The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-07-29
REVISE THE MINING LAWS
ALLOW NONE BUT BRITISH SUB
JECTS ON CANADIAN YUKON.
In This Way He Believes the United
States Could Be Forced to Arbi-
trate the Question-He Says We
Are Afraid to Submit the Mat
ter.

| Mills, minister of justice. on the Alas
| ka boundary question. Senator Mills
went to great length TO show that the
| Canadian contention was supported
not only by American presidents. but
! by the language of the treaty.
THE settlement OF the question" he
said" in accordance with our conten-
| ton. is a matter of great Importance
/ TO Canada, because II gives us easy and
/ inexpensive ingress 10 our own terri
tory. whereas. if the United States
wins il will be a great detriment to
us and of little benefit to them. 1 re-
| call a boundary dispute between the
United States and Great Britain which
| the American authorities contenGed
their views ought TO prevail because
the contention was of great advantage
to them because being seriously in
furious to England"
After detailing the Canadian con-
tention that the line vas TO follow the
winding ''of the coast and cross the
mouths of inletS and estuarieS from
headland to headland, without follow
ing the sinuosities of these arms of
the sea, Senator Mills made this state
ment:
Just why the Americans refuse to
arbitrate or to compromise, except on
conditions impossible to us. is shown
in the treaty of 1925. By the seventh
article of that treaty the vessels of
Russia and England, or those belonging
to their subjects, were to be at lib
erty, without any hindrance whatever.
to enter all the inland seas, CULTS,
Ravens and creeks for the purpose Of
fishing and trading with the natives
BY article TO- the British and Russian
vessels navigating the Pacific ocean,
if compelled by storm or accident, were
allowed to take shelter in the ports of
the respective parties. and were at lib
erty to refit there.
Claims Lynn Canal.
Now, is it not too clear to admit of
question, that the contracting parties
assumed that under the provisions of
this treaty there We're ports and es-
tuarieS along the coast that were I'M
der the sovereignty of each? Yet, if
the United States contention is cor
rect. there were no ports and no waters
remaining to Great Britain.
las a matter of fact. if the treaty is
followed, the Lynn canal will be found
TO be entirely within Canadian terri
tory. This point was made in the CON-
mission. On that Canada would have
won. That is why there is no arbitra-
ton
Sir Charles Upper said: The situa-
ton is this: In a treaty made between
Great Britain and Russia in 1925, the
boundary between the Russian posses
sions and the British possessions was
defined. The United States have come
into possession OF all the rights of
Russia. and it was proposed some years
ago that that boundary should be de-
Eliminated. Persons were appointed at
the request of Great Britain and the
United States to explore. survey and
report in order that the question might
be taken up and settled.
\ har Ntaar bar l..ir1 i nd
Sackville and myself were appointed in
1887 to negotiate with the United States
for the settlement of matters affecting
Canada, we were charged with the
settlement of the Alaskan boundary, in
conjunction with "A commission con-
sisting of Senator Bayard, Judge Put
nam and Professor Angelic. Mr. Bay
ard took the ground that we had not
sufficient information and must get
more as to the topography of the coun-
try before we could submit it to settle
ment, so the question was postponed
and the discussion went on. This sub
ject has acquired additional Importance
owing to the discovery of gold in the
Canadian Yukon territory.
What Canada Asks.
"All that Canada asks-all that she
has ever asked-iS that if the United
States and Great Britain are not agreed
upon the meaning of the treaty provid
ing for the delimitation of the bound
airy, the matter should be dealt with as
all matters of similar character are
dealt with, by the appointment of an
international commission to settle the
question, just as the boundary between
Venezuela and British Guiana is being
settled today in Paris Canada pro-
posed in the commission that in refer
ence to such a board of experts, the
reference should be in such express
terms as the Venezuelan matter was
presented and accepted by Great Brit
air.
THE United States refused the terms
proposed by Canada and Great Britain
and decided that it would agree to a
commission of three on each side with
out any umpire at all, unless the UNI
pire be selected from South America.
The United States also stipulated that
it would not have arbitration at all I'M
less it was previously agreed that in
case the arbitrators found that in the
existing settlement Skagway and Dyea
were in British or Canadian territory,
it should be agreed that the United
States should retain them.
Il have arrived at the conclusion that
as under existing regulations these
avenues to the Canadian Yukon are in
the possession of the United States,
and that as from the last step it is evil
dent the United States has no conf
dence in the result of an arbitrament,
that country has determined that there
shall be no settlement of the question
and that it shall enjoy the position that
the absence of the demarkation of the
boundary gives il the right to monopo-
lie communication with the Yukon,
where at least 60 per cent of the miners
are Americans and which il is in a
position to secure for coast cities.
THE United States has determined
that there shall be no settlement of the
question until it ceases to be important
by the exhaustion of the gold fields of
the Canadian Yukon, and recognizing
the difficulties that lay in the way of
an ultimatum on the part of Great
Britain, such as would undoubtedly be
resorted to in dealing with any other
country than the United States, and
the consequent difficulty of obtaining a
solution by the demarkation of the
boundary line. 1 have proposed new
Topper Presents Plan
ut is not that there shall not be a
resort to war or any collision between
the United States and Great Britain,
but that Canada shall protect her I'M
doubted rights and interests by con-
a railroad from Kitimat, in
British Columbia, to Dawson City. In |
the same direction, / recommend that !
another act shall be passed adopting
the mining laws of the United States !
to such an extent as will prevent any !
l,,t crrhfartc raraclrirpr mining