The record-union., 1891-05-28
THE QUESTION IN A NUTSHELL.

1t is perfectly clear that the British
Government is delaying the settlement
of the seal fishery matter, in order to give
the Canadian poachers one more season
in which to defy the United States and
destroy the fisheries. Lord Salisbury
protests that the delay is not intentional,
and that he deeply regrets it, but that it
results from the unwillingness of the
British Cabinet to run sharply counter to
the Canadian and British Columbian
sentiment, which is bitterly opposed to a
closed season.
In fortnight more the fishing season
will open. Already the poachers are
nocking to the grounds, despite the
Presidents proclamation of warning. If
we dispatch vessels now, they cannot
reach the scene Of activity until two
weeks after the fishing has begun. Pro-
lessor Elliot of the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition has reported to the Government
after years investigation, that even one
season more of indiscriminate seal taking
will be at the risk of DISCRIMINATING the
seals in Behring Sea, and that two sea-
sons will utterly destroy the industry.
he advises that there be complete suspen-
sion for several years of all seal taking.
Against these facts reported by him,
and substantiated by natives of the Aleu-
tan chain, by old fishermen and seal
hunters, and by the officers of our navy
and revenue service in the north, there
has been advanced only the cry of the
poaching captains that Elliot is crank;
that his alleged facts are untruths, and
that the seals are so thick that it will be
mercy to thin them out. Yet the cold
figures defy them, for last years catch
fell off more than one-half from that of
the year before, and the year before was
twenty per cent. less than the average of
the years previous to that.
1t is announced by telegraph from
Washington that the President will pur-
sue vigorous policy and send ships at
once to patrol the sea and stop the poach-
ing, the North American Company be-
ing, however, permitted to take skins
enough to pay the expense it has been
put to in Quitting.
The hope is to be entertained that action
will be taken. We confess, however, to
a great deal of doubt about it being real
lied There has been shameful DELAY
already, too much waiting upon Lord
Salisbury, who has not the courage to
face the Canadians and tell them that
their policy would utterly destroy the
fisheries. There is no reason why Eng
land should not at once have acceded to
the proposal of the United States to close
the fisheries pending arbitration of the
Behring Sea difficulty Her delay and
begging for time are very little short of
snubbing. 1t is trifing, and not even
English cunning can disguise it.
Outside of all questions involved in the
respective rights of nations in Behring
Sea is that of the preservation of the seal
fisheries. If we permit them to be de-
stroyed the Administration will deserve
the reproaches of the entire nation.
Whoever reads Lord Salisbury's pro-
testations sent by word of mouth to our
Government must feel that they are
more than trifiing-they are really in
sulting. When the great English nation
begs delay that viii wreck the interest
under debate it must do SO with full knowl-
edge of what the result of procrastination
viii be. When it protests that it wants
delay only because an unreasoning
colonial sentiment is strong, and it fears
TO face it, it asks the United States to be-
come party to its cowardice.
Why England more than Germany,
France, Spain, Italy or any other mari
time nation should be so profoundly in
terested in Behring Sea we have never
been able to discover, though we have
studied the question from every possible
point of view. There is not an English
port upon the sea; no English territory is
within LOO miles of those waters, the
treaties with Russia concede no greater
rights in the sea to Great Britain than to
any other nation, and none of them yield
the right to take seals at will. We own
the land more than half inclosing the
sea. We own the islands upon which the
seals breed, and those to which they an
nually migrate. We agree to arbitrate
the claim of Great Britain that she can
take these animals as they pass from one
TO the other point, but ask, pending the
adjustment of basis for such arbitration,
that both English and American hunters
shall cease taking seals. To this simple,