The Saint Paul globe., 1903-09-04
AMERICAN ALASKA
BOUNDARY CASE
Points the United States Hopes
to Establish Before Bound
ary Commission.


boundary commissioners held their first
! meeting today in the conference room
of the foreign office. The commission
ers selected Reginald T. Tower, of the
British diplomatic service, formerly at
tached to the legation at Washington,
! and recently minister to Siam, to be
| secretary of the commission. J. R.
Carter, second secretary of the United
States embassy, and Mr.. Pope, a rep
| resentative of the Canadian govern
| ment, were appointed assistant secre-
tar1eS. Lord Chief Justice AlVerstone
was chosen chairman of the commits
sion.
1t was announced that oral argu-
ments would commence Sept. Is, and
Lord Alverstone expressed the hope
that they would be finished by Oct g.
The commission decided to sit five
days per week, beginning Sept. Is, and
excluding Saturdays. Three of the
counsel for each government will
make arguments, the British opening
and being followed alternately by
Americans and British, the former Sc
curing the advantage of delivering the
closing argument. The commission
then removed the injunction of secrecy
on all documents hitherto exchanged,
and the sitting was adjourned.
The papers in the case of the United
States have been made public The
questions at issue, namely what is
intended to be the point of commence
ment of the line of demarkation be-
tween the United States and Canada;
what is the Portland channel; what
course the line should take to the en-
trance of that channel; to what point
of the f1fty-sixth parallel the line
should be drawn from the head of
Portland channel and other familiar
questions are discussed. There also
ic aNyfl cixyn
land that Russia conveyed to the
United States by the treaty of 1857.
1t appears from the. document that
Great Britain comedies that the line
begins at Cape Muzon.
The United States contends that it
was the intention of the powers which
signed the treaty of 1925 to confirm
in full sovereignty to Russia a con-
tinuous strip along the continental
shores of the northwest coast of Amer
lea extending from Portland canal to
the 141st meridian of longitude west
of Greenwich and that such strip was
to be ten marine leagues measured
from the heads of all CULTS and other
arms of the sea, unless there was with
in that distance 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 that Russia had controlled it since
the treaty of 1925. until ceded to the
United States in 1857.
The commissioners discussed the
claim made by their opponents that
many protests have been filed by Brit
ish officials against the American
claim in reference to the boundary
line. They admit that from time to
time there have been informal repre-
Sentations, but these they assert were
in the main without sufficient data to
justify serious consideration. Indeed
they say that never until after the
Klondike gold discoveries were made
in 1895 did the British government
take up the question seriously. They
admit that in 1898 attention was called
to the claim of the British government
that the ten-league strip extended only
/ from the main waters of the ocean,
but they say that this contention was
not made absolutely clear until the
British case was delivered to the pres
ent tribunal on the I'd of May last
Especial effort is directed toward
showing the control by Americans Of
the country about the head of Lynn
canal. including the sites Of the towns
of Dyea, Skagway, White Pass and
Lake Bennett.
Discussing the boundaries proposed
by Great Britain, the commission
makes reference to the instability of
the Canadian contention on this point
and concludes that the United States
has from the time of the cession of
Alaska to the present day maintained
but one Interpretation of the treaty of
1925. 1t is the same which was pre-
sented to the tribunal in it's case and
which it now reiterates in this counter
| case"
Considerable space is devoted to the
part played by the Klondike gold dis
| coveries in arousing Great Britain's
interest in the controversy and in this
connection notice is taken of an as
sertion made by the British commits
sioners that the towns of Dyea and
Skagway owned their existence to the
migration to the Klondike. They as
sert on the contrary that Dyea was
founded in 1886 and Skagway in 1888.
They contradict fatty a contention
made by the British commissioners
that "Canada's claim to the territories
at the head of Lynn canal was at the
time we'll known to the United States
government"
Strong exception also is taken to
the contention that there was reser-
vation on the part of Great Britain
when the United States volunteered to
create a port of entry at Dyea. The
argument asserts that whatever reser-
'oIioh IileIe was, was Hdue Dy COM
missioner of customs and that he had
no authority in the premises.
Mr.. Root and Senator Lodge left
London tonight for Lord Roberts
country home in Surrey Senator
Lodge tomorrow will go to Paris, where
he will join his wife. He will remain
there until Sept. IA.
After a weekend visit to Lord AL
verstone, Mr.. Root will go to Ledyard
Carters place in Scotland Senator
Turner remains in London. Messrs.
Root and Lodge hope to sail for home
on Oct 21.
Iron and Steel Men to Meet Here.
BARROW IN N-FURNESS, England,
Sept. 3.-The iron and steel institute
clnSnd autumn rnnaotirn