WASHINGTON. Whereas the Congress of the United States did by an act approved on the 22d day of February, 1889, provide that the inhabitants of the Territory of Washington might, upon the conditions prescribed in said act, become the State of Washington: And whereas it was provided by said act that delegates elected as therein provided, to a constitutional convention in the Territory of Washington, should meet at the seat of government of said Territory; and that, after they had met and organized they should declare on behalf of the people of Washington that they adopt the Constitution of the United States; whereupon the said convention should be authorized to form a State government for the proposed State of Washington; And whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution so adopted should be republican in form and make no distinction in civil or political rights on account of race or color, except as to Indians not taxed, and not be repugnant to the Constitution of the United States and the principles of the Declaration of Independence; and that the convention should by an ordinance irrevocable without the consent of the United States and the people of said State make certain provisions prescribed in said act; And whereas it was provided by said act that the constitution thus formed for the people of Washington should, by an ordinance of the convention forming the same, be submitted to the people of Washington at an election to be held therein on the first Tuesday in October, 1889, for ratification or rejection by the qualified voters of said proposed State; and that the returns of said election should be made to the secretary of said Territory, who, with the governor ana chief justice thereof, or any two of them, should canvass the same, and if a majority of the legal votes cast should be for the constitution, the governor should certify the result to the President of the United States, together with a statement of the votes cast thereon, and upon separate articles or propositions and a copy of said constitution, articles, propositions and ordinances, And whereas it has been certified to me by the governor of said. Territory that within the time prescribed by said act of Congress a constitution for the proposed State of Washington has been adopted and that the same has been ratified by a majority of the qualified voters of said proposed State in accordance with the conditions prescribed in said act; And whereas it is also certified to me by the said governor that at the same time the body of said constitution was submitted to a vote of the people two separate articles entitled "Woman's suffrage" and "Prohibition" were likewise submitted, which said separate articles did not receive a majority of the votes cast thereon or upon the constitution and were rejected; also that at the same election the question of the location of a permanent seat of government was so submitted and that no place received a majority of all the votes cast upon said questions; And whereas a duly authenticated copy of said constitution and articles, as required by said act, has been received by me: Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States of America, do, in accordance with the provisions of the act of Congress aforesaid, declare and proclaim the fact that the conditions imposed by Congress on the State of Washington to entitle that State to admission to the Union have been ratified and accepted and that the admission of the said State into the Union is now complete. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this eleventh day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and [SEAL.] eighty-nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and fourteenth. By the President: JAMES G. BLAINE, Secretary of State. BENJ. HARRISON. THE SEAL FISHERIES. The following provisions of the laws of the United States are hereby published for the information of all concerned: Section 1956, Revised Statutes, chapter 3, title 23, enacts that No person shall kill any otter, mink, marten, sable, or fur seal, or other fur-bearing animal within the limits of Alaska Territory, or in the waters thereof; and every person guilty thereof shall, for each offense, be fined not less than two hundred nor more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both, and all vessels, their tackle, apparel, furniture and cargo, found engaged in violation of this section shall be forfeited, but the Secretary of the Treasury shall have power to authorize the killing of any such mink, marten, sable, or other fur-bearing animal, except fur seals, under such regulations as he may prescribe, and it shall be the duty of the Secretary to prevent the killing of any fur seal, and to provide for the execution of the provisions of this section until it is otherwise provided by law, nor shall he grant any special privileges under this section. * * Section 3 of the act entitled "An act to provide for the protection of the salmon fisheries of Alaska," approved March 2, 1889, provides that: SEC. 3. That section 1956 of the Revised Statutes of the United States is hereby declared to include and apply to all the dominion of the United States in the waters of Behring Sea, and it shall be the duty of the President at a timely season, in each year, to issue his proclamation, and cause the same to be published for one month at least in one newspaper (if any such there be) published at each United States port of entry on the Pacific coast, warning all persons against entering such waters for the purpose of violating the provisions or said section, and he shall also cause one or more vessels of the United States to diligently cruise said waters and arrest all persons and seize all vessels found to be or to have been engaged in any violation of the laws of the United States therein. Now, therefore, I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States, pursuant to the above recited statutes, hereby warn all persons against entering the waters of Bering Sea, within the the dominion of the United States, for the purpose of violating the provisions of said section 1956, Revised Statutes; and I hereby proclaim, that all persons found to be, or have been engaged in any violation of the laws of the United States, in said waters, will be arrested and punished as above provided, and that all vessels so employed, their tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargoes will be seized and forfeited. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this twenty-first day of March, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-nine, and of the [SEAL.] Independence of the United States the one hundred and thirteenth. By the President: JAMES G. BLAINE, Secretary of State. 15151- -17 BENJ. HARRISON. MODUS VIVENDI RESPECTING THE FUR-SEAL FISHERIES. Whereas an agreement for a modus vivendi between the Government of the United States and the Government of Her Britannic Majesty, in relation to the fur-seal fisheries in Bering Sea, was concluded on the 15th day of June, in the year of our Lord 1891, word for word as follows: AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE GOVERNMENT OF HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY FOR A MODUS VIVENDI IN RELATION TO THE FUR-SEAL FISHERIES IN BEHRING SEA. For the purpose of avoiding irritating differences and with a view to promote the friendly settlement of the questions pending between the two governments touching their respective rights in Behring Sea, and for the preservation of the seal species, the following agreement is made without prejudice to the rights or claims of either party. (1) Her Majesty's Government will prohibit, until May next, seal killing in that part of Behring Sea lying eastward of the line of demarcation described in article No. 1 of the treaty of 1867 between the United States and Russia, and will promptly use its best efforts to ensure the observance of this prohibition by British subjects and vessels. (2) The United States Government will prohibit seal killing for the same period in the same part of Behring Sea and on the shores and islands thereof, the property of the United States (in excess of 7,500 to be taken on the islands for the subsistence and care of the natives) and will promptly use its best efforts to ensure the observance of this prohibition by United States citizens and vessels. (3) Every vessel or person offending against this prohibition in the said waters of Behring Sea outside of the ordinary territorial limits of the United States, may be seized and detained by the naval or other duly commissioned officers of either of the High Contracting Parties, but they shall be handed over as soon as practicable to the authorities of the nation to which they respectively belong, who shall alone have jurisdiction to try the offense and impose the penalties for the same. The witnesses and proofs necessary to establish the offense shall also be sent with them. (4) In order to facilitate such proper inquiries as Her Majesty's Government may desire to make, with a view to the presentation of the case of that Government before arbitrators, and in expectation that an agreement for arbitration may be arrived at, it is agreed that suitable persons designated by Great Britain will be permitted at any time, upon application, to visit or to remain upon the seal islands during the present sealing season for that purpose. Signed and sealed in duplicate at Washington, this fifteenth day of June, 1891, on behalf of their respective Governments, by William F. Wharton, Acting Secretary of State of the United States, and Sir Julian Pauncefote, G. C. M. G., K. C. B., H. B. M. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. WILLIAM F. WHARTON. [SEAL.] Now, therefore, be it known that I, Benjamin Harrison, President of the United States of America, have caused the said agreement to be made public, to the end that the same and every part thereof may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States of America and the citizens thereof, In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington this fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety[SEAL.] one, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and fifteenth. By the President : WILLIAM F. WHARTON, Acting Secretary of State. BENJ. HARRISON. RENEWAL OF THE EXISTING MODUS VIVENDI IN BERING SEA. Whereas a convention between the United States of America and Great Britain for the renewal of the existing modus vivendi in Bering Sea was signed by their respective plenipotentiaries at the city of Washington, on the 18th day of April, 1892, the original of which Convention, being in the English language, is word for word as follows: CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND GREAT BRITAIN FOR THE RENEWAL OF THE EXISTING MODUS VIVENDI" IN BEHRING'S SEA. Whereas by a Convention concluded between the United States of America and Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, on the twentyninth day of February, one-thousand eight hundred and ninety-two, the High Contracting Parties have agreed to submit to Arbitration, as therein stated, the questions which have arisen between them concerning the jurisdictional rights of the United States in the waters of Behring's Sea and concerning also the preservation of the fur-seal in, or habitually resorting to, the said sea, and the rights of the citizens and subjects of either country as regards the taking of the fur-seal in, or habitually resorting to, the said waters; and whereas the High Contracting Parties, having differed as to what restrictive Regulations for seal-hunting are necessary, during the pendency of such Arbitration, have agreed to adjust such difference in manner hereinafter mentioned, and without prejudice to the rights of either party: The said High Contracting Parties have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries to to conclude a convention for this purpose, that is to say: The President of the United States of America, James.G. Blaine, Secretary of State, of the United States. And Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir Julian Pauncefote, Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Knight Commander of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, and Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty to the United States; |