Page images
PDF
EPUB
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

RUSSIA.

CODE OF RUSSIAN LAWS GOVERNING RURAL INDUSTRIES.

[Translation.]

[Vol. XII, Part II. Edition of 1885. St. Petersburg.]

THE USTINSK SEALING INDUSTRY IN THE WHITE SEA.

SEC. 233. The Ustinsk industry consists in the killing of seals on the ice of the Gulf of Mesensk.

NOTE. The limits of the Gulf of Mesensk, to which these rules apply, are described by a straight line running from Cape Voronof to Cape Kautin, through the southeastern extremity of the island Morshovtsa.

SEC. 234. The management of the killing as well as the division of products is left to the hunters.

SEC. 235. For the purpose of determining the time for beginning the killing and to see to the preservation of order and system, overseers are selected every three years from the following districts of the town of Mezen: Koida, Nishe, Dolgoi Shtchel, Semshi, Lamposhni, and Kargopol. For every twenty boats an overseer must be appointed, and for this purpose the districts are combined as follows: Koida with Nishe, Dolgoi Shtchel with Kargopol, Mezen with Semshi and Lamposhni. If after division by twenty boats ten or more boats are left over a special overseer must be appointed, but if the number of boats left over numbers less than five no overseer need be selected.

SEC. 236. The overseers assemble in the town of Mezen about the twentieth of March and appoint the day when the sealers are to put to sea. The day of departure must be determined and publicly announced in the townships named above (in sec. 235) not later than the 25th of March.

SEC. 237. The places of departure for the Ustinsk sealing are Cape Abramof and Cape Nerinsk, where those desiring to engage in sealing must assemble on the appointed day.

SEC. 238. The day appointed for departure for the Ustinsk sealing grounds from Cape Nerinsk must always be four days earlier than that set for Cape Abramof, so that if, for instance, the 10th day of April has been set for Abramof, the sealers must set out from Nerinsk on the 6th of April.

SEC. 239. During the continuance of the hunt it is strictly fobidden to light fires to windward of the groups or hauling grounds of seals, or to alarm them in any way.

SEC. 240. Persons guilty of violation of the above rules are liable to prosecution under article 57 of the Penal Code for Rural Courts and to confiscation of the whole catch. The boat to which the violator of the law belongs will be held responsible for the penalty imposed.

THE FISHING AND SEALING INDUSTRIES IN THE CASPIAN SEA.

SEC. 432. The catching of fish and killing of seals in the waters of the Caspian Sea included in the Russian Empire, are free to all who desire to engage in the same, except in certain localities hereafter defined in section 439, under observance of the rules herewith established.

[blocks in formation]

SEC. 435. For the right of fishing in the sea a license fee will be

collected from each boat for the benefit of the Imperial Treasury. For the right to kill seals a license fee is collected from each sealer, and in addition the seal oil shipped from the sea to the Lower Volga is subject to a fixed duty per pood.

SEC. 436. The amount of license fee for fishing and sealing, as well as of the duty on oil, will be determined by the Minister of Imperial Property, subject to revision by the Imperial Council.

SEC. 437. To defray the expenses of enforcing the rules herewith established, a certain percentage is set aside from every ruble collected for the Government from fishing and sealing licenses and duties on seal oil. *

*

SEC. 438. The Minister of Imperial Property is charged with the formation, publication, and enforcement of rules for the protection of the fishing and sealing industries.

SEC. 439. The rules and regulations herewith promulgated do not affect the following coastwise localities: (1) The waters lying opposite the shores of the Ural Cossack Territory, for a distance of seventy six versts from the west side and of eighty eight versts from the east side, the catch of fish and killing of seals in these waters being reserved to the Corps of Ural Cossacks, as specified in sections 607 to 611 of this code; (2) the waters extending twenty five versts north and twenty five versts west of Cape Tuck-Karagansk, of a surface area of six hundred and twenty five square versts from the Cape, which has been reserved for the settlers on the Manguishlak Peninsula; (3) the waters reserved by section 612 of this code to the Tersk Corps of Cossacks for a distance of seventy six versts from the shore; (4) the waters south of this tract to the Persian boundary for a distance of fifty versts from the shore.

NOTE.-If in the future any of the waters just named should become available for free fishing and hunting, the Minister of Imperial Property will issue regulations and publish the same accordingly.

SEC. 440. The administration of all matters relating to fisheries and sealing industries in the localities mentioned in sections 432 and 433 is intrusted to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Industries of the Ministry of Imperial Property.

SEC. 441. The local management of these industries is placed in the hands of special bureaus in the city of Astrakhan, under the title of "Administration of Fishing and Sealing Industries; The Committee on Fisheries and Sealing Industries, and the Fishery and Sealing Police."

NOTE. The vessels of the Astrakhan Bureau of Fishing and Sealing Industries are entitled to carry a special flag and pennant to distinguish them from merchant vessels.

SEC. 442. The Bureau of Fishing and Sealing Industries consists of a Chief, three Inspectors (one senior and two juniors), and the necessary clerical force. In the absence of the Chief the senior Inspector takes his place.

SEC. 443. The Chief of the Bureau is subject to Highest Orders; the Inspectors to the orders of the Minister of Imperial Property; the other officials to the Bureau of Fishing and Sealing Industries.

SEC. 444. The Bureau stands in the same relation to the Ministry of Imperial Property and to the Governor of Astrakhan as the Provincial Bureau of Imperial Property.

SEC. 445. The Bureau is charged with the general supervision of the enforcement of the regulations promulgated in sections 432 to 599 of this Code, but if circumstances should arise which are not specially re

ferred to in these regulations, and deferred action on which would cause injury and loss to the Government or private individuals, the Bureau of Fishing and Sealing Industries may take the necessary steps and report to the Governor of Astrakhan, who in his turn will immediately assemble the Committee on Fishing and Sealing Industries, to act under the provisions of sections 486 and 487.

[blocks in formation]

SEC. 448. The Bureau is charged with stationing, through its Inspectors, light-ships and buoys to determine the limits of the reserved waters belonging to the Corps of Ural and Tersk Cossacks.

SEC. 449. The Bureau, under Instructions of the Ministry of Imperial Property, will issue licenses for fishing or killing seals (tin plates with a number to be affixed to the bow of the boats or to the forward part of the sleds used for sealing on the ice). The necessary blanks, receipts, etc., will be furnished by the Public Treasury, upon requisition and statement as to the number required.

[blocks in formation]

SEC. 455. The Bureau of Fishing and Sealing Industries is charged with the collection of fees and fines and with the sale by auction of all confiscated property. If such property has been seized outside of Astrakhan and its shipment to that place is not convenient, the local fiscal authorities nearest to the place of seizure may be entrusted with such sale, in the presence of one of the officials of the Bureau.

The Bureau receives the reports of the Police of Fishing and Sealing Industries of all violations of the regulations, and inaugurates proceedings against offenders in accordance with the respective sections of this Code.

SEC. 498. Of the three Inspectors of the Sealing Industry one is stationed on Kulali Island, where the principal killing is done, to enforce compliance with the protective regulations.

SEC. 499. The principal duty of the other two Inspectors consists in the collection of the duties on seal oil shipped to Astrakhan for transmission to the interior provinces of Russia.

*

SEC. 535. The sealing industry is free over the whole extent of the Caspian Sea specified in section 432.

SEC. 536. The sealers may winter on the sealing grounds, with the exception of the localities where seals haul up for breeding. All who desire to make use of this privilege must procure an annual license.

SEC. 537. The killing of seals must be begun by all sealers at one and the same time, and for this purpose they will assemble at a certain point for consultation, duly notifying the Inspector at Kulalinsk to enable him to be present. From the point selected all sealers depart together, accompanied by the Inspector, without waiting for any who may fail to appear in time.

SEC. 538. The so-called "driving" of seals, i. e., driving them into stationary nets by shouting and discharging firearms, is prohibited on all islands and coasts where the seals haul up for breeding. At all other places driving is permitted, unless it interferes with other fisheries.

SEC. 540. The killing of seals in the winter, the old as well as the young, or white seals (for which the men go out on the ice with horses)

is forbidden, but on the breaking up of the ice, seals may be killed from boats.

SEC. 580. For killing seals before the appointed time each boat is fined fifty rubles and the whole catch confiscated.

SEC. 581. For killing seals on the ice in the winter the offender is fined two rubles for each seal killed and the whole catch is confiscated. SEC. 582. For secretly disposing of seal oil, and evading the payment of duty at Astrakhan, the fine is three times the value of the oil thus illegally sold.

URUGUAY.

LETTER STATING THE CONTENTS OF CERTAIN STATUTES OF URUGUAY, BY THE CUSTODIAN OF THE ARCHIVES AT MONTEVIDEO.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

To all to whom these presents shall come, greeting:

I certify that the document hereto annexed is a true copy from the files of this Department.

In testimony whereof I, John W. Foster, Secretary of State of the United States, have hereunto subscribed my name and caused [SEAL.] the seal of the Department of State to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington this second day of August, A. D. 1892, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and seventeenth.

JOHN W. FOSTER.

[ocr errors]

Señor OFICIAL MAYOR: En cumplimiento del decreto que antecede, debo informar á SSa. que la pesca de lobos en las islas de "Lobos," · Polonio,” “Castillos Grandes,” y “Coronilla," y las costas del “Rio de la Plata” y océano adyacente á los departamentos de "Maldonado” yRocha," se hace por contratistas que la obtienen por periodos de diez años, pagando anualmente al tesoro público siete mil pesos oro y además el derecho departamental de veinte centésimos por cada piel de anfibio y cuatro centésimos por arroba de aceite, que fué creado, así como su destino, por las leyes de 23 de Julio de 1857, y 28 de Junio de 1858 (Caraira, tomo 1, paginas 446 y 488, coleccion de leyes). El Estado les garante á los contratistas el tranquilo ejercicio de la industria, no permitiendo el arribo á dichas islas de buques de ningun género, ni la construccion de obras que pudieran ahuyentarlos. Las faenas empiezan el primero de Junio y terminan el 15 de Octubre. (Decreto de 17 de Mayo de 1876, pagina 1480 de la Legislacion Vigente, por Goyena.) Es cuanto tiene que informar el infrascrito. Dios guarde a SSa. m3. a3. (Firmado) Arturo E. Gonzalez, Encargado del archivo. Montevideo. Abril 2 de 1892.

Es copia conforme.

OSCAR HORDEÑANA,

Oft. Mayor.

« PreviousContinue »