The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1891-01-07

for impartial arbitration by methods to be
agreed upon i'm concert with Mr.. Blaine.
Secretary Blaine's letter begins with an
insistance upon the correctness of the pO-
shiOn assumed by the United States He
believes that the controversy turns upon
one point, whether the phrase Pacific
ocean" used in the treaties of 1924 and
1873, included Bering sea, as contended by
Great Britain. Ii the United States can
prove the contrary her case is complete
and undeniable Therefore Mr.. Blaine
enters into an exhaustive argument based
on Bancroft's history and maps TO show
that Mr.. Adams and his contemporaries
had distinct understanding that the
phrase Pacific ocean" excluded the
waters OF Bering sea, then known to all
the world as the sea of Kamschatska. The
secretary points TO the large wealth of the
Russian-American company, which, he
saws, would have been carless
thrown away by the Russian nobil-
ity in phrase which merged
Bering sea into the Pacific
ocean. He cites the long years of alb
stinence from the seal waters by adven-
turous ppople of the United States and
Great Britain as a presumption OF their
lack OF right TO enter As stronger evil
dence OF his correctness, Mr.. Blame cites
the protocols OF the trea v OF 1874 to show
that Russia's relInQuishment OF iurisdic-
tion applied only TO the territory between
the fifiieth and sixtieth degrees. Also an
explanatory note from Russia 10 Mr.
Adams, in 1924, positively excepting the
Aleutian Is ,ands, and continuing TO tie
United States the right to fish aud trade.
he also cites the action of Great
Britain excluding vessels from the waters
within eight leagues OF ST. Helena when
Napoleon was confined there, and again
refers to the protection exercised over the
Ceylon pearl fisheries by Great Britain,
saying that ne Is willing TO accept those
provisions for the protection oi seal fish
ers. He speaks of the enormous injury
inflicted by vessels under the British flag
upon the [. :. fisheries, and suggested
that he send an intelligent commissioner
TO the seal islands. Again, he objects TO
the form of the proposed arbitration and
saws it viii amount TO something tangible
II Great Britain consents to Rrbitrate the
real questions discussed for the last fOur
years:
l: What were the rights exercised by Russia
IN Bering sea?
.. How far were they conceded by Great
Britain? Was Bering sea included in the Pa
cifc ocean?
8. Did not the United States acquire all of
Russia's rights2
4. What are the present rights Of the United
States? and If the concurrence of Great Britain
is found necessary. then what shall be the pro-
tected limits and close season?
Secretary Blaine in conclusion denies
that the United States ever claimed Ber-
ing's sea to be a closed sea and quotes
Minister Phelps in 1888, where ne says
that the question is not applicable to the
present case.
LONDON, Jan. 5.-The foreign office this
evening has issued the following commu-
nication TO the press in regard TO the Ber-
ing sea dispute:
The statements cabled respecting the CORE
spondence on the Bering sea question between
the British and American governments are un-
founded. A dispatch was received in Decem-
ber from Mr.. Blaine. lie made proposals re-
sDecting questions 10 be submitted for arbitra-
ton. With this exception no communication
whatever has been received from the United
States on this subject Tor the past three week..
aud no communication has been made TO the
American government in the same period
The communication from the foreign
office on the Bering Sea matter was print
ed and sent to all the newspaper offices
and news agencies in London, il being the
evident desire of the government TO give
the document the widest publicity. The
foreign office Is a most conservative de-
partment and the course it adopted in r.
gard to the communication IS a startling
innovation upon its usual methods of pro-
cedure and strengthens the general belief
that the crisis is serious. 1t is claimed
here that the preparation OF seal skins is
an entirely British industry, $4,000 per-
sons ing engaged in this work alone.
Since the publication of the foreign office
communication the l. :. legation and the
admiralty Office have been besiegei by
persons seeking to obtain information of
the status of affairs, but all inquiries have
thus far been fruitless.