The St. Johns herald., 1890-08-14
The Behring Sea Question.

ring Sea or else we must abandon all claim to stop the catching 70
 seals outside the three mile limit except under such regulations a' may be established by common con
 sent. We do not say this with any desire to discredit MT. Blaine's di- plomacy on partisan grounds. Such tactics may be left to the Republi- can press which did not fail to use them when the Democratic admin istration was in office. We think MT. Blaine has held up the Ameri- can end of the dispute as we'll as could have been expected. He had a weak case and he was not able to make it strong. Mr. Bayard had the same difficulty and no Secretary of State could have avoided it. The mistake comes from resting our case on history and tradition, in- stead of on common sense. Per haps Russia did sell an exclusive privilege over all Behrng Sea; but we ourselves had disputed her right to those privileges, and with good reason. If we bought Behring Sea we bought piece of property to which the seller had but a poor ti- tie. The whole case calls for arbi- tration. Mir. Blaine doubtless sees that it has been pushed too far al- ready. For this there is an impress sion that not he, but Mir. Harrison, Is responsible Globe.
 Unless this administration is ready to accept the oily logical ba- sis of MT. Blaine's arguments-that is, the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States over Behring Sea as 9 closed sea--the only way in which progress can be made is to drop the contentious which have occupied Mr. Blaine and Minister Paunce- forte since January last and take a new start on the line projected by NIT. Bayard. NIT. Blaine can do this honorably: and after his unfortu- nate experience he ought to be able to do it more proftably. The ques ton is one that must be determined by agreement, not by conflict or by surrender; and if Mir. Blaine ex- poets to reach a conclusion of the matter before he leaves office this is the direction in which he must take the next step.-Boston Post.
 The correspondence is somewhat aggravated by question of veraci- ty between the parties, and by their different views of the claims and course of our Government when Russia owned Alaska. Su far as we can see, with this correspondence before us, the situation is a graver one than has generally been under, stood outside of Government cir cles, and it is rendered even critical by the presence of armed cruisers of both powers.in the waters in dis pute, one with orders to seize Cana dian sealers, and the other sent to protect them. Certainly itis serious enough to divert the attention of our Congress from partisan schemes to promote party ends and stir up domestic troubles and directit earn estly to the danger from without Atlanta Journal.
 The matter is left in very un- promising condition. The two Gov ernments are further from agree ment than they appeared to be two years ago. Canadian vessels are left, with the encouragement of the British Government, to continue their slaughter of seals in Behring Sea, while the officers of our reve- nue cutters are under instructions to seize any vessels found engaged in that business. The situation as disclosed by the diplomatic core