A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Volume 8, part 2

PROCLAMATIONS.

Reading edition

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

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 XXIII, 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 $200 nor more than $1,000, 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 Bering 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 in at least one newspaper (if any such there be) published at each United States port of entry on the Pacific coast, warning all persons against entering said waters for the purpose of violating the provisions of 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.

Articles I, II, and III of a convention between the United States of America and Great Britain for the renewal of the existing modus vivendi in Bering Sea, concluded April 18, 1892, are published for the same purpose:

ARTICLE I. Her Majesty's Government will prohibit during the pendency of the arbitration seal killing in that part of Bering Sea lying eastward of the line of demarcation described in Article No. I of the treaty of 1867 between the United States and Russia, and will promptly use its best efforts to insure the observance of this prohibition by British subjects and vessels.

ART. II. The United States Government will prohibit seal killing for the same period in the same part of Bering 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 of the natives), and will promptly use its best efforts to insure the observance of this prohibition by United States citizens and vessels.

ART. III. Every vessel or person offending against this prohibition in the said waters of Bering 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 alone shall have jurisdiction to try the offense and impose the penalties for the same. The witnesses and proof necessary to establish the offense shall also be sent with them.

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, hereby warn all persons against entering the waters of Bering Sea within the dominion of the United States for the purpose of violating the provisions of said section 1936 of the Revised Statutes and of the said articles of said convention, and I hereby proclaim that all persons found to be or to have been engaged in any violation of the laws of the United States or of the provisions of said convention in said waters will be arrested, proceeded against, and punished as above provided.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 8th day of April, 1893, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and seventeenth.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

By the President: W.Q. GRESHAM, Secretary of State.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas it is provided by section 13 of the act of Congress of March 3, 1891, entitled "An act to amend Title LX, chapter 3, of the Revised Statutes of the United States, relating to copyrights," that said act "shall only apply to a citizen or subject of a foreign state or nation when such foreign state or nation permits to citizens of the United States of America the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as its own citizens, or when such foreign state or nation is a party to an international agreement which provides for reciprocity in the granting of copyright, by the terms of which agreement the United States of America may at its pleasure become a party to such agreement;" and

Whereas it is also provided by said section that "the existence of either of the conditions aforesaid shall be determined by the President of the United States by proclamation made from time to time as the purposes of this act may require;" and

Whereas satisfactory official assurances have been given that in Denmark the law permits to citizens of the United States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to the subjects of Denmark:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of America, do declare and proclaim that the first of the conditions specified in section 13 of the act of March 3, 1891, now exists and is fulfilled in respect to the subjects of Denmark.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 8th day of May, 1893, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and seventeenth.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

By the President: W.Q. GRESHAM, Secretary of State.

EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, D.C., June 30, 1893.

Whereas the distrust and apprehension concerning the financial situation which pervade all business circles have already caused great loss and damage to our people and threaten to cripple our merchants, stop the wheels of manufacture, bring distress and privation to our farmers, and withhold from our workingmen the wage of labor; and

Whereas the present perilous condition is largely the result of a financial policy which the executive branch of the Government finds embodied in unwise laws, which must be executed until repealed by Congress:

Now, therefore, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States, in performance of a constitutional duty, do by this proclamation declare that an extraordinary occasion requires the convening of both Houses of the Congress of the United States at the Capitol, in the city of Washington, on the 7th day of August next, at 12 o'clock noon, to the end that the people may be relieved through legislation from present and impending danger and distress.

All those entitled to act as members of the Fifty-third Congress are required to take notice of this proclamation and attend at the time and place above stated.

Given under my hand and the seal of the United States, at the city of Washington, on the 30th day of June, A.D. 1893, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and seventeenth.

[SEAL.]

GROVER CLEVELAND.

By the President: ALVEY A. ADEE, Acting Secretary of State.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas an act of Congress amendatory of an act in relation to aiding vessels wrecked or disabled in the waters conterminous to the United States and the Dominion of Canada was approved May 24, 1890, the said act being in the following words:

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That an act entitled "An act to aid vessels wrecked or disabled in the waters conterminous to the United States and the Dominion of Canada," approved June 19, 1878, be, and the same is hereby, amended so that the same will read as follows:

"That Canadian vessels and wrecking appurtenance may render aid and assistance to Canadian or other vessels and property wrecked, disabled, or in distress in the waters of the United States contiguous to the Dominion of Canada: Provided, That this act shall not take effect until proclamation by the President of the United States that the privilege of aiding American or other vessels and property wrecked, disabled, or in distress in Canadian waters contiguous to the United States has been extended by the government of the Dominion of Canada to American vessels and wrecking appliances of all descriptions. This act shall be construed to apply to the Welland Canal, the canal and improvement of the waters between Lake Erie and Lake Huron, and to the waters of the St. Marys River and Canal: And provided further, That this act shall cease to be in force from and after the date of the proclamation of the President of the United States to the effect that said reciprocal privilege has been withdrawn, revoked, or rendered inoperative by the said government of the Dominion of Canada."

And whereas an act of Congress making appropriation for the legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1894, and for other purposes, approved March 3, 1893, further amended the act of May 24, 1890, as follows:

That an act approved May 24, 1890; entitled "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to aid vessels wrecked or disabled in the waters conterminous to the United States and the Dominion of Canada,' approved June 19,1878," be, and is hereby, amended by striking out the words "the Welland Canal."

And whereas by an order in council dated May 17, 1893, the government of the Dominion of Canada has proclaimed an act entitled "An act respecting aid by United States wreckers in Canadian waters" to take effect June 1, 1893, said act reading as follows:

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the senate and house of commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

1. United States vessels and wrecking appliances may salve any property wrecked and may render aid and assistance to any vessels wrecked, disabled, or in distress in the waters of Canada contiguous to the United States.

2. Aid and assistance include all necessary towing incident thereto.

3. Nothing in the customs or coasting laws of Canada shall restrict the salving operations of such vessels or wrecking appliances.

4. This act shall come into force from and after a date to be named in a proclamation by the Governor-General, which proclamation may be issued when the Governor in council is advised that the privilege of salving any property wrecked or of aiding any vessels wrecked, disabled, or in distress in United States waters contiguous to Canada will be extended to Canadian vessels and wrecking appliances to the extent to which such privilege is granted by this act to United States vessels and wrecking appliances.

5. This act shall cease to be in force from and after a date to be named in a proclamation to be issued by the Governor-General to the effect that the said reciprocal privilege has been withdrawn, revoked, or rendered inoperative with respect to Canadian vessels or wrecking appliances in United States waters contiguous to Canada.

And whereas said proclamation of the Governor-General of Canada was communicated to this Government by Her Britannic Majesty's ambassador on the 2d day of June last:

Now, therefore, being thus satisfied that the privilege of aiding American or other vessels and property wrecked, disabled, or in distress in Canadian waters contiguous to the United States has been extended by the government of the Dominion of Canada to American vessels and wrecking appliances of all descriptions, I, Grover Cleveland, President of the United States of America, in virtue of the authority conferred upon me by the aforesaid act of Congress approved May 24, 1890, do proclaim that the condition specified in the legislation of Congress aforesaid now exists and is fulfilled, and that the provisions of said act of May 24, 1890, whereby Canadian vessels and wrecking appliances may render aid and assistance to Canadian and other vessels and property wrecked, disabled, or in distress in the waters of the United States contiguous to the Dominion of Canada, including the canal and improvement of the waters between Lake Erie and Lake Huron and the waters of the St. Marys River and Canal, are now in full force and effect.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States of America to be hereunto affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 17th day of July, A.D. 1893, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and eighteenth.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

By the President: W.Q. GRESHAM, Secretary of State.

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

A PROCLAMATION.

Whereas satisfactory official assurances have been given that in Portugal the law permits to citizens of the United States the benefit of copyright on substantially the same basis as to the subjects of Portugal:

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

[SEAL.]

Done at the city of Washington, this 20th day of July, A.D. 1893, and of the Independence of the United States the one hundred and eighteenth.

GROVER CLEVELAND.

By the President: W.Q. GRESHAM, Secretary of State.