The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-10-22
Some Consequences Of the Alaska
.,'-. Boundary Dispute.

1t was not to be expected that the
decision reached by four Of the six mem
bers of the Alaska Boundary Commission
would be satisfacto to Canadians. Not
only do they lose the towns OF Dyea and
Skagway, which they claimed, but they
must renounce the hope Of free access
to the Pacific at any point along the
Alaskan coast from Mount st. Elias in
the northwest to Portland Canal in the
southeast. On the other hand, they
have gained something Of substantial
value from strategic point of view; for
Pearse and Wales Islands, which lie at the
mouth of Portland Canal, command not
only Port Simpson, which is expected
to be the western terminus OF the Grand
Trunk Pacific Railway, but also the neigh
boring harbor from which the British Co.
lumbia, Northern and Mackenzie Valley
Railway is to run through Canadian ter
ritory to Dawson City. The Importance
OF the right to occupy and fortify the
islands named will not be moderated by
those who are alive to the commercial
possibilities of the projected railways
mentioned
1t is, of course, understood that the
decision reached by majority of the
Alaska boundary commissioners is not
final. They have simply laid down gen.
eral principles which are to be followed
by the American and British engineers
who will be employed for the purpose OF
making joint survey and marking the
boundary. Even these principles will
not have been definitely accepted until
they have been embodied in treaty
signed and ratified by Great Britain and
the United States 1t is conceivable,
though most improbable, that the United
States Senate might refuse to sanction
the concession of Pearse and Wales
islands to Canada. 1t is further to be
noted that the commissions decision
fails to locate the mountain range
named as the eastern limit Of Alaska in
the treaty by which Russia coded that
territory to the United States. There can
be no dispute about the location Of that
range, however; and it is known that,
although the mountains approach the
coast more closely at some points than
at others. there is no point where con-
siderable ribbon of land does not exist
between the foothills and the sea. AS,
under the decision, any such ribbon
belongs to the United States, it suffices
to cut of the Canadians from access to
the Pacific.
Aside from its territorial and strategic
consequences, the decision Of the Alaska
Boundary Commission will have moral
result that is likely to exercise a mo-
mentous influence on the future relations
OF the British and American peoples. In
stead of being blow to arbitration, as
it is strangely pronounced by the London
Daily Mdi!. the decision is likely to cause
q renewal Of the attempt to arrange an
arbitration treaty between Great Britain
and the United States like that which
was negotiated during Mr.. MCkINLEy's
first Administration but which then
failed of ratification in our Senate by
few votes. That treaty provided it
will be remembered, that controversies
Of certain designated kinds between the
signatories should be referred to an
international tribunal, half of whose
members should be Judges of the United
States Supreme Court and the other
half occupants Of high judicial posts in
Great Britain. The Senators who sue
cessfully opposed the ratification of the
treaty were actuated by the belief, then
not unwarranted by the history Of our
relations with Great Britain, that not
even on the bench could British subject
be found who would not persist in up
holding the supposed interests of his
country, no matter how cogent might
be the appeals to his sense of justice or
Of equity.
BY his impartial and high minded
course Lord ALvERsToNE has refuted
the assumption ON which was based the
principal objection to the former arbi-
tration treaty