that no part of their cargo be discharged or sold to anybody, under pain of confiscation of the ship.) It is hereby ordered that the local authorities shall inform the Englishman Davis at Okhotsk and Dobello's agent in Kamchatka that the Government does not permit them to reside in those places, much less to erect buildings or other immovable property. In consideration of said prohibition they will be awarded damages and afforded every facility on the part of the local authorities to dispose of their property and to take their departure. Mr. Dobello, however, is hereby instructed that the ship which he proposes to dispatch from the Philippine Islands to Kamchatka may, on this single occasion, take goods as well as provisions, and he shall be permitted to dispose of the same. But to prevent him from dispatching such vessels in the future, he is permitted to supply only Russian ships belonging to the Government or to our American Company, which may call at Manilla for supplies. 3. Permission is denied to Mr. Dobello to dispatch two ships to Cronstadt with tea and other Chinese goods, since such operations do not accord with the views of the Government, and he is hereby informed that he has been and is now required only to furnish information as to the prices of Chinese goods at Manilla and as to what supplies and production from Eastern Siberia could be profitably disposed of there, to the end that all such information may be used for the benefit of our American Company in all its various commercial transactions. Pursuant to this highest decision I have already addressed the Governor-general of Siberia and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and sent the necessary orders to Mr. Dobello; and now the following propositions are laid before the board of administration of the Russian American Company: 1. From the whaling industry on the eastern shores of Siberia the Government expects not only such advantages as have been pointed out by the Governor-General of Siberia and by the commander of the districts of Kamchatka in their communication, of which copies are herewith appended, but discovers in this industry the promise of special advantages to the Company, and therefore hopes that the board of administration will at once furnish the means necessary for taking the preliminary steps toward the inauguration of whaling in those waters and proceed, without waiting for the information requested from Mr. Dobello, to inform itself concerning the engagement of experienced masters, etc. A ship should be purchased at once and dispatched in the following year, if it be found impossible to do so during the present. 2. Having, for the benefit of the American Company, excluded all foreigners from Kamchatka and Okhotsk and prohibited them from engaging in trade and from hunting and fishing in all the waters of Eastern Siberia, the Government fully expects that the Company, on its part, will hold itself responsible for supplying those regions with all necessaries. In connection with this requirement, and in consideration of a request from the Governor-General of Siberia, the board of administration will report on the following points: A. As to the means by which communication can be maintained between Yakutsk and Okhotsk without oppression of the Yakut people. B. Whether the Company can undertake to land at the ports of Petropavlovsk and Okhotsk provisions, especially flour and salt, from their correspondents in California or the Philippine Islands, in such quantities as may be required by the Government forces and officials and by all other inhabitants, employing for this purpose a ship which must visit the places named at least once a year and at a time previously fixed; also as to the probable cost of pro visions, prices of freight, etc. C. To propose measures for a development and increase of the fishing industries for the benefit of the native population of Kamchatka and Okhotsk. D. Whether the Company can undertake to furnish the districts of Kamchatka and Okhotsk with all the necessary articles of trade which the inhabitants now receive from Irkutsk, and at what prices. 3. In refusing permission to Mr. Dobello to dispatch ships loaded with tea and Chinese goods, the Government had in view the avoidance of any complications which might interfere with the full enjoyment by the Russian American Company of its privileges granted by Imperial ukase, not only in connection with the trade in teas across the Chinese border at Kiakhta, but also in connection with the exclusive rights of trade and navigation in all the waters adjoining the Siberian as well as the American possessions of Russia, and all interior waters connected therewith. For this purpose Mr. Dobello was requested to furnish detailed information of the trade and commerce at the Philippine Islands, in order to relieve the Company of the necessity of employing foreign ships and masters for this trade which involves their admission to waters reserved for the exclusive use of the Russian American Company under its charter. In conclusion it is stated as the decision of His Majesty the Emperor, in view of possible future complications of this nature, that no contracts involving the admission, free navigation, or trade of foreign ships and foreign subjects in the waters adjoining or bounded by the coasts of the Russian Colonies will be approved by the Imperial Government. The board of administration of the Russian American Company is hereby informed that Court-Councilor Dobello has not been recognized as Russian consul by the Spanish Government, because the court of Madrid declares it to be contrary to its colonial system to admit foreign consuls to its colonies; but having acquiesced in his residence at Manilla and in his exercise there of the duties of agent, it is now understood that the object of his appointment was only to assist vessels of the Russian American Company visiting Manilla in purely commercial transactions. Count D. GURYEF, Minister of Finance. No. 3. Letter from the Board of Administration of the Russian American Company to Captain M. I. Murarief, of the Imperial Navy, Chief Manager of the Russian-American Colonies. Written from St. Petersburg, April 23, 1820. [Confidential.] On the 10th instant the Minister of Finance communicated to the board of administration in a message marked confidential, the will of His Imperial Majesty in the following words: 1. That the contract concluded with the Englishman Pigott is disapproved by the Government. 2. That the Governor of Irkutsk be instructed to allow no foreigners, except such as have become Russian subjects, to join in any commercial guild or to settle in Kamchatka or Okhotsk; also to strictly pro hibit all foreign mercantile vessels from visiting these points, or trading in any of the ports of Eastern Siberia, except in case of disaster, when the strictest vigilance must be exercised to prevent the disposal of any of the vessel's cargo, under pain of confiscation of both ship and cargo. At the same time the Englishman Davis at Okhotsk and Dobello's agent at Kamchatka must be informed that the Government does not permit them to reside at those places, much less to acquire houses or other immovable property. The local authorities are instructed to allow them damages for the immediate disposal of what property they have already acquired, and to see to their immediate departure. Mr. Dobello is to be informed that the ship he has proposed to dispatch from the Philippine Islands to Kamchatka with provisions and articles of luxury will not be allowed to visit Kamchatka, unless it be transferred to the ownership of a Russian subject, preference to be given to the Russian American Company, operating under highest protection. 3. Permission is also denied to Mr. Dobello to despatch any ships to Kronstadt with teas or other Chinese goods, such transactions being in direct conflict with the views of the Government. He is also informed that no further intercourse is possible between him and the authorities of Eastern Siberia, and that even if supplies should be needed from Manilla or any other adjacent foreign country, such transactions would be intrusted to the hands of our American Company. Having informed you of these highest views, the board of administration adds the tollowing explanation: The contract which was disapproved by the Imperial Government was concluded with Pigott on the 18th of June, 1819, for a period of ten years by Mr. Riccord, commander of the Kamchatka district, and Court-Councillor Dobello on behalf of the Government, parties of the first part, and the above named Englishmen Pigott on behalf of himself and his partners, Davis, Ebbets and Meek, captains of American merchant vessels, of the second part, for the purpose of whaling and hunting marine animals for their furs and oil on the coasts of Kamchatka and of Eastern Siberia, in the harbors, bays and straits, and on the islands, for their own benefit and profit, without any duty or royalty, and with the privilege of carrying the Russian flag, and with the additional privilege of fishing and of shipping the catch from Kamchatka on payment of fifty kopeks per poud on salted fish. This contract was naturally considered by the Government to be injurious to the interests of the Company, since all the benefits accrued to foreigners, and no provision was made to protect the native inhabitants of those regions who depend for their principal means of subsistence upon fish, which under this contract would have been carried away by foreigners before their longing eyes. Having thus reached the conviction that the real object of these scheming foreigners, with whom it appears that Dobello was allied on terms of intimacy, was not only to obtain the privilege of killing whales and of trying out their blubber, or the chase of other marine animals which frequent our waters that wash the coasts of Eastern Siberia, but rather to gradually obtain control over our Kurile and Aleutian Islands for the purpose of hunting sea-otters and fur-seals, which object, had it been obtained, would have crippled the Russian American Company, the board of administration expresses the following opinion: As soon as the Imperial Government ascertained that the contracts made were in open violation of the privileges granted the Company, it prohibited at once all foreigners not only from settling in Kamchatka or Okhotsk, but also from all intercourse with those regions, enjoining the authorities to maintain the strictest surveillance over their movements. Basing your own action upon this proceeding on the part of our Highest Protector, you as commander of all our Colonies must prohibit with equal strictness all foreigners from engaging in any intercourse or trade with native inhabitants, as well as from visiting the waters frequented by sea otters and fur-seals, over which our operations extend, under the penalty of the most severe measures, including the confiscation of ships and the imprisonment of crews engaged in this illegal traffic. You must act with the greatest severity in cases where foreigners have sold to the natives arms, powder, and lead. They must be made to understand that their presence in our waters is contrary to our laws, and that they will never be admitted to any port unless you or your subordinates convince yourselves that such is necessary for the saving of life. In a word, you must preserve an attitude in full accord with the views of the Imperial Government on this subject, and protect against all intruders the domain of land and water granted to us by the grace of the Emperor, and necessary for our continued existence and prosperity. You must transmit these instructions without delay to your subordinate commanders for their conduct in their intercourse with foreigners, and especially to the commanders of ships navigating our waters, to enable them to drive away the foreign intruders. The communication from the Minister of Marine also contained a copy of a letter from the present Governor-General of Siberia embodying many suggestions and opinions of advantage to the Company. Of this document the board of administration forwards a copy for your guidance, to enable you to act for the best interests of the Company. MICHAEL KISSELEF, Directors. APRIL 23, 1820. P. S.-We hereby inform you that the Government has decided to dispatch two ships around the world during the present summer; one to winter in Kamchatka, and the other to proceed to Sitka and to cruise in search of foreign vessels. No. 4. Letter from the Board of Administration of the Russian American Company to Capt. M. I. Murarief, Chief Manager of the Russian American colonies. Written from St. Petersburg, March 31, 1821. Your two letters from Okhotsk, of the 26th and 28th of July, have been received by us with satisfaction, but with still greater pleasure we read your just remarks relating to various subjects intimately connected with the Company's interests. For this we render you our most sincere thanks, wishing you at the same time a safe arrival at your destination and good health, and that you may always retain at heart the best interests of our Company. Your remarks to Mr. Riccord can not, we think, have been very ac ceptable to that gentleman. From the copy herewith inclosed of communications from the ministries you will see that the Imperial Government not only repudiates Messrs. Riccord, Dobello, and Pigott, but also prohibited them altogether from trading in Okhotsk and Kamchatka, with the result that to-day the foreigners have abandoned their enterprise in that region, and no other foreigners will be allowed to visit these places in the future. The principles involved in this action of the Government you must also observe in dealing with foreigners who may visit our Colonies, using all the force at your command to drive them from our waters. Together with our new privileges, which have already been promulgated by the minister, and which are only awaiting the return of our monarch, we shall also receive definite instructions how to deal with foreigners who venture to cross the limits of possessions acquired long ago through Russian enterprise and valor. From the same ministerial documents you will see that the Company has been urged to engage in the whaling industry, and the necessary experiments will be entered into at once, though we know beforehand that no great profits will accrue to us therefrom, since Kamchatka and Okhotsk are districts very thinly populated, affording but an insignificant market for whale oil, and we could not sell it anywhere else. In these documents you will also find that the Government desires the Company to supply Kamchatka and Okhotsk with breadstuffs, but this we are compelled temporarily to decline. When the Borodino called at Manilla, there appeared to be no market for the articles of Russian manufacture which, in Dobello's opinion, could be sold there with profit; on this matter, however, you must be fully informed through our officers, who must have reached you long ago, and who it is to be hoped are now on their return voyage. There only remains the hope of obtaining bread from California, if the missions there have not been abolished. Your information on this point has been gratifying to us. Upon all the questions submitted by Mr. Yanovsky, we have embodied our decisions in dispatches already forwarded to you, accompanied by copies of all papers for use in case of loss of the originals which were sent on the Borodino. During the present year no naval vessel has been dispatched around the world for the protection of our Colonies, but now two ships are being fitted out, to the command of which Tulubief and Filatof have been appointed, the former being in charge of the squadron. You will, therefore, have an ample force patrolling our waters and protecting our interests. In addition, we send you the brig Kurik, commanded by Master Klotchkof. The brig is to return to us after cruising in colonial waters. In the accompanying newspapers and journals forwarded by the Rurik, with the additional dispatches, you will learn the state of affairs in Europe and in other countries. Renewing our wishes for your prosperity and good health, we have, most gracious sir, the honor to remain, with the most sincere friendship and respect, Your very humble servants, MICHAEL KISSELEF. |