ment. Imposition prac- had been practiced upon it by a faithless official, ticed upon United States Govern- and that it had relied on certain translations of Russian documents made by him, appearing in the first volume of the Appendix to its Case, which translations had in reality been falsified to a considerable extent. Notice of this was immediately given to the Agent of Her Britannic Majesty, and as soon as possible he was furnished with specifications of the false translations and with revised translations of those documents which the United States now retain as a part of their Case. Copies of the revised translations and of the notes sent by the Agent of the United States to the Agent of Her Britannic Majesty in connection with this matter have already been delivered to each of the Arbitrators. Partial restatement of its Case necessary. Some evidence which the United States Government had relied on, to prove that for many years prior to the time of the cession of Alaska Russia had prohibited the killing of fur-seals in the waters frequented by them in Bering Sea, thus turns out to be untrue; and it now becomes necessary for the United States to restate, in part, their position in respect to some of the questions. submitted to this Tribunal. In so doing they will at the same time introduce such criticisms upon, or rebutting evidence to, the British Case as may seem to be called for. Post, pp. 151–174. THE SITUATION ABOUT BERING SEA AND ON THE 1824-'5. nial system. Russia appears to have first definitely asserted Russia's coloher rights to the territory surrounding Bering Sea, and to the Northwest Coast of America bordering upon the Pacific Ocean, in the ukase of 1799. It was clearly the intention of the Russian Government, as manifested both by this ukase and by its subsequent action down to the time of the cession of Alaska to the United States, to maintain a strict colonial system in the regions above mentioned. And the records show that down to a period as late as 1867, the year of the cession of Alaska, Russia persisted in this policy, although the control she exercised over those distant regions was not always vigilant enough to prevent a certain amount of unlawful trade with the natives from being carried on there in disregard of her prohibition. The ukase of 1799 was directed against for- Ukase of 1799. eigners. Upon this point a quotation is given from a letter from the Russian American Company to the Russian Minister of Finance under date of June 12, 1824, as follows: "The exclusive right granted to the Company in the year 1799 imposed the prohibition to trade in those 1 A facsimile of this document was delivered to the British Government on November 12, 1892. Ukase of 1799. regions, not only upon foreigners but also upon Russian subjects not belonging to the Company. Chapter I of British Case. Distinction be This prohibition was again affirmed and more clearly defined in the new privileges granted in the year 1821, and in the regulations concerning the limits of navigation." This interpretation of the ukase of 1799 is sustained by the subsequent history of those same regions. In Chapter I of the British Case an endeavor is made, however, to show that under the ukase of 1799 Russia reserved to the Russian American Company no exclusive rights as against foreigners, and that for many years prior to 1821 the waters affected by the ukase had been freely used for all purposes by vessels of all nations. This is sought to be made out by treating the waters of Bering Sea and those adjoining the Northwest Coast of America as a single area;1 and numerous instances are referred to in which portions of this area, namely, the shores and waters of the American coast east and south of Kadiak, were visited by foreigners for trade with the natives. The territories and waters which the British region and Pacific Case thus confounds the United States have tween Bering Sea Ocean. carefully distinguished, and they take issue with Her Majesty's Government upon the point that 1 British Case, p. 13. tween Bering Sea Ocean. "no claim has been advanced by Russia which Distinction becould possibly render a distinction between region and Pacific Behring Sea and the main Pacific of the slightest importance" (British Case, p. 60). The United States have devoted a portion of their Case, under the title "Claims to the Northwest Coast" (pp. 26 to 33), to showing that the part of the American continent which is washed by the North Pacific Ocean was being constantly visited by vessels of all nations, and that serious conflicts arose as to the trading rights there. Indeed, of all the voyages of foreign vessels, whether for discovery or trade, enumerated at pp. 14 to 20 and 29 to 31 of the British Case, not more than two or three relate to the shores and waters of Bering Sea. The fact is, that, while Russia's title to everything south and east of the Alaskan Peninsula was, in the early part of this century, in serious dispute, her title to the coasts north of this peninsula and to the Aleutian Islands, based upon prior discovery and occupation, was admitted on all sides, and her rights there were respected by all nations. This has already been pointed out.1 The British contention (British Case, pp. 33, 35, 64) that the United States contested Russia's Appendix to Case of the United States, Vol. I, pp. 12, 13, especially the extracts from the Quarterly Review and the North American Review. 12364 Distinction be- title to any portion of the North American con tween Bering Sea Ocean. region and Pacific tinent is sufficiently disposed of by a remark made by Mr. Middleton, in which he shows that he is merely denying her claims to any portion of the coast east and south of Prince William Sound, or thereabouts. He says, speaking of the early Russian discoveries: "From these discoveries Russia derives her rights to that long chain of islands intervening between the western and eastern continents, and even to a very considerable portion of the continent of Americarights which have never been contested."1 Ukase of 1821. Character of control claimed The ukase of 1821, which was a renewed declaration of the colonial system already referred to, prohibited to foreign vessels the approach within one hundred miles to the shores of Bering Sea and to a large portion of the Northwest Coast of America bordering on the Pacific Ocean. The objects thereby sought to be accomplished are set forth at pp. 38 to 40 of the Case of the United States. Much misconception exists in the British Case over Bering Sea. as to the character of the control which the United States claim was exercised or intended to be exercised by Russia within this limit. The Government of the United States has already shown, at p. 57 and pp. 295 to 303 of its Case, that it does Appendix to Case of the United States, Vol. I, p. 13, and American State Papers, Foreign Relations, Vol. V., p. 450. |