Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, Transmitted to Congress, With the Annual Message of the President, December 9, 1891

Sir Julian Pauncefote to Mr. Wharton.

British Legation,
Washington, July 6, 1891.

Sir: I have the honor to transmit to you herewith, in accordance with instructions which I have received from the Marquis of Salisbury, copies of an act of Parliament enabling Her Majesty the Queen to prohibit by order in council the catching of seals by British ships in Behring Sea.

I likewise inclose copies of an order of Her Majesty in council issued in virtue of the powers given by the said act and prohibiting the catching of seals by British ships in Behring Sea, within the limits denned therein, from the 24th of June last until the 1st of May, 1892.

I have, etc.,

Julian Pauncefote.

[Inclosure 1.]

Order in council.

At the court at Windsor, the 23d day of June, 1891. Present, the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, Lord President, Earl of Limerick, Marquis of Salisbury, and Lord Arthur Hill.

Whereas by the seal fishery (Behring’s Sea) act, 1891, it is enacted that Her Majesty the Queen may by order in council prohibit the catching of seals by British ships in Behring’s Sea, or such part thereof as is defined by the said order, during the period limited by the order:

And whereas the expression “Behring’s Sea” in the said act means the seas known as Behring’s Sea within the limits described in an order under the said act.

Now therefore, Her Majesty, in virtue of the powers vested in her by the said recited act, by and with the advice of her privy council, is hereby pleased to order, and it is hereby ordered, as follows:

(1) This order may be cited as the seal fishery (Behring’s Sea) order in council, 1891.

(2) From and after the 24th day of June, 1891, until the 1st day of May, 1892, the catching of seals by British ships in Behring’s Sea as hereinafter defined is hereby prohibited.

(3) For the purposes of the said recited act and of this order the expression “Behring’s Sea” means so much of that part of the Pacific Ocean known as Behring’s Sea as lies between the parallel of 65° 30′ north latitude and the chain of the Aleutian Islands, and eastward of the following line of demarcation, that is to say, a line commencing at a point in Behring’s Straits on the said parallel of 65° 30′ north latitude, at its intersection by the meridian which passes midway between the islands of Krusenstern or Ignalook and the island of Katin an off or Noonarbook, and proceeding thence in a course nearly southwest through Behring’s Straits and the seas known as Behring’s Sea, so as to pass midway between the northwest point of the island of St. Lawrence and the southeast point of Cape Choukotski to the meridian of 172° west longitude; thence from the intersection of that meridian in a southwesterly direction, so as to pass midway between the island of Attou and the Copper Island of the Kormandorski couplet or group in the North Pacific Ocean, to the meridian of 193° west longitude.

C. L. Peel.

[Inclosure 2.]

Seal fishery (Behring’s Sea) act, 1891.

Chapter 19 (54 Vict.).—An act to enable Her Majesty, by order in council, to make special provision for prohibiting the catching of seals in Behring’s Sea by Her Majesty’s subjects during the period named in the order. (11th June, 1891).

Be it enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

1. (1) Her Majesty the Queen may, by order in council, prohibit the catching of seals by British ships in Behring’s Sea, or such part thereof as is defined by the said order, during the period limited by the order.

(2) While an order in council under this act is in force—

(a) A person belonging to a British ship shall not kill, or take, or hunt, or attempt to kill or take, any seal within Behring’s Sea during the period limited by the order; and

(b) A British ship shall not, nor shall any of the equipment or crew thereof, be used or employed in such killing, taking, hunting, or attempt.

(3) If there is any contravention of this act, any person committing, procuring, aiding, or abetting such contravention shall be guilty of a misdemeanor within the meaning of the merchant shipping act, 1854, and the ship and her equipment, and everything on board thereof shall be forfeited to Her Majesty as if an offense had been committed under section 103 of the said act, and the provisions of sections 103 and 104, and part 10 of the said act (which are set out in the schedule to this act) shall apply as if they were herein reënacted and in terms made applicable to an offense and forfeiture under this act.

(4) Any commissioned officer on full pay in the naval service of Her Majesty shall have power, during the period limited by the order, to stop and examine any British ship in Behring’s Sea, and to detain her, or any portion of her equipment, of any of her crew, if in his judgment the ship is being or is preparing to be used or employed in contravention of this section.

(5) If a British ship is found within Behring’s Sea having on board thereof fishing or shooting implements, or seal skins, or bodies of seals, it shall lie on the owner or master of such ship to prove that the ship was not used or employed in contravention of this act.

2. (1) Her Majesty the Queen in council may make, revoke, and alter orders for the purposes of this act, and every such order shall be forthwith laid before both Houses of Parliament and published in the London Gazette.

(2) Any such order may contain any limitations, conditions, qualifications, and exceptions which appear to Her Majesty in council expedient for carrying into effect the object of this act.

3. (1) This act shall apply to the animal known as the fur seal, and to any marine animal specified in that behalf by an order in council under this act, and the expression “seal” in this act shall be construed accordingly.

(2) The expression “Behring’s Sea” in this act means the seas known as Behring’s Sea within the limits described in an order under this act.

(3) The expression “equipment” in this act includes any boat, tackle, fishing or shooting instruments, and other things belonging to the ship.

(4) This act may be cited as the seal fishery (Behring’s Sea) act, 1891.

Schedule.

enactments of merchant shipping act (17 and 18 vict., c. 104) applied.

Section 103. * * * And in order that the above provisions as to forfeitures may be carried into effect, it shall be lawful for any commissioned officer on full pay in the military or naval service of Her Majesty, or any British officer of customs, ox any British consular officer, to seize and detain any ship which has, either wholly or as to any share therein, become subject to forfeiture as aforesaid, and to bring her for adjudication before the high court of admiralty in England or Ireland, or any court having admiralty jurisdiction in Her Majesty’s dominions; and such court may thereupon make such order in the case as it may think fit, and may award to the officer bringing in the same for adjudication such portion of the proceeds of the sale of any forfeited ship or share as it may think right.

Sec. 104. No such officer as aforesaid shall be responsible, either civilly or criminally, to any person whomsoever, in respect of the seizure or detention of any ship that has been seized or detained by him in pursuance of the provisions herein contained, notwithstanding that such ship is not brought in for adjudication, or, if so brought in, is declared not to be liable to forfeiture, if it is shown to the satisfaction of the judge or court before whom any trial relating to such ship or such seizure or detention is held that there were reasonable grounds for such seizure or detention; but if no such grounds are shown, such judge or court may award payment of costs and damages to any party aggrieved, and make such other order in the premises as it thinks just.

part x.—legal procedure.

application.

Section 517. The tenth part of this act shall in all cases, where no particular country is mentioned, apply to the whole of Her Majesty’s dominions.

legal procedure (general).

• Section 518. In all places within Her Majesty’s dominions, except Scotland, the the offenses hereinafter mentioned shall be punished and penalties recovered in manner following, that is to say:

  (1) Every offense by this act declared to be a misdemeanor shall be punishable by fine or imprisonment with or without hard labor, and the court before which such offense is tried may in England make the same allowances and order payment of the same costs and expenses as if such misdemeanor had been enumerated in the act passed in the seventh year of His late Majesty King George the Fourth, chapter 64, or any other act that may be passed for the like purpose, and may in any other part of Her Majesty’s dominions make such allowances and order payment of such costs and expenses (if any) as are payable or allowable upon the trial of any misdemeanor under any existing act or ordinance, or as may be payable or allowable under any net or law for the time being in force therein.

  (2) Every offense declared by this act to be a misdemeanor shall also be deemed to be an offense hereby made punishable by imprisonment for any period not exceeding 6 months, with or without hard labor, or by a penalty not exceeding £100, and may be prosecuted accordingly in a summary manner, instead of being prosecuted as a misdemeanor.

  (3) Every offense hereby made punishable by imprisonment for any period not exceeding 6 months, with or without hard labor, or by any penalty not exceeding £100, shall in England and Ireland be prosecuted Summarily before any two or more justices, as to England in the manner directed by the act of the eleventh and twelfth years of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, chapter 43, and as to Ireland in the manner directed by the act of the fourteenth and fifteenth years of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, chapter 93, or in such other manner as may be directed by any act or acts that may be passed for like purposes. And all provisions contained in the said acts shall be applicable to such prosecutions in the same manner as if the offenses in respect of which the same are instituted were hereby stated to be offenses in respect of which two or more justices have power to convict summarily or to make a summary order.

  (4) In all cases of summary convictions in England, where the sum adjudged to be paid exceeds £5, or the period of imprisonment adjudged exceeds 1 month, any person who thinks himself aggrieved by such conviction may appeal to the next court of general or quarter sessions.

  (5) All offenses under this act shall in any British possession be punishable in any court or by any justice of the peace or magistrate in which or by whom offenses of a like character are ordinarily punishable, or in such other manner, or by such other courts, justices, or magistrates, as may from time to time be determined by any act or ordinance duly made in such possession in such manner as acts and ordinances in such possession are required to be made in order to have the force of law.

• Sec. 519. Any stipendiary magistrate shall have full power to do alone whatever two justices of the peace are by this act authorized to do.
• Sec. 520. For the purpose of giving jurisdiction under this act, every offense shall he deemed to have been committed, and every cause of complaint to have arisen, either in the place in which the same actually was committed or arose, or in any place in which the offender or person complained against may be.
• Sec. 521. In all cases where any district within which any court or justice of the peace or other magistrate has jurisdiction, either under this act or under any other act or at common law, for any purpose whatever, is situate on the coast of any sea, or abutting on or projecting into any bay, channel, lake, river, or other navigable water, every such court, justice of the peace, or magistrate shall have jurisdiction over any ship or boat being on or lying or passing off such coast, or being in or near such bay, channel, lake, river, or navigable water as aforesaid, and over all persons on board such ship or boat or for the time being belonging thereto, in the same manner as if such ship, boat, or persons were within the limits of the original jurisdiction of such court, justice, or magistrate.
• Sec. 522. Service of any summons or other matter in any legal proceeding under this act shall be good service if made personally on the person to be served, or at his last place of abode, or if made by leaving such summons for him on board any ship to which he may belong with the person being or appearing to be in command or charge of such ship.
• Sec. 523. In all cases where any court, justice or justices of the peace, or other magistrate, has or have power to make an order directing payment to be made of any seaman’s wages, penalties, or other sums of money, then, if the party so directed to pay the same is the master or owner of a ship, and the same is not paid at the time and in manner prescribed in the order, the court, justice or justices, or other magistrate who made the order, may, in addition to any other powers they or he may have for the purpose of compelling payment, direct the amount remaining unpaid to be levied by distress or pointing and sale of the said ship, her tackle, furniture, and apparel.
• Sec. 524. Any court, justice, or magistrate imposing any penalty under this act for which no specific application is herein provided may, if it or he thinks fit, direct the whole or any part thereof to be applied in compensating any person for any wrong or damage which he may have sustained by the act or default in respect of which such penalty is imposed, or to he applied in or towards payment of the expenses of the proceedings; and, subject to such directions or specific application as aforesaid, all penalties recovered in the United Kingdom shall be paid into the receipt of Her Majesty’s exchequer in such manner as the treasury may direct, and shall be carried to and form part of the consolidated fund of the United Kingdom; and all penalties recovered in any British possession shall be paid over into the public treasury of such possession, and form part of the public revenue thereof.
• Sec. 525. The time for instituting summary proceedings under this act shall be limited as follows, that is to say:

  (1) No conviction for any offense shall be made under this act in any summary proceeding instituted in the United Kingdom, unless such proceeding is commenced within 6 months after the commission of the offense; or, if both or either of the parties to such proceeding happen during such time to be out of the United Kingdom, unless the same is commenced within 2 months after they both first happened to arrive or to be at one time within the same.

  (2) No conviction for any offense shall be made under this act in any proceeding instituted in any British possession, unless such proceeding is commenced within 6 months after the commission of the offense; or, if both or either of the parties to the proceeding happen during such time not to be within the jurisdiction of any court capable of dealing with the case, unless the same is commenced within 2 months after they both first happen to arrive or to be at one time within such jurisdiction.

  (3) No order for the payment of money shall be made under this act in any summary proceeding instituted in the United Kingdom, unless such proceeding is commenced within 6 months after the cause of complaint arises; or, if both or either of the parties happen during such time to be out of the United Kingdom, unless the same is commenced within 6 months after they both first happen to arrive or to be at one time within the same.

  (4) No order for the payment of money shall be made under this act in any summary proceeding instituted in any British possession, unless such proceeding is commenced within 6 months after the cause of complaint arises; or, if both or either of the parties to the proceeding happen during such time not to be within the jurisdiction of any court capable of dealings with the case, unless the same is commenced within 6 months after they both first happen to arrive or be at one time within such jurisdiction.

• And no provision contained in any other act or acts, ordinance or ordinances, for limiting the time within which summary proceedings may be instituted shall affect any summary proceeding under this act.
• Sec. 526. Any document required by this act to be executed in the presence of or to be attested by any witness or witnesses may be proved by the evidence of any person who is able to bear witness to the requisite facts, without calling the attesting witness or witnesses or any of them.
• Sec. 527. Whenever any injury has, in any part of the world, been caused to any property belonging to Her Majesty or to any of Her Majesty’s subjects by any foreign ship, if at any time thereafter such ship is found in any port or river of the United Kingdom or within 3 miles of the coast thereof, it shall be lawful for the judge of any court of record in the United Kingdom, or for the judge of the high court of admiralty, or in Scotland the court of session, or the sheriff of the county within whose jurisdiction such ship may be, upon its being shown to him by any person applying summarily that such injury was probably caused by the misconduct or want of skill of the master of mariners of such ship, to issue an order directed to any officer of customs or other officer named by such judge, requiring him to detain such ship until such time as the owner, master, or consignee thereof has made satisfaction in respect of such injury, or has given security, to be approved by the judge, to abide the event of any action, suit, or other legal proceeding that may be instituted in respect of such injury, and to pay all costs and damages that may be awarded thereon; and any officer of customs or other officer to whom such order is directed shall detain such ship accordingly.
• Sec. 528. In any case where it appears that before any application can be made under the foregoing section such foreign ship will have departed beyond the limits therein mentioned, it shall be lawful for any commissioned officer on full pay in the military or naval service of Her Majesty, or any British officer of customs, or any British consular officer, to detain such ship until such time as will allow such application to be made and the result thereof to be communicated to him; and no such officer shall be liable for any costs or damages in respect of such detention unless the same is proved to have been made without reasonable grounds.
• Sec. 529. In any action, suit, or other proceeding in relation to such injury, the person so giving security as aforesaid shall be made defendant or defender, and shall be stated to be the owner of the ship that has occasioned such damage; and the production of the order of the judge made in relation to such security shall be conclusive evidence of the liability of such defendant or defender to such action, suit, or other proceeding.

legal procedure (scotland).

• Sec. 530. In Scotland every offense which by this act is described as a felony or misdemeanor may be prosecuted by indictment or criminal letters at the instance of Her Majesty’s advocate before the high court of justiciary, or by criminal libel at the instance of the procurator fiscal of the county before the sheriff, and shall be punishable with tine and with imprisonment, with or without hard labor in default of payment, or with imprisonment, with or without hard labor, or with both, as the court may think fit, or in the case of felony with penal servitude, where the court is competent thereto; and such court may also, if it think fit, order payment by the offender of the costs and expenses of the prosecution.
• Sec. 531. In Scotland all prosecutions, complaints, actions, or proceedings under this act, other than prosecutions for felonies or misdemeanors, may be brought in a summary form before the sheriff of the county, or before any two justices of the peace of the county or burgh where the cause of such prosecution or action arises, or where the offender or defender may be for the time, and when of a criminal nature or for penalties, at the instance of the procurator fiscal of court, or at the instance of any party aggrieved, with concurrence of the procurator fiscal of court; and the court may, if it think fit, order payment by the offender or defender of the costs of prosecution or action.
• Sec. 532. In Scotland all prosecutions, complaints, actions, or other proceedings under this act may be brought either in a written or printed form, or partly written and partly printed, and where such proceedings are brought in a summary form it shall not be necessary in the complaint to recite or set forth the clause or clauses of the act on which such proceeding is founded, but it shall be sufficient to specify or refer to such clause or clauses, and to set forth shortly the cause of complaint or action and the remedy sought; and when such complaint or action is brought in whole or in part for the enforcement of a pecuniary debt or demand, the complaint may contain a prayer for warrant to arrest upon the dependence.
• Sec. 533. In Scotland, on any complaint or other proceeding brought in a summary form under this act being presented to the sheriff clerk or clerk of the peace, he shall grant warrant to cite the defender to appear personally before the said sheriff or justices of the peace on a day fixed, and at the same time shall appoint a copy of the same to be delivered to him by a sheriff officer or constable, as the case may be, along with the citation; and such deliverance shall also contain a warrant for citing witnesses and havers to compear at the same time and place to give evidence and produce such writs as may be specified in their citation; and where such warrant has been prayed for in the complaint or other proceeding, the deliverance of the sheriff clerk or clerk of the peace shall also contain warrant to arrest upon the dependence in common form: Provided always, that where the apprehension of any party, with or without a warrant, is authorized by this act, such party may be detained in custody until he can be brought at the earliest opportunity before any two justices, or the sheriff who may have jurisdiction in the place, to be dealt with as this act directs, and no citation or induciæ shall in such case be necessary.
• Sec. 534. When it becomes necessary to execute such arrestment on the dependence against goods or effects of the defender within Scotland, but not locally situated within the jurisdiction of the sheriff or justices of the peace by whom the warrant to arrest has been granted, it shall be competent to carry the warrant into execution on its being indorsed by the sheriff clerk or clerk of the peace of the county or burgh respectively within which such warrant comes to be executed.
• Sec. 535. In all proceedings under this act in Scotland the sheriff or justices of the peace shall have the same power of compelling attendance of witnesses and havers as in cases falling under their ordinary jurisdiction.
• Sec. 536. The whole procedure in cases brought in a summary form before the sheriff or justices of the peace in Scotland shall be conducted viva voce, without written pleadings, and without taking down the evidence in writing, and no record shall be kept of the proceedings other than the complaint and the sentence or decree pronounced thereon.
• Sec. 537. It shall be in the power of the sheriff or justices of the peace in Scotland to adjourn the proceedings from time to time to any day or days to be fixed by them, in the event of absence of witnesses or of any other cause which shall appear to them to render such adjournment necessary.
• Sec. 538. In Scotland all sentences and decrees to be pronounced by the sheriff or justices of the peace upon such summary complaints shall be in writing; and where there is a decree for payment of any sum or sums of money against a defender, such decree shall contain warrant for arrestment, poinding, or imprisonment in default of payment, such arrestment, poinding, or imprisonment to be carried into effect by sheriffs officers or constables, as the case may be, in the same manner as in cases arising under the ordinary jurisdiction in the sheriff or justices: Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall be taken or construed to repeal or affect an act of the fifth and sixth years of William the Fourth, intituled “An act for abolishing, in Scotland, imprisonment for civil debts of small amount.”
• Sec. 539. In all summary complaints and proceedings for recovery of any penalty or sum of money in Scotland, if a defender who has been duly cited shall not appear at the time and place required by the citation, he shall be held as confessed, and sentence or decree shall be pronounced against him in terms of the complaint, with such costs and expenses as to the court shall seem lit: Provided always, that he shall be entitled to obtain himself reponed against any such decree at any time before the same be fully implemented, by lodging with the clerk of court a reporting note, and consigning in his hands the sum decerned for, and the costs which bad been awarded by the court, and on the same day delivering or transmitting through the post to the pursuer or his agent a copy of such reponing note; and a certificate by the clerk of court of such note having been lodged shall operate as a sist of diligence till the cause shall have been reheard and finally disposed of, which shall be on the next sitting of the court, or on any day to which the court shall then adjourn it.
• Sec. 540. In all summary complaints or other proceedings not brought for the recovery of any penalty or sum of money in Scotland, if a defender, being duly cited, shall fail to appear, the sheriff or justices may grant warrant to apprehend and bring him before the court.
• Sec. 541. In all cases where sentences or decrees of the sheriff or justices require to be enforced within Scotland, but beyond the jurisdiction of the sheriff or justices by whom such sentences or decrees have been pronounced, it shall be competent to carry the same into execution upon the same being indorsed by the sheriff clerk or clerk of the peace of the county or burgh within which such execution is to take place.
• Sec. 542. No order, decree, or sentence pronounced by any sheriff or justice of the peace in Scotland under the authority of this act shall be quashed or vacated for any misnomer, informality, or defect of form; and all orders, decrees, and sentences so pronounced shall be final and conclusive, and not subject to suspension, advocation, reduction, or to any form of review or stay of execution, except on the ground of corruption or malice on the part of the sheriff or justices, in which case the suspension, advocation, or reduction must be brought within 14 days of the date of the order, decree, or sentence complained of: Provided always, that no stay of execution shall be competent to the effect of preventing immediate execution of such order, decree, or sentence.
• Sec. 543. Such of the general provisions with respect to jurisdiction, procedure, and penalties contained in this act as are not inconsistent with the special rules hereinbefore laid down for the conduct of legal proceedings and the recovery of penalties in Scotland, shall, so far as the same are applicable, extend to such last-mentioned proceedings and penalties: Provided always, that nothing in this act contained shall be held in any way to annul or restrict the common law of Scotland with regard to the prosecution or punishment of offenses at the instance or by the direction of the lord advocate, or the rights of owners or creditors in regard to enforcing a judicial sale of any ship and tackle, or to give to the high court of admiralty of England any jurisdiction in respect of salvage in Scotland which it has not heretofore had or exercised.