The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-04
ARGUMENT
 ON BOUNDARY Alaskan Case Opened in
 London. ALvERSTONE IS PRESIDENT Hopes to Conclude Hearing by
 October 9. Thee Volumes Contain . Presenta- tion of the Claims of America.
 Rights Under Russian . Treaty of 1895.
ALvERSTONE IS PRESIDENT

1 &AU%sy S4 4oS0s
 London, Sept. s.-The Alaskan boundary commissioners held their first meeting to- office. Prior to the formal assembling, the commissioners met ln their private conference room and selected Reginald T. Tower of the British diplomatic service, formerly attached to the legation at Washington. and recently Minister to Siam. to be Secretary of the Commis- sion.'
 J. R. Carter, second secretary of the United States embassy. and MT. Pope. a representative of the Canadian Govern ment were appointed assistant secreta- ries. Lord Chief. Justice Alverstone was subsequently, chosen chairman of the committee. It was announced that oral arguments would commence September IS and Lord Alverstone expressed the hope that they would be finished by October g.
 The conference room of the foreign of- flee, where the commissioners met, Is the choicest apartment in the British public buildings. It Is magnificent salon, with Gothic ceiling and panelled walls and has been the scene of many notable gather igns. It was generally used by the late Lady Salisbury to receive the guests after the late Lord Salisbury's dinners to the diplomatic corps. At the end of the room a platform had been constructed and on it was long desk with a blue cov- ering. Behind this desk were six chairs. which were occupied by the commission CTS whose international regulations em- phasized the importance of the occasion.
 Elihu Root and Lord Alverstone sat in in the center. Separate tables were pro- vided for counsel. Canadian counsel were the first to arrive in the chamber. They were followed by John W. Foster, former Secretary of State, and his assistants, who were accompanied by Ambassador Choate. The commissioners came in a few minutes later and immediately began prfvatk conference which resulted in the selection of the officers, and at which thcy axehHnged creaentials and took the oath required by the treaty.
 Court Opened.
 A few minutes after il o'clock the com mittee took their seats. Senator Turner on the extreme right, then Prof. Sir Louis Jette formerly of the Superior Court of Quebec, Lieutenant- Governor ofsthe Prov ince of Quebec. and professor of civil law; MT. Root, Lord Alverstone, Sena- tor Lodge, A. B. Aylesworth, who suc- ceeded the late Justice Armour of Can- ada, of the commissions; MT. Foster and Clifford Sifton, Canadian Minister of the Interior. The agents of the respective governments sat at desks on the extreme right and left of the commission, while counsel and stenographers occupied desks facing the commissioners.
 Lord Alverstone, after formally an- nouncing that the committee was in ses- sion. stating that he had been selected as President, an honor which he highly appreciated, asked counsel when they de- sired to begin oral arguments. Sir Rob- ert B. Finlay, the Attorney General in behalf of the British counsel. suggested that at least two weeks would be requir- ed for preparation, to which Judge John M. Dickinson, representing the American counsel. assented, though he said the American counsel would be ready in a week. Lord Alverstone asked when the oral arguments would be finished, and Attorney-General Finlay suggested Octo- Der 15, but his Lordship remarked that he thought shorter period was advisable, and October was fixed upon.
 The committee decided to sit five days week. commencing September 18th and excluding Saturdays, and to be in ses- sion from II a. m. to p. m. daily. and granted permission for a limited number of press representatives to attend the sit- ting.
 In order that the examination of the cases may be exhaustive, 1t is arranged that three of, the council for each gov ernment shall make arguments in the cases, Great Britain opening and being followed alternatively by Americans and British, the former having the closing argument
 The commission then removed the in- Junction of secrecy on all documents hith- erto exchanged, and the sitting was ad- journed, the commissioners, agents and counsel proceeding to the quadrangle, w1ere they were photographed.
 The following is an abstract of the case Of the United States before the com mission:
 America's Claimss.
 The documents covering the American m three volumes making total of about 1,lOO pages. In addition there also are two volumes Of maps. The largest of the vo,nmes statnman. or text contain the original CTS while one of the smaller volumes presents the American counter case in reJoinder to the British case and the oth- CT arguments of the American commis- s1oners. In the first volume of the ques- tons at issue are, namely; what is fn- tended to be the point of commencement of the line of demarkation between the United States and Canada; what is the Portland channel; what course the line shall take to the entrance of that cham mel; to what point of the fifty-sixth par allel the line should be drawn from the head of Portland channel. and other fa- miliar preparations are discussed. There also Is extensive discussion of the extent of the strip of territory along the coast on the mainland that Russia conveyed to the United States by the treaty of 1887. It appears from the document that Great Britain comedies that the line begins at Cape Muzon.
 The United States contends that it is the intention of the powers which signed the treaty of 1895 to confirm in full sov- ereignty to Russia continuous strip or lislre along the continental shores of the northwest coast of America extending from Portland channel to the 1a1st merid- ian of longitude west of Greenwich, and that such strip was to be ten marine leagues, measured from the heads of all gulfs and other arms of the sea, unless there was within that distance a range of mountains. The contention Is further made that there is no such mountain range. It also is urged that the United States has occupied this strip of territory ever since its acquisition from Russia and