724
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
[No. 13

sails, and manned by not more than five persons each,
in the way hitherto practised by the Indians, without the
use of firearms, provided such Indians are not in the
employment of other persons, nor under contract for the
delivery of the skins to any person.

ARTICLE 2.

The United States agrees that one-fifth (1/5) in num-
ber and in value of the total number of sealskins taken
annually upon the Pribilof Islands, or any other islands
or shores of the waters above defined, subject to the juris-
diction of the United States, to which the seal herd now
frequenting the Pribilof Islands hereafter resorts, shall
be delivered at the end of each season to an authorized
agent of the Canadian Government in the Pribilof
Islands; Provided, however, That nothing herein con-
tained shall restrict the right of the United States at
any time and from time to time to suspend altogether the
taking of sealskins on such islands or shores subject to
its jurisdiction, and to impose such restrictions and regu-
lations upon the total number of skins to be taken in any
season and the manner and times and places of taking
them as may seem necessary to protect and preserve the
seal herd or to increase its numbers.

ARTICLE 3.

It is further agreed that as soon as this Article goes
into effect the United States shall pay to Great Britain
the sum of two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) as
an advance payment in lieu of such number of fur-seal
skins, to which Great Britain would be entitled under the
provisions of this Treaty, as would be equivalent to that
amount reckoned at their market value at London at the
date of delivery, before dressing or curing and less cost
of transportation from the Pribilof Islands; such market
value in case of dispute to be determined by an umpire
to be agreed upon by the High Contracting Parties, which
skins shall be retained by the United States in satisfaction
of such payment.

The United States further agrees that Great Britain’s
share of the sealskins taken on the Pribilof Islands shall
not be less than one thousand (1,000) in any year even
if such number is more than one-fifth of the number to
which the authorized killing is restricted in such year,
unless the killing of seals in such year or years shall
have been absolutely prohibited by the United States for
all purposes except to supply food, clothing, and boat
skins for the natives on the islands, in which case the
United States agrees to pay to Great Britain the sum of
ten thousand dollars ($10,000) annually in lieu of any
share of skins during the years when no killing is
allowed, and Great Britain agrees that after deducting
the skins of Great Britain’s share which are to be re-
tained by the United States as above provided to reim-
burse itself for the advance payment aforesaid, the
United States shall be entitled to reimburse itself for any
annual payments made as herein required, by retaining an
additional number of sealskins from Great Britain’s share
over and above the specified minimum allowance of one
thousand (1,000) skins in any subsequent year or years
when killing is again resumed, until the whole number
of the skins so retained shall equal, reckoned at their
market value determined as above provided for, the entire
amount so paid, with interest at the rate of four (4) per
cent. per annum.

If, however, the total number of seals frequenting the
Pribilof Islands in any year falls below one hundred thou-
sand (100,000), enumerated by official count, then all kill-
ing, excepting the inconsiderable supply necessary for the
support of the natives, as above noted, may be suspended
without allowance of skins or payment of money equivalent
until the number of such seals again exceeds one hundred
thousand (100,000), enumerated in like manner.

ARTICLE 4.

The term “pelagic sealing,” as used herein, is defined
to be the killing, capturing, or pursuing in any manner
whatsoever of fur-seals at sea, outside territorial waters.

ARTICLE 5.

The High Contracting Parties agree that they will each
maintain a guard or patrol in the waters of the North
Pacific Ocean and Behring Sea so far as may be necessary
for the enforcement of the aforesaid prohibitions.

ARTICLE 6.

The foregoing Articles shall go into effect as soon as,
but not before, an international agreement is concluded
and ratified by the Governments of Great Britain, the
United States, Japan, and Russia, by which each of those
Powers shall undertake, by such stipulations as may be
mutually acceptable, to prohibit for a period of not less
than fifteen years, its own subjects or citizens, and all
persons subject to its laws and treaties, from engaging
in pelagic sealing in waters including the area defined
in Article 1, and effectively to enforce such prohibition.

The foregoing Articles of this Treaty shall continue in
force during the period of fifteen (15) years from the day
on which they go into effect and thereafter until ter-
minated by twelve (12) months’ written notice given by
either Great Britain or the United States to the other,
which notice may be given at the expiration of fourteen
years or at any time afterwards.

ARTICLE 7.

The High Contracting Parties engage to co-operate
with each other in urging other Powers whose subjects
or citizens may be concerned in the fur-seal fisheries to
forego, in virtue of appropriate arrangements, the exercise
of the right of pelagic sealing, and also to prohibit the
use of their ports and flag in the furtherance of pelagic
sealing within the areas covered by such arrangement.

ARTICLE 8.

This Treaty shall be ratified by His Britannic Majesty
and by the President of the United States, by and with
the advice and consent of the Senate thereof; and ratifi-
cations shall be exchanged in Washington as soon as prac-
ticable.

In faith whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have
signed this Treaty in duplicate and have hereunto affixed
their seals.

Done at Washington the seventh day of February, in the
year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and eleven.

(L.S.)
JAMES BRYCE.
(L.S.)
PHILANDER C. KNOX.

DESPATCH FROM HIS MAJESTY’S AMBASSADOR AT WASH-
INGTON CONTAINING THE TEXT OF THE TREATY FOR
THE PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION OF THE FUR-
SEALS WHICH FREQUENT THE WATERS OF THE NORTH
PACIFIC OCEAN.

Signed at Washington, July 7, 1911.

(Mr. Bryce to Sir Edward Grey.—Received August 3.)

Sealharbour, Maine, July 24, 1911.

SIR,—I have the honour to transmit herewith the British
copy of the treaty for the preservation and protection
of the fur-seals which frequent the waters of the North
Pacific Ocean, which was signed by Mr. Pope, Under-
Secretary of State for External Affairs of Canada, and
myself as British delegates, and by the delegates of
Russia, Japan, and the United States, and dated the 7th
instant at Washington.

I have, &c.,
JAMES BRYCE.

Enclosure.

Treaty for the Preservation and Protection of the Fur-
seals which frequent the Waters of the North Pacific
Ocean.

THE United States of America, His Majesty the King
of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and
of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of
India, His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, and His
Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, being desirous
of adopting effective means for the preservation and pro-
tection of the fur-seals which frequent the waters of the
North Pacific Ocean, have resolved to conclude a conven-
tion for the purpose, and to that end have named as their
plenipotentiaries :—

The President of the United States of America, the
Honourable Charles Nagel, Secretary of Commerce and
Labour of the United States, and the Honourable
Chandler P. Anderson, Counsellor of the Department of
State of the United States ;

His Britannic Majesty, the Right Honourable James
Bryce, of the Order of Merit, his Ambassador Extra-
ordinary and Plenipotentiary at Washington, and Joseph
Pope, Esquire, Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
and Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St.
George, Under-Secretary of State of Canada for Ex-
ternal Affairs ;

His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, Baron Yasuya
Uchida, Jusammi, Grand Cordon of the Imperial Order
of the Rising Sun, his Ambassador Extraordinary and
Plenipotentiary at Washington; and the Honourable
Hitoshi Dauké, Shoshii, Third Class of the Imperial
Order of the Rising Sun, Director of the Bureau of
Fisheries, Department of Agriculture and Commerce ;

His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, the
Honourable Pierre Botkine, Chamberlain of His Majesty’s
Court, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
to Morocco, and Baron Boris Nolde, of the Foreign Office ;