505.

from the Pribiloff Islands in payment. Lozaref, sent by Ibid., pp. 504, Russia, with two ships, reached Sitka, but quarrelled with Baranoff and returned.

p.

In 1815, the Russian vessel "Isabel" reached Sitka with Ibid., 506. Dr. Sheffer on board.

In 1816, the Russian vessel "Rurik" (Captain Kotzebue) touched at St. Lawrence Island and explored Kotzebue Sound, north of Behring Strait.

Two United States vessels visited the Russian Settlements this year.

Ibid., p. 501.

North-west Coast, vol. i, p.

335.

In 1817, Kotzebue, on an exploring expedition to the North, only reached St. Lawrence Island. An expedition Alaska, p. 501. in two vessels under Hagemeister, sent by Russia, reached Sitka.

32

Alaska, pp.

In 1818, Hagemeister superseded Baranoff, under instructions. Roquefeuil, a French officer, arrived 522, 525. at Sitka in the "Bordelais," a trading vessel. He sailed for Prince of Wales Archipelago, but had a conflict with natives and returned to Sitka. Roquefeuil notes meeting coast, vol. i, p. a United States and a British trading vessel in Alaskan 338. waters.

North-west

Britannica, 9th

319.

In 1818 and 1821, expeditions were dispatched by the Encyclopædia British Government in search of a northwest passage from ed., vol. xix, p. the Atlantic to the Pacific. These efforts were continued, and in 1824 and 1825 Parry, Beechey, and Franklin were engaged in the same quest, Beechey having been directed to pass through Behring Strait and to rendezvous with the others at Kotzebue Sound. These efforts were stimulated by the offer by Parliament of large pecuniary rewards, and it is obvious that the value of the discovery, if made, depended on the free right of navigation for purposes of commerce through Behring Strait..

In 1819, the United States traders obtained most of the Alaska, p. 528. trade, bartering with the Kolosh fire-arms and rum for

skins. They obtained about 8,000 skins a year. The Rus

sians could not successfully compete with them.

The privileges granted for twenty years to the RussianAmerican Company were now about to expire, and Golovnin was instructed to inquire as to its operations. His Report was not favourable.

He writes:

Three things are wanting, in the organization of the Company's Ibid, p. 531. colonies-a clearer definition of the duties belonging to the various officers, a distinction of rank, and a regular uniform, so that foreigners visiting these parts may see something indicating the existence of forts and troops belonging to the Russian sceptre-something resembling a regular garrison. At present they can come to no other conclusion than that these stations are but temporary fortifications erected by hunters as a defence against savages.

In 1820, four trading vessels are known to have been operating on the north-west coast.

North-west Coast, vol.i,p.340.

The extent of Russian occupation at about the date of Alaska, p. 522. the expiry of the first Charter can be shown by the Census taken in 1819, which states the number of Russians as follows:

See also Adams

1823;

UNCERTAINTY OF TERRITORIAL CLAIMS IN 1818.

While the subjects of Russia, Spain, Great Britain, and to Rush, July 22, the United States were doubtless making claims on the American State part of their respective countries from time to time, so Papers, Foreign uncertain were these claims and the merits of each, that in Relations, vol. v, p. 446; 1818 (20th October), in the Convention between the United and also Confi. States and Great Britain, it was agreed that any—

dential Memorial

inclosed in letter,

Relations, vol. v, p. 449.

Middleton to Country that may be claimed by either party on the north-west Adams, Decem- coast of America, westward of the Stony Mountains, shall, together ber 1 (13), 1823; with its harbours, bays, and creeks, and the navigation of all rivers American State within the same, be free and open for the term of ten years from the Papers, Foreign date of the signature of the present Convention, to the vessels, citizens, and subjects of the two Powers, it being well understood that See Appendix, this agreement is not to be construed to the prejudice of any claim vol. ii, Part II, which either of the two High Contracting Parties may have to any For text of Con- part of the said country, nor shall it be taken to affect the claims of vention, see any other Power or State to any part of the said country, the only American State object of the High Contracting Parties in that respect being to prePapers, vol. iv, P. vent disputes and differences amongst themselves.

Nos. 4 and 5.

406.

American State

p. 436.

RUSSIAN TERRITORIAL CLAIM IN 1821.

Mr. Adams, Secretary of State of the United States, in Papers, Foreign a despatch to Mr. Middleton, the United States Minister at Relations, vol. v, St. Petersburgh, dated 22nd July, 1823, contended that See Appendix, even as late as that year Russian rights in the region under consideration "were confined to certain islands north of the 55th degree of latitude," and had "no existence on the continent of America."

vol. ii, Part II, No. 3.

In the same letter Mr. Adams observed:

It does not appear that there ever has been a permanent Russian Settlement on this continent south of latitude 59°, that of New Archangel, cited by M. Poletica, in latitude 57° 30, being upon an island. So far as prior discovery can constitute a foundation of right, the papers 34 which I have referred to prove that it belongs to the United States as far as 59° north, by the transfer to them of the rights of Spain. There is, however, no part of the globe where the mere fact of discovery could be held to give weaker claims than on the northwest coast. "The great sinuosity," says Humboldt, "formed by the coast between the 55th and 60th parallels of latitude, embraces discoveries made by Gali, Bering, and Tchivikoff, Quadra, Cook, La Perouse, Malaspina, and Vancouver. No European nation has yet formed an establishment upon the immense extent of coast from Cape Mendosino to the 59th degree of latitude. Beyond that limit the Russian factories commence, most of which are scattered and distant from each other like the factories established by the European nations for the last three centuries on the coast of Africa. Most of these little

Russian Colonies communicate with each other only by sea, and the new denominations of Russian-America or Russian possessions in the new continent, must not lead us to believe that the coast of Bering Bay, the Peninsula of Alaska, or the country of the Ischugatschi, have become Russian provinces in the same sense given to the word when speaking of the Spanish Provinces of Sonora, or New Biscay." (Humboldt's New Spain," vol. ii, Book 3, chap. 8, p. 496.)

In M. Poletica's letter of the 28th February, 1822, to me, he says that when the Emperor Paul I granted to the present American Company its first Charter in 1799, he gave it the exclusive possession of the northwest coast of America, which belonged to Russia, from the 55th degree of north latitude, to Bering Strait.

In his letter of 2nd of April, 1822, he says that the Charter to the Russian-American Company in 1799, was merely conceding to them a part of the sovereignty, or rather certain exclusive privileges of commerce. This is the most correct view of the subject. The Emperor Paul granted to the Russian-American Company certain exclusive privileges of commerce-exclusive with reference to other Russian subjects; but Russia had never before asserted a right of sovereignty over any part of the North American continent; and in 1799 the people of the United States had been at least for twelve years in the,constant and uninterrupted enjoyment of a profitable trade with the natives of that very coast, of which the Ukase of the Emperor Paul could not deprive them.

The Honourable Charles Sumuer, speaking in the United States Senate on the occasion of the cession of Alaska to the United States, in 1867, said:

35

H. R., Ex. Doc.

It seems that there were various small Companies, of which that at 177, 2nd Sess., Kadiak was the most considerable, all of which were finally fused into 40th Cong., p.149, one large trading Company, known as the Russian-American Company, 1867-68. which was organized in 1799, under a Charter from the Emperor Paul, See Appendix, with the power of administration throughout the whole region, includ. vol. i, No. 6. ing the coasts and the islands. In this respect it was not unlike the East India Company, which has played such a part in English history; but it may be more properly compared with the Hudson Bay Company, of which it was a Russian counterpart. The Charter was for a term of years, but it has been from time to time extended, and, as I understand, is now on the point of expiring. The powers of the Company are sententiously described by the "Almanach de Gotha" for 1867, where, under the head of Russia, it says that "to the present time Russian America has been the property of a Company." And, referring to as late a period as 1867, he remarked:

EXTENT OF RUSSIAN SETTLEMENTS.

It is evident that these Russian Settlements, distributed through an immense region and far from any civilized neighbourhood, have little in common with those of European nations elsewhere, unless we except those of Denmark, on the west coast of Greenland. Nearly all are on the coast or the islands. They are nothing but "villages or "factories" under the protection of palisades. Sitka is an exception, due unquestionably to its selection as the head-quarters of the Government, and also to the eminent character of the Governors who have made it their home.

Article XVIII, North American

Touching Russia's claims to exclusive jurisdiction over more than certain islands in the Pacific Ocean on the American coast, Mr. Adams, moreover, in 1823 brought Review, vol. xy, Quarterly Reforward with approval, articles which appeared in "The view, 1821-22, North American Review," published in the United States, vol. xxvi. See Appendix, vol. and in the "Quarterly Review," published in England. i, Nos. 3 and 4. The facts stated in these articles show the grounds upon which the Government of the United States considered themselves justified in the contention advanced by Mr. Adams, that "the rights of discovery, of occupancy, of Adams to Miduncontested possession," alleged by Russia, were "all 1823. See Appen without foundation in fact," as late as the year 1823.

dleton, July 22,

dix, vol. ii, Part II, No. 3.

Alaska, p. 591.

Again referring to the circumstances in the year 1867 (the date of the cession of Alaska to the United States), the historian Bancroft writes:

"Moreover, Russia had never occupied, and never wished to occupy, this territory. For two-thirds of a century she had been represented there, as we have seen, almost entirely by a fur and trading Company under the protection of Government. In a measure it had controlled, or endeavoured to control, the affairs of that Company, and among its stockholders were several members of the Royal Family; but Alaska had been originally granted to the Russian-American Company by Imperial Oukaz, and by Imperial Oukaz the Charter had been twice renewed. Now that the Company had declined to accept a fourth Charter on the terms proposed, something must be done with the territory, and Russia would lose no actual portion of her Empire in ceding it to a Republic with which she was on friendly terms, and whose domain seemed destined to spread over the entire continent.

36

The foregoing historical summary establishes

That from the earliest periods of which any records exist down to the year 1821, there is no evidence that Russia either asserted or exercised in the non-territorial waters of the North Pacific any rights to the exclusion of other nations.

That during the whole of that period the shores of America and Asia belonging to Russia as far north as Behring Straits, and the waters lying between those coasts, as well as the islands therein, were visited by the trading vessels of all nations, including those sailing under the flags of Great Britain, the United States, Spain, and France, with the knowledge of the Russian authorities.

That the only rights, in fact, exercised by Russia or on her behalf, were the ordinary territorial rights connected with settlements or annexations of territory consequent upon such settlements, and the only rights she purported to deal with or confer were rights and privileges given to the Russian-American Company, as Russian subjects, in preference over other Russian subjects.

Voyage, M. de

HEAD B. The Ukase of 1821, and the circumstances connected therewith leading up to the Treaties of 1824 and 1825.

Shortly before the date of the renewal of the Charter of Krusenstern, the Russian-American Company in 1821, the aspect of American State affairs had considerably changed.

vol. i. p. 14.

Papers, Foreign

Relations, vol. v, pp. 453-454.

COMPETITION BY FOREIGNERS.

The Company had long before fully succeeded in getting rid of its Russian rivals, but trading-vessels from England and from the United States frequented the coasts in increasAmerican State ing numbers, and everywhere competed with the Company. Papers, vol. Goods were brought by these vessels at prices which the Alaska, p. 528. Company could not successfully meet, and furs were taken

pp. 438-443.

Ister. Obos. I,

by them direct to Chinese sea-ports, while the Company, Tikhmenieff, as a rule, had still to depend on the overland route from cited in note to Okhotsk to Kiakhta on the Amoor.

Alaska, p. 532.
See also Alaska,

Domestic competition had in fact ceased, and the most p. 446; Rezanof's serious drawback to the success of the Company consisted complaint in 1806. in the competition from abroad.

The difficulties resulting to the Company on account of foreign competition appear prominently in the complaints made by its agents at this time, and the new claim of the right to exclude foreigners from trade is embodied in the Ukase of 1821.

TEXT OF UKASE OF 1821.

The following is the translation of the Ukase which was issued by the Emperor Alexander in 1821:

EDICT OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY, AUTOCRAT OF ALL THE RUSSIAS.

The Directing Senate maketh known to all men: Whereas, in an Edict of His Imperial Majesty, issued to the Directing Senate on the 4th day of September [1821], and signed by His Imperial Majesty's own hand, it is thus expressed:

Observing from Reports submitted to us that the trade of our subjects on the Aleutian Islands and on the north-west coast of America appertaining unto Russia is subjected, because of secret and illicit traffic, to oppression and impediments, and finding that the principal cause of these difficulties is the want of Rules establishing the boundaries for navigation along these coasts, and the order of 38 naval communication, as well in these places as on the whole of the eastern coast of Siberia and the Kurile Islands, we have deemed it necessary to determine these communications by specific Regulations, which are hereto attached.

"In forwarding these Regulations to the Directing Senate, we command that the same be published for universal information, and that the proper measures be taken to carry them into execution."

(Countersigned)

"COUNT D. GURIEFF,
"Minister of Finances.

"It is therefore decreed by the Directing Senate that His Imperial Majesty's Edict be published for the information of all men, and that the same be obeyed by all whom it may concern."

[L. S.]

[The original is signed by the Directing Senate. On the original is written in the handwriting of His Imperial Majesty, thus:] Be it accordingly, ALEXANDER.

RULES ESTABLISHED FOR THE LIMITS OF NAVIGATION AND ORDER
OF COMMUNICATION ALONG THE COAST OF THE EASTERN SIBERIA,
THE NORTH-WEST COAST OF AMERICA, AND THE ALEUTIAN, KURILE,
AND OTHER ISLANDS.

"Section 1. The pursuits of commerce, whaling, and fishery, and of all other industry, on all islands, ports, and gulfs, including the whole of the north-west coast of America, beginning from Behring Straits to the 51st of northern latitude; also from the Aleutian Islands to the eastern coast of Siberia, as well as along the Kurile Islands, from Behring Straits to the south cape of the Island of Urup, viz., to the 45° 50′ northern latitude, is exclusively granted to Russian subjects. "Section 2. It is therefore prohibited to all foreign vessels not only to land on the coasts and islands belonging to Russia, as stated above, but also to approach them within less than 100 Italian miles. The transgressor's vessel is subject to confiscation, along with the whole cargo,"

See Appendix,

vol. i, No. 1.

See Appendix, vol. i, No. 1.