Onward. (2) Copy of a letter from James Ogilvie, master of the Canadian sealing schooner Carolina. (3) Deposition of John Dallas, seaman on board the Thornton; of Thomas McLardy, cook on board the Carolina; of Edward Shields, seaman on board the Carolina; and of William Munsie, owner of the Carolina. All of the province of British Columbia. [These inclosures were not transmitted to the Department.]↩