Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-03-07
SALISBURY AND THE SEALS.

The Grave Complications In Prospect
Should Great Britain Stop the Modus
vivendi-It Would Practically Defy Our
Government to Enforce the Law as II
lnterprets 1t.
WASHINGTON, March 6.-The renewal Of
last years modus vivendi for Bering Sea,
either in its original form or with additional
security against the threatened extermina-
tion of the seals, has until now been gen.
eraHy assumed as matter OF course. Ac-
cordingly the current news Of Great
Britain's refusal to extend the agreement of
1891 for another season comes as surprise,
not to say as shock.
Such refusal must at onco complicate the
Bering Sea question and render 1t critical.
Apart from its practical side, as endanger-
ing the seal herd by exposing 1t to the
slaughter of hundred crews OF poachers,
1t may have greater importance on its po-
l1tical side. The law against seal killing in
the waters of Alaska remains unrepealed on
our statute books The obligation to exc
cute that law, iterated by Congress a few
years ago, is still imperative on the Presi-
dent, and he is required by the express man.
date of Congress to warn all poachers out of
those waters by proclamation to be issued
early each year.
Would Force Uncle Sans Hand.
Such a proclamation was issued q few
weeks ago, and il Lord Salisbury has re-
fused to renew last years modus vivendi,
he practically deEes our Government to en-
force its law according to its own tnterpre-
tation. Having now secured the adhesion
Of the United States to the agreement to re-
fer to arbitration the question as to how
much area the waters of Alaska include, he
will make no further concession to our Gus
tom, sanctioned prima facie by quarter of
q century Of maintenance, of considering
the whole treaty area of our side of Bering
Sea as included in those waters. This is
forcing the hand of our Government. 1t is
true that we still have the Board of Arbitra-
tion to rely upon as the final umpire on the
respective claims. But since the very OBJ
ject of last years agreement was to prevent
private sealers from entering the disputed
waters until this Board of Arbitration
should be appointed and should render its
decision, the necessity for the renewal OF
that agreement is precisely as great as the
necessity for originally making it
The Action Decidedly UnfriendIy.
Even assuming that Great Britain would
not undertake TO protect the British Colum-
bia sealers against our revenue cutters. in
the due execution of their orders, the action
now attributed to her would be unfriendly
in compelling our Governments to take in
creased risks of indemnifying those sealers.
Last year no such liability was incurred, be-
cause the vessels we're kent out or driven
out by the joint action of Great Britain and
the United States. But should the decision
of the Board of Arbitration be against our
Government, it might incur serious respon-
sibilities by expelling them this r"ar or
course if we are to suppose th Great
Britain means also to resist our isers,
that is something incomparably mo- seri-
GUS.
1t was hardly to be presumed that Lord
Salisbury would refuse to renew the moduS
vivendi of 1891 without further suggestions.
esta blishing q closed zone Of 80 miles in
width around the Pribylov Islands. This
may perhaps be interpreted as indicating
also the permanent compromise which he
would be content to accept from the Board
of Arbitration. Our Government would
then be at liberty to remove its restriction
Of last year against its own lessees of the
his part to concede closed zone of 80 miles,
in place of tho marine league, which Is all
that the British view would allow US to
claim under international law.
Tho Seal Herd Would Be Doomed.
But the actual result would be menace
of ruin to the seal herd. More than hun
dred vessels, encouraged by this action of
Great Britain, and looking upon her as their
protector, would enter Bering Sea and
slaughter the seal herd, sparing neither age
nor nor seq, throughont the long course from
st. Paul and st. George, or, rather, to the
limits of the closed zone around them. The
difference between this and the total exclu-
sion of private sealing vessels from Berfng
Sea would be enormous upon seal hfe The
Fur Trade Reuie,g in a recent issue, says
that, had the pelagic fleet been permitted to
enter Bering Sea last summer, sit would
have taken at least 100, 900 seals there, and
nearly all of these would have been female
SEALS" 1t adds the further calculation that
as sat least three seals are destroyed by the
pelagfc sealer for every one that he secures,
the modus vivendi in force clearly saved the
enormous total of at least from $50, 900 to
100000 seals, old and young, unborn and
born. That would have left upon our rook-
cries only 500.O00 seals at the close OF the
season of 1891, and nearly half this number
would have been the pups Of that years
birth" The same authority believes that
there were between 100000 and 100000 seals
OH the islands just before they took their
departure southwark for the winter.
Ground for Salisbury's lotion.
This benefcent arrangement Lord Sails
bury is now, 1t appears, unwilling to renew.
We can perhaps surmise that his Govern.
ment, If it has agreed with the Dominion to
idemnify the latter's vessels for all last
years losses resulting from the modus
v1vend1, does not wish to be saddled with
another years expense Of that sort. But the
answer is that now it could be renewed in
season to notify the greater part OF the Vic
toria fleet before leaving port for the season.
Had such a notice been given two months
ago it would have saved even the prepara-
tion of outfits. But even If Great Britain
has assumed, of her own accord, some ex-
pense under the modus vivendi our Govern
ment probably lost much more last year by
foregoing its usual revenue from the islands,
and perhaps making itself liable to the
lessees. Unless the damage conceded to the
British sealers are prepOsterous, it gave up
more than the British Government, i'll its
desire to protect seaflife, and this would be
still more true of the present year.
Perhaps another ground for Lord Sails
bury's action may be that his consent to the
modus vfvendi last year was not given
through apprehension as to the danger to
seal life from pelagic killing. which he has
always refused to admit but only for the
purpose of gaining information preliminary
to arbitration. 1t is we'll known that the
British Commissioners who visited Bering
Sea refused to concur with ours on the all
essential point as to whether the private
sealers are exterminating the animals. He
may now hold that he cannot discard their
report in favor of that OF our own Commits
sioners, and that this being so he has no
further excuse for refusing to allow the
British vessels to ply their industry. But
such conclusion would not diminish the
gravity which this question has now as
sumed.
DEFENDING THE DEAL