Sold For $1,330
*Includes Buyers Premium
Partly-printed DS as president, signed “Benj. Harrison,” one page, 8 x 10, March 15, 1890. President Harrison authorizes and directs the Secretary of State to cause the Seal of the United States to be affixed to “my proclamation providing for the protection of fur-bearing animals +c within the limits of Alaska Territory.” Signed neatly at the conclusion in ink by President Benjamin Harrison. In fine condition.
This document pertains to Proclamation 297—Prohibiting the Hunting of Fur-Bearing Animals in Alaska and Bering Sea, an act designed to drastically limit the hunting of fur seals by both the United States and Great Britain in and around the Bering Sea. While the U.S. sought to employ a more sustainable seal-harvesting method that was akin to the Russians before them, seal vessels from Great Britain and Ireland opposed and/or ignored these measures, which resulted in the United States Revenue Cutter Service, today known as the United States Coast Guard, capturing several Canadian sealer vessels throughout the conflict. This led to The Bering Sea Arbitration of 1893, and, for a little while, a potential war between the United States and Great Britain was in the balance.
The North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911 did much to curtail the seal industry. Signed on July 7, 1911, the treaty was designed to manage the commercial harvest of fur-bearing mammals (such as Northern fur seals and sea otters) in the Pribilof Islands of the Bering Sea. The treaty, signed by the United States, Great Britain (also representing Canada), Japan, and Russia, outlawed open-water seal hunting and acknowledged the United States' jurisdiction in managing the on-shore hunting of seals for commercial purposes. It was the first international treaty to address wildlife preservation issues.
This item is Pre-Certified by PSA/DNA
Buy a third-party letter of authenticity for
$75.00
*This item has been pre-certified by a trusted third-party authentication service, and by placing a bid on this item, you agree to accept the opinion of this authentication service. If you wish to have an opinion rendered by a different authenticator of your choosing, you must do so prior to your placing of any bid. RR Auction is not responsible for differing opinions submitted 30 days after the date of the sale.
