The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-09-03
TO FIX ALASKAN
BOUNDARY line

Continued from First Page.
per week, beginning Sept Is, and exclud-
ing Saturdays, and to be in session from
IL a. m. to p. m. daily, and granted per-
permission for a limited number of rep
resentatives of the press to attend the sit
tings.
| In order that the presentation Of the
cases may be exhaustive, it has been ar
ranged that three Of counsel for each gov
eminent shall make arguments, the Brit
ish opening and being followed alterna-
| lively by Americans and British, the for
mer securing the advantage Of delivering
the closing argument.
The commission then removed the in
junction of secrecy on all documents
hitherto exchange, and the sitting was
| adjourned, the commissioners, agents,
and counsel preceding to the Quadrangle,
where they Were photographed.
] Possession Since 1880.
| In support Of the American contention
! that the strip should measure from tide
water and from the heads Of bays and
tnlets a. number Of dispositions are pro-
duced, in connection with the counter
case. going to show the occupation of
this strip by settlers from the United
States since 1880. Especial effort is d.
rected toward showing the control Of the
country about the head Of Lynn canal,
| including the sites of the towns of Dyea,
Skagway,! White Pass and Lake Bennett.
1t also is stated that numerous documents
have been preserved showing the presence
! In. the Lynn canal inlets of navy and
other authorities of the United States an
nually for twenty years after the United
States acquired the territory. It Is con-
| tended that this occupation and control
were known to the Canadian government
and its people.
| Discussing the boundaries proposed by
Great Britain the commission makes ref
erence to the instability to the Canadian
| contention on this point and concludes
that 1.-The United States has from the
time of the >cession of Alaska to the pres
ent day maintained but one interpretation
of the treaty Of 1925 Its position has
been open and known to the world. 1t is
| the same which was presented to the
tribunal in it's case and which 1t now
reiterates In this counter case"
Claim Due to cupldty.
The argument in the case Is a careful
study Of MAPS treaties and other docu-
ments bearing upon the boundary conten-
ton and is intended to drive home the
facts presented in the statements to which
reference has been made. Considerable
space Is devoted to the part played by
the Klondike gold discoveries in arousing
Great Britain's interest in the contro-
versy and In this connection notice is
taken Of an assertion made by the British
commissioners that the towns Of Dyea
and Skagway owed their existence to the
migration to the Klondike. The United
States asserts on the contrary that Dyea
was founded in 1886 and Skagway in 1888
The argument contradicts fatty conten-
ton made by the British commissioners to
the effect that "Canada's claim to the ter
ritories at the head Of the Lynn canal
was at the time well known to the United
States government
This the brief says, 'is gratuitous
assertion" there is no proof to sustain
to, the United States. The claim was
first made in 1898 by Great Britain before
the joint high commission
Danger of Collision"
1t is said that "if the Canadian govern
ment had instructed British vessels to dis
regard these regulations there would be
J grave danger of a serious collision
There undoubtedly would have been a
collision, just as certainly as If they been
instructed to disregard the regulations
| of the port of New York
: Strong exception also is taken to the
contention that there was reservation
:, on the part of Great Britain when the
United States volunteered to create a port
Of entry at Dyea. The argument asserts
. that whatever reservation there was, was
! made by a commissioner of customs an6
that he had no authority in the premises
1 - The American Brief.
$ The documents covering the American
3 case are comprised in three volumes
> making total Of about 1,1oo pages. Ir
addition there are also two volumes Of
maps. The largest of the volumest o.
text contains the original statement by
1 the American commissioners, while one o.
the smaller volumes presents the Ameri
can counter case in rejoinder to the Brit
ish case, and the other the arguments o.
! the Am erican commissioners.
In the first volume the following ques
tons are at Issue, namely, what is in
tended to be the point of commencement
of the line of demarkation between thu
United States and Canada; what is tn,
Portland canal, what course the lin
should take to the entrance of that canal
to what point Of the fifty sixth par
allel the line should be drawn from tn,
head Of Portland canal. Other familia
= questions are discussed also, and there il
an extensive discussion of the extent 0
t the strip Of territory along the coast OF
e the mainland that Russia conveyed to tn
e United States by the treaty Of 1867 I
e appears from the document that Grea
: Britain considers that the line begins a
d Cape Muzon. ..
I The American Contention.
The United States contends that it wa
j., the intention Of the powers which signe,
the treaty of 1925 to confirm In full soy
= ereignty to Russia a continuous stri
> along the continental shores of the north
. west coast of America, extending from
= Portland canal to the one hundred an
: forty-first meridian of longitude west O
:: Greenwich, and that such strip was t
be ten marine leagues, measured fror
the heads Of all CULTS and other arms Q
the. sea, unless there was within tina
distance a range of mountains The con
a tention is further made that there is n
such mountain range. 1t also ia urge
that the United States has occupied thi
5, ton from Russia, and that Russia ha
y controlled it since the treaty of 1925 unit
o ceded to the United States. in 1867
d In its counter brief, the American com
mittee makes rejoinder to points covere
y in the presentation Of the British, side {
IS the case. which,, it appears, contain
i twenty or more documents which hereto
fore have not been given to the public
= New Evidence Adduced.
} The additional evidence referred to bear
upon the negotiations which took plac
between Great Britain and Russia durin
q the years 1928 to 1926, and it is contende
: that this new evidence in no way alter
T any material contention made in the orr
ginal relation, but that, on the contrary
1T confirms and strengthens the positio
Tof the United States.''
These documents consists largely
statements made and letters written b
Mr.. Pelly, who was at that time deput
e governor of the Hudson Bay compan,
md is n0r and 6 hot III ~ LA S..H