New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-03-19

WHAT THEY ARE AND HOW THEY WERE
ACQUIRED.

y
ERIEs CONTROVERSY SHOWING THE FACTS
INVOLVED AND THE LAWS THAT
APPLY TO THEM.
A correspondent asks us TO tell him fully
and clearly what the Behrnc Sea question is.
know The says that claim sealing rights which
Canada and Great Britain deny bat what they are
and why we claim them have not been able ~ gather
from the scrappy di-patohc, printed from day
to day. I haven't time TO read lot Of books about
this subject even II | knew where 10 find the books
hut Ike 10 keep Informed upon all important questions
and 10 understand them clearly. II you Will kindly
take the time -plce and trouble to print the salient
facts of the controversy. think you will be doing a
real favor 10 thousands Of readers.
The R,hrng Sea question is one Of jurisdic-
tion. II has several sides, and to the proper
understanding Of il some knowledge of the history
Of northwestern America and Of international law
! is necessary. II is new question and a peculiar
! one. No controversy precisely similar TO il has
ever arisen. nor can We now recall any spot on
| the carth's surface where ono could arise with
! but n single exception. Oddly enough. this
| solitary exception lies in over which
dominion is claimed by tho very nation which
challenges our authority in Bchring Sea
]
tor. unless they are completely ncloscd within
the territory Of the claimant nation. is not t.
/ bc lightly asserted II is firmly settled that the
/ rivers and lakes contained within the domnons
of sovereign are as completely his as the land
So are the gulfs and hays that indcnt bis coasts.
huf the high the common property Of all
sovcrcigns. and ordinarily none has any rights
! upon il or within IL which do not appcrtain in
an equal measure 10 all the rest We use the
word "ordnarly" because this rule is not with
out lis exceptions. and if Bchring Sea is not
| closed sca-that is if il is not under the cXclu-
siNc jurisdiction Of the United States and
! KuSsia-thcse exceptions are nt prime importance
The issue in Bchring Sea relates To the nature
and extent of our authority there. Are its
waters. east Of a certain line described in our
! treaty with Russia our waters. or are they the
waters of the high sea? Is our dominion over
them absolute and exclusive. or has II lmita
l lions? II 1t has limitations. do they require
| from us any concession further than that which
will permit the vessels of other nations - slil
upon the SEA? Is that concession inconsistent
with the claim Of property in certain kinds of
| animal life within the sen ? Can we hold that
these waters are shut for some purposes If forced
to admit that they are open for others
or, conccling that the sea is open. the com
mon highway Of mankind. does il necessarily
| follow that possess no exceptional privileges
within IL Do not certain facts susceptible Of
proof give Ms n claim which under the laws If
nations we may enforce against all who invade
il? These are the questions involved. They
have ar sen in consequence Of the conduct Of ccr-
tain ship-owncrs in British Columbia vino for the
! past four or live years have gone into Behrng
Sea. and have intercepted the Pribilof herd Of
IT, rtf IRON, L
ing and capturing thousands of animals which
We supposed we had bought and paid for. and
which at vast annual eNpcr>c we are nourishng
Accompanying this article print an accurate
map of the region of Bchrng Sea. The field in
which these Canadian hunters operate is shown
thcrcupon II lies between the Prblof Islands
and the AIcutian claim
II was mainly on account of the pclagic furs
which supposed would become our property
that we bought Russian America. There were
other motives mixed in with this one but this
prcpondcrated. The vast mineral resources OF
Alaska were in 1867 suspected by few. IL,
agricultural possibilities were scarcely more than
a dream But the immense value of these
| Pribilof seal were well known and from them we
expected to get back our investment. Our
expectations have been richly realized. The
revenue already derived from them by the
National Treasury Is IN excess of the S,,2VO,O 900
for which the Russian purchase was made. and
as much more has gone into the pockets of our
citizens. From all other Alaskan sources
have obtained practically nothing. We knew
then ms well as we know now that TO conccde
the right Of anybody and everybody 10 come into
Tchring Sea and 70 slaughter the seal at will
was to invite the extinction of the herd. II
we had supposed such a right to exist il would
have been ours as well as Canadas. ana there
would have been no object in paying millions
for what was already freely at our disposal
H. is certainly true that an impressive argu-
mcnt may he constructed in support OF the pIopo-
stion that Bchring Sea does not answer to tic
modern definition Of Il closed OEly such a
body of water as Lake Michigan the sea o.
Azoy. which are wholly surrounded by the terri
tory of an individual sovereign, does answer 70
that definition. II is true that sea may be
| closed in general, and yet subject 10 a Jcint
dominion. as is the ease with the Black Sea to-day.
| There is force in the argument that Behung sea
| is similarly placed and yet we may not he blind
| IN the fact that its makes II small ocean,
perhaps too vast n watcry waste for one or even
| two nations to hold in exclusive dominion; or 10
the fact that it separates two great oceans. and
by straits exceedingly wide These are significant
! circumstances, but they have not brcn thought
in the past Ia warrant the denial OF nations
| exclusive authority, when that authority has
| rested on an ancient title, unchallengcd for n
| series of wears Venice was famous in law, as
well as in poetry as the Mistress of the Adristio.