St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-02-26
CANUCKS Get so.
House After a Lively Day OF
It So Decides by a Vote OF
143 to 108.
SEALING AWARD Is VETOED
Making Further Arbitration
on the Sealing Question a
Probability.
SEALING AWARD is VETOED
SENATE HAS ITS STEAM UF
Busy Day on Appropriation
Bills--Important Actions
Taken.

WASHlNGION,F rep. % He gen
eral deficiency bill-the last of the
regular appropriation bills-passed
the house today Almost the entire
day was spent discussing the amend
ment to pay Great Britain $425, 900,
the amount of damages agreed upon
by Secretary Gresham and Sir
Julian Pauncefote to be due that
country under the award of the
Paris arbitration tribunal on ac-
count of the seizure of some twenty
Canadian sealers by the United
States previous to the modus vi
vendi of 1892.
The amendment was strongly at
tackled by Messrs. Cannon, of Illi-
nois; Henderson, of Iowa, and Hit,
of Illinois, on the ground that the
amount was unreasonably large;
that some of the vessels were owned
by citizens of the United States,
and 1915, 900 for constructive or spec
ulative damages (the estimated
CATCH, only $S1, 900, they contended,
was due Great Britain. Messrs.
Breckinridge, of Kentucky ;McCreary
of Kentucky; Hooker, of Missfssip-
pi, and Dingley, of Maine, supported
the amendment, maintaining that
the government, no matter how bad
the bargain, must carry out the
awards of the Paris tribunal in
good faith. Mr.. Dingley declared
that it was preferable to pay the
British claim for $425, 900 than leave
the assessment of damages to an
umpire appointed by a foreign
power. The amendment carried in
committee, but was defeated in the
house.
Some excitement was caused by
the attempt to strike out in the
house the appropriation for an ex-
ira months salary for the employees
of the house and senate and the
clerks of members, but it failed, and
the amendment prevailed-43 to 108.
Motions to reconsider and recon-
nit were voted down as promptly
as offered Until the opposition dwin-
died to a point where it could not
get the ayes and nays. 1t then sur
rendered, and the bill was passed.
BERING SEA AWARD.
When the amendment to pay Great
Britain S425,000, the amount of the
awards made by the Paris Bering sea
tribunal against the United States,
came up it precipitated quite a long
debate.
Mf- prnn lii orS1 1rn ~,
charge of the bill, explained the de-
tails Of the Paris arbitration and
the decision against the justice and
the legality of the seizures the Unit
ed States had made in the Bering
sea. Great Britain, through Sir
Julian Pauncefote, has demanded
$500,00O, and Secretary Gresham has
agreed to $425, 200. The government
in honor and fairness should accept
the judgment and pay the damages.
Mr.. Cannon Rep., Il1) said he
cared little about the sum involved
whether we were cheated or not
SO long as the damages were assessed
according to well-established prin-
ciples of law. The fatal defect in
the judgment of the Paris tribunal
was the fact that the citizenship Of
the claimants had never been passed
upon. He called attention, more
over, to the fact that under the
modus vivendi agreed to in 1892 by
Sir Charles Russell, representing the
British government, e. J. Phelps,
representing the United States, all
claims for speculative damages had
been solemnly waived. In the Gene
va award all claims for speculative
Or constructive damages mounting
to hundreds Of millions) had been
ruled out on the ground that they
depended upon contingencies too
uncertain. What was sauce for the
goose should be sauce for the gan
der. Why should we now pay?
SPECULATIVE DAMAGES?
Some $25S, 900 of the present award
was purely speculative damages. Be
sides, he had reason to believe that
several of the owners of the vessels
seized by the United States were
American citizens, and not British
subjects. At most but $81 900 could
be claimed. When Secretary Gresh-
am offered Sir Julian s425, 900 the
British government, he said, jumped
at it like bass at fly. He should
never vote to carry out the agree
ment made by Secretary Gresham.
Mr.. Henderson Rep., Io.) analyzed
the statement Of eX-Secretary Fos-
ter to the effect that SS1,000 repre-
sented the maximum damages that
could justly be assessed against the
United States, and ten of the YES
sells seized were owned in whole or
in part by Americans, and thereby
were excluded.
Mr.. McCreary Oem., Ky.), chair
man of the foreign affairs commit
tee, favored the appropriation on the |
ground that the United States must
do one of two things, pay this $425,000
or submit the question Of assess
ment Of damage to a commission.
If the latter course was followed it
would cost the government twice
$425,OOO before the matter was set
tied. Mr.. McCreary congratulated
himself on the fact that if the United
States had suffered from this arbi-
tration, the present Democratic ad-
ministration had none Of the re-
sponsibility. The whole scheme Of
arbitration, by which the conten-