The sun., 1892-04-05

what They l1tghs Dc fsr This Yesr with
the Treaty Arsisers DeeSaing Agsanst Us.

upon to pay for tho reluctantly yielded privi-
iege Of reviving the BehrinR Sea aRreem ont OF
1901. should the decision OF the arbiters be
against us; and yet, sinoe the difference be-
tween this years modus and last Is one OF
/ dollars and cents, Il 10 natural to begin ngur-
Ing upon It.
Besides. while tho usual sealing season in
hedIsputcd waters is still three months away.
We have points to guide us about the question
Of damages Foremost among them. ofcourse.
is the list OF claims fled by the British Column
bian vessels for tho losses they suffered from
last years agreement Regarding this the
first fact to note Is that tho time allowed for
handing them 10 has not expired. but continues
until April "a This is rather unfortunate, be-
cause during the next four weeks a great
amount OF now claims and also OF supple
mentary claims might be handed in. stimu-
lated by tho promise OF our Governme ent to pay
this year for all such as shall be awarded
against It by the arbiters.
But on tho other hand It is probable that
nearly or quite all the valid claims were SUBJ
mittcd long ago. According to an Ottawa
despatch. Mr.. Balyea. tho counsel for tho seal
ers. says that all thoir claims were turned in
to him. aud by him forwarded to Minister
Tupper. fully two months ago. Since the
season was over moro than i've months ago.
and the announcement OF the purpose Of in
demnity by the Government had been made
long before that. this statement Is entirely
credible. Indeed. we may fairly presume that
the notice recently issued by tho Minister Of
Marine and Fisheries was rather In the nature
OF last CALL" so that any who had not put In
their claims might not have tho excuse that
there had been no formal notification to do so.
This being the case. any additions to the
claims fled by the solicitor chosen by the seal-
ers. or any supplementary claims. should
doubtless be looked upon with great suspicion.
At oil events. Mr.. Balyea Is represented as
saying that all the sealers were represented"
in the batch Of claims filed by him. that the
number aggregated between thirty and forty.
and that tho total Of the claims was about
$5OOOOO. Some ownors probably had several
vessels employed. and Of course the American
sealing vessels were not represented. although
1t appears that some Of them applied to Mr..
Balyea. 1twould seem. therefore. that $500. 900
Is near the outside limit OF what will be do
manded from the British Government on last
years account
But It hardly need be said that the custom
in such cases is to ask several times as much
as is awarded. The recent example OF both
the British claims and our own upon Chill
will illustrate this fact. which is familiar
enough both in private and public suits. On q
claim OF $5OO.OOO an award Of 100000 or
100000 at the utmost would be as much as
an unprejudlced person would expect
Looking at the same question from another
point. and judging 1t by different standard.
the last year OF operations In Behring Sea be-
fore the modus pivendi was 1880. That year
39.547 seals were taken by the British vessels.
which was a considerable increase over the
previous year. but only the smaller portion.
namely. 1910. was taken In BehrinR Sea
one OF tno Striking facts OF late years has
been the great increase In the take OF tho
North iacinc. as compared with Behring Sea.
since the seals are followed for months
on their way north. by the end OF juno great
numbers OF skins have been taken. 80 that It
has been customary to send at least one ves-
sci from Victoria expressly to bring them
home. The Behring Sen catch represents the
smaller part OF the season. Putting tho value
at $40 each the amount OF similar catch this
year would be s18l.65O Some time ago tho
valuation was really one-fourth less. but last
year 1t was put q little over $40. from the
rise In price. and 1t Is said that In the recent
Senate debate In secret session $40 was men-
toned as q sum convenient to figure upon.
1t may be said that the possible catch In
Behring Sea has never been fully tested. since
for half dozen years our Government has
been either arresting or threatening to arrest
Vessels ior engaging IN prNdte sealing there.
Still. during two OF those years arrests were
not actually made. at least Of British vessels.
Hence We do possess means OF ascertain
ing approximately what o seasons catch In
Behring Sea amounts to for tho vessels en-.
gnged. Besides. while there have undoubt-
edly been many clearances this year for those
waters. the vessels that have not yet started
from Victoria received warning several days
ago that they were liable to interruption. This
difference between the present year and last.
when the warning was given much later.
would affect the question OF damages.
On the other hand We have our chances OF
damages awarded against Great Britain. But
to assume the decision OF the ar
biters to bo against US. even were the dam
ages awarded twice as large as they are
likely to he. even II they should 60 UP to !
$50O.OOO. there would be great Offsets. The |
first Of those is a large decrease In the ex- |
popaa ~ pOicinu Rahrin0 Ran TIndar n |