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They unfortunately present so great a divergence of opinion on all the facts relating to the fur-seal fishery in the Behring's Sea, that Mr. Blaine decided to invite M. de Struve and myself to an interview on the 12th instant, at which he stated that the perusal of Mr. Tupper's Memorandum had convinced him of the hopelessness of arriving at a solution that would be satisfactory to Canada. He said he had exhausted all the arguments in favour of the proposal made by the United States' Government two years ago, and he called on me to make a counter-proposal on behalf of Her Majesty's Government.

I replied that I was reluctant to make a counter-proposal without previous reference to your Lordship, but that I did not take so desponding a view of the situation as he appeared to do.

It had been admitted and agreed that the sole object of the proposed arrangement was the preservation of the fur-seal species, and not the gain or benefit of any particular Government or body of persons. I did not believe that Canada, in view of the conflict of evidence, would object to a reasonable close season, at all events by way of experiment, and with a view to the further elucidation of the question.

The difficulty was to fix the limits of a close season both as to its area and its duration. Mr. Bayard in his despatch to Mr. White of the 1st May, 1888, had distinctly stated that only such a period is desired "as may be requisite for the end in view." This equally applied to the question of area.

It would be strange therefore if no machinery could be devised to surmount the difficulty.

I then stated that I had prepared a scheme which provided such machinery, and that I had actually put it in the form of a draft Convention which I proposed to refer to your Lordship, and, if approved, to lay before the Conference as the counter-proposal of Her Majesty's Government.

I then explained the general provisions of the scheme.

The draft Convention lays down in the first place that there shall be a close season, but that in view of the conflict of evidence which has arisen as to what should be its area and duration, a Commission of experts shall be appointed to report on the matter, and that if on the examination of their Report the three Governments should still be unable to settle the conditions of a close season, the points in difference shall be referred to the arbitration of an impartial Government, whose award shall finally determine the close season for the purposes of the Convention.

The draft also provides for the immediate adoption and enforcement of a provisional close time as to which the High Contracting Parties would probably be disposed to be more yielding by reason of its temporary and experimental character, and in view of the prospect of an ultimate and impartial decision on the questions in dispute.

The other Articles of the draft provide for the enforcement of the close season, the trial of offenders, the duration of the Convention, and the accession thereto of other Powers.

Mr. Blaine and M. de Struve declined to look at the draft or to express any opinion on the scheme until it should be formally placed before them, but they listened to its details with evident interest, and I observed no indication of serious dissent or unfavourable criticism on their part.

I am not without hope therefore that if its general features should meet with your Lordship's approval, it may form a basis of arrangement, and present an issue out of the difficulties of the situation.

Mr. Tupper, who concurs generally in the draft, has returned to Ottawa to consult his Government thereon, and the next meeting of the Conference is adjourned pending the receipt of your Lordship's further instructions.

I have, &c.

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My Lord,

Sir J. Pauncefote to the Marquis of Salisbury.-(Received March 31.)

Washington, March 21, 1890. I HAVE the honour to inclose a cutting from the New York "Tribune" of the 19th instant, containing an article on the Alaska Sea fisheries, headed "Rights in Behring's Sea."

I have been unable to discover that any American jurist has ever ventured to assert that the United States can claim any special jurisdiction over Behring's Sea, or any

exclusive right of fishery therein, or to support the extraordinary argument that the correspondence between the Russian and United States' Governments in 1823 had no reference to Behring's Sea.

On the other hand, the fallacy of the views put forward in the "New York Tribune" has been demonstrated, as your Lordship is aware, by two eminent American writers, Professor Rayner, in his letters to the New York Evening Post" of the 27th June and 18th October, 1889, and Professor Angel, in his article in the "Forum" of November 1889.

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(Telegraphic.)

No. 315.

The Marquis of Salisbury to Sir J. Pauncefote.

Foreign Office, April 3, 1890.

THE principle of the draft Convention has my full approval."

No. 316.

Sir,

Colonial Office to Foreign Office.--(Received April 9.)

Downing Street, April 9, 1890.

IN reply to your letter of the 20th ultimo, forwarding copy of a telegram from Her Majesty's Minister at Washington, on the present state of the negotiations on the Behring's Sea question, I am directed by Lord Knutsford to acquaint you, for the information of the Marquis of Salisbury, that he concurs in his Lordship's proposal to await information as to the views of the Canadian Government on the subject of the Convention which Sir J. Pauncefote has suggested before taking any action in the

matter.

I am, &c. (Signed)

R. H. MEADE.

No. 317.

My Lord,

Sir J. Pauncefote to the Marquis of Salisbury.-(Received April 10.)

Washington, March 31, 1890. I HAVE the honour to inclose herewith a newspaper extract relative to the detention of the British sealing-vessel "Pathfinder" at Portland, Oregon.

She was seized last year in Behring's Sea, and ordered to Sitka in charge of one seaman. She escaped to Victoria, and has been engaged in sealing till compelled to go into Portland Bay for repairs, where she was detained till released by instructions from the Secretary of the Treasury dated the 29th instant, on the ground that the Federal Courts of Alaska have exclusive jurisdiction over all violations of the Seal Fishery Laws. I have, &c. (Signed)

Inclosure in No. 317.

JULIAN PAUNCEFOTE.

Extract from the "New York Tribune," of March 30, 1890.

Portland, Oregon, March 29, 1890. THE British sealing schooner "Pathfinder," Captain Arthur Morgan, of Victoria, was towed into port last night by the United States' Revenue cutter "Corwin." The schooner was found at Neagh Bay, Washington, with rudder disabled, and taken into custody by the cutter. The "Pathfinder" is not seized, but detained pending instructions from the Department at Washington. The schooner is one of the sealing-vessels seized last year in Behring's Sea by the cutter "Richard Rush," and ordered to Sitka, Alaska, in charge of one seaman as a prizemaster. She escaped to Victoria, and has since been engaged in sealing off the American and British coasts till yesterday, when compelled to go into the bay for repairs. Captain Hooper, of the "Corwin," holds the vessel pending the decision of the Department relative to whether the vessel is amenable to the Law

The "Pathfinder" sailed from Victoria two months ago; she secured 150 seals off the coast of Vancouver and Washington.

Particulars of the detention have been sent to the Secretary of the Treasury at Washington, also to the Department at Ottawa, Canada.

Washington, March 29, 1890.

The following telegram was sent by Assistant Secretary Tichenor' this afternoon to the Collector of Customs at Port Townsend, Washington :

"In the year 1887 the Department, in a case quite similar, but in some respects stronger for the Government, decided that the vessel could not be held. In view of that precedent, without now reviewing the principles upon which it proceeded, I direct the release of the Pathfinder." "

The precedent referred to in the above telegram was the case of the schooner "Ellen." That vessel was seized in Behring's Sea in 1887, by Captain Shepard, of the Revenue Marine Service, for violation of the Seal Fishery Laws, and was ordered to Sitka, Alaska, for trial. Instead, however, her captain took her to San Francisco. She was there seized by the Customs officers, but was subsequently released by direction of Secretary Fairchild, on the ground that the Federal officers at San Francisco had no jurisdiction over offences committed in the District of Alaska. Under this ruling the Federal Courts of Alaska will have exclusive jurisdiction over all violations of the Seal Fishery Laws.

No. 318.

ir,

Colonial Office to Foreign Office.-(Received April 18.).

Downing Street, April 14, 1890.

1 AM directed by Lord Knutsford to transmit to you, for the information of the Marquis of Salisbury, copies of telegraphic correspondence with the Governor-General of Canada respecting the proposed Convention for the establishment of a close time for seals in Behring's Sea.

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(Telegraphic.)

Inclosure 1 in No. 318.

Lord Knutsford to Lord Stanley of Preston.

Downing Street, April 11, 1890. TELEGRAPH whether, as I hope, your Government has agreed to Minister at Washington's proposed Behring's Sea Convention.

Inclosure 2 in No. 318.

(Telegraphic.)

Lord Stanley of Preston to Lord Knutsford.

(Received April 12, 1890.) MINISTER OF MARINE has returned to Washington with our alternative proposal. We are quite ready to acquiesce in general principle of protecting seal life, but are most anxious that inquiry by experts may precede permanent Treaty, as we believe the facts to be incorrect on which United States' proposals are based. We suggest modus vivendi for not more than two years, during which experts should determine the facts on which permanent Treaty can be based.

Cannot answer your question till we hear, which we expect to do soon, from Washington. No disposition here to raise unnecessary difficulties, but if we get no better terms than those proposed by United States, seal fishery will be seriously affected,

No. 319.

Colonial Office to Foreign Office.-(Received April 19.)

Downing Street, April 19, 1890.

Sir,
I AM directed by Lord Knutsford to transmit to you, for the information of the
Marquis of Salisbury, a copy of a telegram from the Governor-General of Canada,

reporting that his Government accept with some modifications Sir J. Pauncefote's second draft Convention for establishing a close season for fur seals in Behring's Sea.

Lord Knutsford will be glad to have a copy of the second draft, with the modifica tions suggested by the Dominion Government, if it has been telegraphed by Sir J. Pauncefote.

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(Telegraphic.)

Inclosure in No. 319.

Lord Stanley of Preston to Lord Knutsford.

April 18, 1890. THE Prime Minister told me this afternoon that his Cabinet will accept Sir J. Pauncefote's second draft with some modifications, which, in my opinion, do not injure it. I have telegraphed to tell him so. I hope grave difficulty is now over so far as Canada is concerned.

No. 320.

(Extract.)

Sir J. Pauncefote to the Marquis of Salisbury.-(Received April 21.)

Washington, April 11, 1890. I HAVE the honour to report that the Honourable Mr. Tupper, the Dominion Minister of Marine and Fisheries, called on me yesterday on his return from Ottawa. He informed me that the Canadian Government objected to my proposed draft of a Convention for the settlement of the Behring's Sea question in so far as it admitted the necessity of a close season, and provided, although provisionally, for the exclusion of sealers within a certain radius round the breeding islands.

I understand that the principal objection of the Canadian Government to the radius clause is that it would practically have the effect of an admission that it was necessary for the preservation of the fur-seal species; and they maintain the position that no interference with pelagic sealing is necessary for the purpose in view.

I am anxious that the proposal of Her Majesty's Government should be practical and liberal, and such as will commend itself to the sense of justice and impartiality of all other nations. On the other hand, I need hardly say how anxious I am to give the utmost effect to the views and wishes of the Dominion Government in this negotiation. I have therefore prepared a new draft Convention, of which I inclose copy, and in which I have followed, as closely as is consistent with the views above expressed, the lines indicated by the Canadian Government.

I am sending a copy of the new draft this day to Lord Stanley, together with a copy of this despatch.

In the meanwhile, I should be grateful if your Lordship would inform me by telegram whether you concur in the views I have expressed and approve of the new draft which I have prepared, or whether you desire that I should adopt the first draft as amended by the Dominion Government, as the counter-proposal of Her Majesty's Government.

[For draft Convention as proposed to United States' Government, see Inclosure 2 in No. 326.]

My Lord.

No. 321.

Sir J. Pauncefole to the Marquis of Salisbury.-(Received April 25.)

Washington, April 15, 1890. WITH reference to my despatch of the 21st ultimo, I have the honour to inclose herewith copies of the correspondence relating to the fur-seal fisheries in

evidence furnished by experts and officers of the United States, and the counter-evidence furnished in reply thereto by Mr. Tupper, on the question of the extermination of the fur-seal species by the killing of seals in the open sea.

I have, &c.

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Correspondence relating to Fur-Seal Fisheries in Behring's Sea.

My dear Sir Julian,

Mr. Blaine to Sir J. Pauncefote.

Department of State, Washington, March 1, 1890. I HAVE extracted from official documents and appended hereto a large mass of evidence, given under oath by professional experts and officers of the United States, touching the subject upon which you desired further proof, namely, that the killing of seals in the open sea tends certainly and rapidly to the extermination of the species. If further evidence is desired, it can be readily furnished.

I have, &c.

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From the official Report made to the House of Representatives in 1889:

In former years fur-seals were found in great numbers on various islands of the South Pacific Ocean, but after a comparatively short period of indiscriminate slaughter the rookeries were deserted, the animals having been killed or driven from their haunts; so that now the only existing rookeries are those in Alaska, another in the Russian part of Behring's Sea, and a third on Lobos Island, at the mouth of the River Plate in South America.

All these rookeries are under the protection of their several Governments.

The best estimate as to the number of these animals on the Alaska rookeries places it at about 4,000,000; but a marked diminution of the numbers is noticed within the last two or three years, which is attributed by the testimony to the fact that unauthorized persons during the summers of 1886, 1887, and 1888 had fitted out expeditions and cruized in Alaskan waters, and by the use of fire-arms destroyed hundreds of thousands of these animals without regard to age or sex.

The law prohibits the killing of fur-seals in the Territory of Alaska or the waters thereof, except by the lessee of the Seal Islands, and the lessee is permitted to kill during the months of June, July, September, and October only; and is forbidden to kill any seal less than 1 year old, or any female seal, 'or to kill such seals at any time by the use of fire-arms, or by other means tending to drive the seals away from those islands." (Revised Statutes, section 1960.)

Governor Simpson, of the Hudson Bay Company, in his "Overland Journey Round the World," 1841-42, p. 130, says:

"Some twenty or thirty years ago there was a most wasteful destruction of the seal, when young and old, male and female, were indiscriminately knocked in the head. This imprudence, as any one might have expected, proved detrimental in two ways. The race was almost extirpated, and the market was glutted to such a degree, at the rate for some time of 200,000 skins a-year, that the prices did not even pay the expenses of carriage. The Russians, however, have now adopted nearly the same plan which the Hudson Bay Company pursues in recruiting any of its exhausted districts, killing only a limited number of such males as have attained their full growth, a plan peculiarly applicable to the fur-seal, inasmuch as its habits render a system of husbanding the stock as easy and certain as that of destroying it."

In the year 1800 the rookeries of the Georgian Islands produced 112,000 fur-seals. From 1806 to 1823, says the "Encyclopædia Britannica," "the Georgian Islands produced 1,200,000 seals, and the Island of Desolation has been equally productive." Over 1,000,000 were taken from the Island of Mas-á-Fuera and shipped to China in 1798-99. (Fanning's Voyages to the South Sea," p. 299.)

In 1820 and 1821 over 300,000 fur-seals were taken at the South Shetland Islands, and Captain Weddell states that at the end of the second year the species had there become almost exterminated. In addition to the number killed for their furs, he estimates that "not less than 100,000 newly-born young died in consequence of the destruction of their mothers." (See Elliott's Report, 1884, p. 118.)

In 1830 the supply of fur-seals in the South Seas had so greatly decreased that the vessels engaged in this enterprise "generally made losing voyages, from the fact that those places which were the resort of seals had been abandoned by them." (Fanning's "Voyages," p. 487.)

At Antipodes Island, off the coast of New South Wales, 400,000 skins were obtained in the years 1814 and 1815.

Referring to these facts, Professor Elliott, of the Smithsonian Institution, in his able Report on the Seal Islands, published by the Interior Department in 1884, says :

"This gives a very fair idea of the manner in which the business was conducted in the South Pacific. How long would our sealing interests in Behring's Sea withstand the attacks of sixty vessels carrying from twenty to thirty men each? Not over two The fact that these great southern rookeries withstood and paid for attacks of this extensive character during a period of more than twenty years speaks eloquently of the millions upon millions that must have existed in the waters now almost deserted by

seasons.

them."

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