Seal Fisheries of Behring Sea; Message from the President of the United States Transmitting a Letter from the Secretary of State, with Accompanying Papers, Touching the Subjects in Dispute Between the Government of the United States and the Government of G (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1890 Excerpt: ...Congressional committee, p. 106.) Mr. Taylor, special agent of the Treasury in 1881; said before the same committee (p. 58): "The difficulty heretofore has been that our revenue-cutters have been obliged to cover a territory of 800 miles long and 700 or 800 miles wide, north and south, and they would get around to the seal islands about twice during a season. They never happened to be there when needed, and, as far as rendering any service whatever is concerned, they were practically useless so far as the seal islands were concerned. That has been the experience, I believe, of all who have been there." This officer recommended steam-lannches for Government agents at the islands. (Evidence before Congressional committee, p. 109.) Mr. Glidden, another agent of the Treasury from 1882 to 1865, says (evidence Congressional committee, p. 28) when he was at the islands the Government kept no vessels there. "They landed our officers on a little island 6 miles from St. Paul to watch. In every report I made I recommended that they should keep a revenue-cutter there. One vessel can not protect those islands and visit the Arctic Ocean besides. The cruising ground is far too extensive, covering, a3 it does, a distance of several thousand miles, and while the cutter is absent in the Arctic much damage can be done by the maranding vessels to the seal islands." That Congress regarded it at the outset as the duty, at least, of the administration, to simply guard and regulate the islands is clear from the act first dealing with the subject. Mr. Boutwell, the Secretary of the Treasury, reported in 1870 (41st Cong., 2d sess., Ex. Doc. 109) as follows: "A suggestion has been made to this Department, in various forms, that the Government should lease the...