Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1894
Mr. Uhl to Mr. Bayard.
Washington, April 25, 1894.
Sir: I inclose herewith copy of a letter of the 19th instant from the Acting Secretary of the Navy, covering an order issued to Commander O. E. Clark, United States Navy, who has been detailed to command a force of naval vessels and revenue cutters in Bering Sea.
I am, etc.,
Acting Secretary.
Order to Commander Clark.
Washington, April 18, 1894.
Sir: 1. Having been detailed to command a force of naval vessels and revenue cutters to carry out the provisions of an act of Congress, approved April 6, 1894, “to give effect to the award rendered by the [Page 183] Tribunal of Arbitration at Paris, under the treaty between the United States and Great Britain, concluded at Washington, February twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, for the purpose of submitting to arbitration certain questions concerning the preservation of fur seals,” and of the President’s proclamation of the same, dated Washington, D. C., April 9, 1894, you will order the vessels under your, command to warn all American and British vessels they may meet outside of the waters prohibited by this act not to enter these waters for the purpose of sealing during the periods of time in which fur-seal fishing is so prohibited, and you will deliver to the commanding officer of each vessel so warned a copy of the President’s proclamation, of the British act, and of these instructions.
2. An entry, showing the notice of warning, shall be made upon the register of all vessels of the United States and Great Britain that have been warned.
3. In accordance with the provisions of the above-mentioned act, as appears by reference to section 1 thereof, fur-seal fishing is forbidden to the persons mentioned therein, and to all subjects of Great Britain, to persons owing the duty of obedience to the laws or the treaties of Great Britain, and to all persons belonging to or on board of a, vessel of Great Britain, at any time or in any manner whatever, outside of territorial waters, in the waters surrounding the Pribilof Islands within a zone of 60 geographical miles thereof (.60 to a degree of latitude) around said islands, inclusive of the territorial waters.
You will observe that the act of Congress extends the zone referred to in this paragraph 60 (geographical) miles around said islands, exclusive of the territorial waters, but you are hereby instructed to treat the limit as extending only 60 (geographical) miles around said islands, inclusive of the territorial waters. The word exclusive was inadvertently inserted in the act of Congress instead of the word inclusive, which appears in the award, and which it is the purpose of the act to enforce.
4. During the season extending from May 1 to July 31, both inclusive in each year, fur-seal fishing is forbidden to all persons mentioned in the first section of the act, and to all subjects of Great Britain, to persons owing the duty of obedience to the laws or the treaties of Great Britain, and to all persons belonging to or on board of a vessel of Great Britain, not only in the zone mentioned in the third paragraph of these instructions, but in that part of the Pacific Ocean, including Bering Sea, which is situated to the north of the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude and to the east of the one hundred and eightieth degree of longitude from Greenwich, till it strikes the water boundary between the United States and Russia. This boundary line passes through a point in Bering’s straits on the parallel of 65° 30′, north latitude, at its intersection by the meridian which passes midway between the islands of Krusenstern, or Ingalook, and the island of Ratmanoff, or Noonarbook, and proceeds due north, without limitation, into the same frozen ocean. The same western limit, beginning at the same initial point, proceeds thence in a course nearly southwest through Bering’s straits and Bering 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 one hundred and seventy-two west longitude; thence, from the intersection of that meridian, in a southwesterly direction until it strikes the one hundred and eightieth degree of longitude from Greenwich.
5. The regulations respecting the “special license” for sailing vessels, [Page 184] and the “distinguishing flag” to be worn by the same during the open season, mentioned in sections 3 and 7 of the act, are hereafter to be prescribed and promulgated by the Governments of the United States and Great Britain.
6. Any vessel or person described in the first section of this act, or any subject of Great Britain, or person owing obedience to the laws or the treaties of Great Britain, or any person belonging to or on board of any vessel of Great Britain, unauthorized by this act, found to be or to have been employed in sealing during the period of time and in the waters therein prohibited, whether with or without warning, and any of such vessels or persons found therein, whether warned or not, having on board or in their possession apparatus or implements suitable for taking seal, or seal skins, or bodies of seals, you will order seized.
7. The commanding officer making the seizure will, at the time thereof, draw up a declaration in writing stating the condition of the seized vessel, the date and place of seizure, giving latitude and longitude and circumstances showing guilt. The seized vessel will be brought or sent, as soon as practicable, with all persons on board thereof, in charge of a sufficient force to insure delivery, together with witnesses and proofs, and the declaration of the officer making the seizure, if American, to the most convenient port of Alaska, California, Oregon, or Washington, and there delivered to the officers of the United States court having jurisdiction to try the offense and impose penalties for the same; and, if British, to Unalaska, and there delivered to the senior British naval officer present, or to the most convenient port in British Columbia, and delivered to the proper authorities of Great Britain, or delivered to the commanding officer of any British vessel charged with the execution of the award herein referred to.
8. A signed and certified list of the papers of the seized vessel will be delivered to the master thereof, and a duplicate copy will be transmitted with the declaration.
9. Copies of the act of the British Parliament are herewith inclosed.
Very respectfully,
- H. A. Herbert,
Secretary of the Navy. - Commander Charles E. Clark, U. S.
N.,
Commanding U. S. Naval Force in Bering Sea,
U. S. S. Mohican, Port Townsend, Washington.