Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-25
BER|NG SEA LETTERS
Lord Salisbury Suggests That
the Sealers Be Allowed
to Operate.
HARRISON SENDS A REPLY.
He Is Not Willing to Be Responsible
for the After Results.
THE GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION
Explained in Very Plain Words to Great
Britain's Minister.
THE GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION
THE0NLY MoDUsTHAr CAN BE ACCEPTED

Sir Julian Pauncefote to Mr.. Wharton.
BRITISH LEGATION,
WASHINGTON, March II, 1892.
srR-On receipt of your note of the stf
instant, / Immediately telegraphed to the
Marquis of Salisbury the substance Of its
contents, in accordance with the request
which you expressed on behalf of the Presi
dent and 1 have now the honor to inform
you that have this day received a reply
from his lordship's telegram, to the follow.
ing effect:
Lord Salisbury again points out that the
Information in the possession of Her Majes
tvs Government, does not lead them to be-
lieve that another years suspension Of seal
ing is necessary to prevent an undue dimi
MUTTON of the seal herds
His Lordship, however, proceeds to OBJ
serye that beyond this question 1t is consid-
cred by your Government that they have a
right to be protected from the loss which
mitted this year, in the event of their claim
to Bering Sea being upheld by the arbitra-
tors. He states that Her Majesty's Govern
ment does not dispute that after the ratifca-
tfon of the convention there will be some
foundation for this contention, but he adds
that the prohibition Of all sealing as rem
edy has this defect, that the British sealers
excluded from Bering Sea would have an
undoubted ground of complaint If the Brit
ish claim should be upheld by the arbitra-
tors. Moreover, there is no security that
the arbitration will be concluded before the
sealing season Of 1898. Thus an arbitration
between Great Britain, the United States
and Portugal, which has already occupied
four years, is still pending.
Serious damage would be caused to the in
dustry by suspension Of sealing for long
period.
appears to Her Majesty's Government that
it would be more equitable to provide that
sealing in Bering Sea shall continue, on the
condition that the owner Of every sealing
no lcvfv ficfx
damages which the arbitrators may adj udge
shall be glad to learn that the above sug-
gestion. meet with the concurrence of your
Government. have the honor, etc,
JULIAN PAUNCEForE
Mr.. Wharton to Sir Julian Pauncefote.
DEPARTMENT oE STATE,
WASHINGTON, March q, 1892. I
SIR am directed by the President to say
that your note dated the 10Th inst. and de-
lfvered on the Goth inst. Sunday, has had
his immediate attention, in view of what he
deems to be the extreme urgency and grav-
fly of the matter under discussion. The
urgency grows out of the fact that much
further protraction of this discussion Will
make any modus that may be agreed upon
Intellectual to protect the interests of the
United States, and will give to the Canadian
sealers practical immunity, by reason of
the agreed restrictions. 1t is known to this
Government that the sealers have hastened
their departure to escape notice Of possi-
BILE modus, and that every day almost adds
sea.
Already AZ Canadian vessels have cleared
for the sealing grounds as against 81 at the
same date last year and are engaged in fol-
lowing up and destroying the seal herds.
These vessels will, If not stopped and turned
back at the passes, go into the Bering Sea
and pursue to the very shores Of our islands
the slaughter of the mother seals seeking the
accustomed rockeries to be delivered of
their young. This is a crime against nature.
This Government expects to show. il the
arbitration proceeds, that female seals con-
stitute the larger percent of the catch of the
pelagic sealers. That in view of this serious
ment, His Lordshlp should assume that
another years suspension of such sealing is
not necessary "to prevent an undue diminu-
tion of the seal herds" and should insist
that pending an arbitration it shall go on,
precisely as ifno arbitration had been agreed
upon, is as surprising as it is disappointing.
epects the claims and contentious of this
Government as to be unwilling to forbear for
q single season to disregard them the Pres
ident cannot understand why Lord Sails
bury should have proposed and agreed to
give those claims the dignity and standing
which a reference to high court of arbitra-
ton implies. From the moment an arbi-
tration was agreed upon, neither party was
at liberty to disregard the contentious Of the
other
Peace and Good Will Was the Purpose.
1t must be assumed that the sincere pur-
pose of the two Governments was to pro-
mote peace and good will, but if, pending
the arbitration, either deals with the sub
Ject of it solely upon the basis of its own
contention, and in utter disregard of the
claims of the other, this friendly end is not
only not attained. but new sense of
injury and injustice is added, even if it
should be found possible to proceed with an
a Viii For r
m ust not be forgotten that if Her Majesty's
Government proceeds during this sealing
season upon the basis of its conten tion as to
the rig hts of the Canadian sealers, no choice
is left to this Government but to proceed
upon the basis of its confident contention
that pelagic sealing in the Bering Sea is an
fnfraction of its jurisdiction and property
rights. His Lordship will hardly fail to see
this.
Herein, in the opinion of the President,
consists the gravity of the present situation,
and he is not willing to be found in any de-
gree responsible for the results that may
follow the 1nsistence by either government
during this season upon the extreme rights
claimed by it. In his opinion it would dis
credit In the eyes of the world the two great
governments involved, if the paltry profits
of single season should be allowed to
thwart, or even to disturb the honorable
and friendly adjustment of their differences,
which is so nearly concleded; but If His
Lordship shall adhere to his refusal to unite
with us in prompt and effective measures to
free sealing for British subjects, the question
as it affects this Government is no longer
one of pecuniary loss or gain, but one of
honor and self-respect.
Harrison Does Not Thipk Salisbury Serious.
This Government, Notwithstanding the
fact that its right to take seals upon the
Prtbylof Islands is undisputed and wholly
uninvolved in the arbitration, has proposed
TO take no profit from the island catch, but
to limit the taking of seals to the necessities
of the natives of those islands, and it cannot
consent that, with indemnity or without, the
contested rights of British subjects to catch
seals in the Bering Sea shall be exercised
pending the arbitration. The President
finds it difficult to believe that Lord Sails.
bury is serious in proposing that this
Government shall take separate bonds
from the owners of about 100 Cana
dian sealing vessels to indemnify it
infiict upon our Jurisdiction or property,
and must decline to discuss a suggestion
which only his respect for Lord Salisbury
and his belief that His Lordship has due
sion, enable him to treat with seriousness.
We should doubtless have to pursue and
capture upon the sea many of the owners of
those vessels, to secure the bonds suggested, |
and as the condition is to be that the obligors |
shall pay "any damages which the arbitra- |
tors may adjudge," while the treaty gives |
the arbitrators no power to adjudge any |
damages, the transaction would be without |
risk TO the obligors and of no value to us.
This Government cannot consent to have |
impaired pending their determination by an |
agreed tribunal, however adequate the Sc |