Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-12-08
MATTERS IN DISPUTE
Controversies With Canada
Awaiting Settlement.
PROPOSED AGREEMENT
JOINT HIGH COMMISSION MAY BE
RECONvENED.
Expenditure in Money and Lives for
the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. to Produce
Caulifower Seed in This Country.
BY VIM. E. CURTIS.

sBY VIM. E. CURTIS.
Written for The Evening Star and the Chicago
Record-Herald.
After consultation 1t has been decided to
propose another session of the high JOINT
commission, which sat at Quebec in 1898
and at Washington In 1899 to determine
Sc veral matters in controversy between the
United States and Canada. Negotiations
for a reassembling of this tribunal must
be conducted between the Secretary Of
State and the British ambassador officially,
but they can be promoted by private cor
respondence with the dominion authori-
ties. President Roosevelt likes to accom-
plish things and he wants to make record
for business administration. Further
more, Senator Fairbanks is the president
of the tribunal and has such thorough
knowledge of matters in controversy that
it would be difficult to find a substitute SO
useful as he. Any man who takes his place
must spend the same amount or time III
study and Investigation, which would
scarcely be expected. 1t is beleVeo that IL
the commission reassembled carry IN Jan
uary it would be able to dispose OF seVerdl
perplexing questions, and perhaps might
be able to clear the docket before Senator
Fairbanks is compelled to ascend the
throne of the Senate.
The tribunal still exists. 1t did not dis
solve, but only took a recess after Its meet,
ing in Washington, when 1t was discovered
that no agreement on the Alaska boundary
was possible Nearly all the other queS-
ticns had been determined In manner
satisfactory to both governments, ana ire
American commissioners urged dennlte
settlement of them leaving the BOUNDARY
dispute open for further discussion. But
the Canadian commissioners insisted upon
throwing everything into the pot, as one
of them expressed it, and made their as.
sent to the minor propositions contingent
riouS.
Questions Awaiting Decision.
The boundary dispute was determined
finally and in a manner satisfactory 10 tne
United States by tribunal which sat IN
Lordon in 1903, and thus the chief Cd
stacle to an agreement upon other ques-
lions was removed Those who are most
familiar with the situation, therefore. are
confident of an easy adjustment of several
important matters now in dispute, ana tue
Canadians are quite as anxious Tor set
Element as their own people. oir Mna n1,
Laurier, prime minister of Canada, is now
in Monterey, Cal, where he expects TO re-
main until the holidays, but there IS gooo
reason to believe that he will be ready 10
resume the sessions OF the COMMISSION
shortly after the new year. There is one
vacancy on the Canadian side, caused py
the death of Lord Herschel. lord chancel-
loc of Great Britain, which Will propapiy
cessor A vacancy on the American sloe'
caused by the death of Nelson Dlngley.
has already been filled by the appointment
of Serene e. Payne OF New aoak' 1, dne
GRAY of Delaware. John w. roster OF
Washington John A. Kasson of WASH
ington and T. Jefferson Coolidge OF Bos-
ton. $, ,,..
1. The regulation of fur-seal fishing In
the north Pacific ocean.
2 The settlement of dispute over the
boundary line between Canada and the
state of Maine, which has been pending for
a century.
3. Regulations for the transit of mer-
chandise in bond through intermediate ter
ritory.
laws.
5. The adoption of uniform mining regu-
! lationS
g. A revision of the treaty of 1917 relat-
| ing to the construction and maintenance OF
! a new man-of-war upon the lakes to take
| the place of the ancient gunboat Micm-
| gan.
Z. Canal tolls.
! g. Fishing rights in the Great Lakes.
8. The transfer of prisoners through in
termediate territory.
10. Regulations for Wrecking ana savage
on the Great Lakes.
| Dispute Over Reciprocity.
| Inc ABOVE questions CdIl NC LuiiiCo
| without difficulty: in fact, an agreement
was reached upon all of them before the
| commissioners separated in 1899. but two
others are likely to cause prolonged dis
| cussion and are scarcely susceptible to an
| understanding. One is commercial reel
| procity which has many earnest advocates
| on both sides of the boundary. but has
equally formidable opponents: and. as
| explained yesterday. there does not seem
! to be any common ground upon winch the
| agricultural and manufacturing industries
| can stand There Is a strong desire on the
| part of the latter to extend their trade in
| Canada, and they believe it might be done
| If concessions were made by reductions In
| duties upon Canadian agricultural pro-
ducts imported into the United States: but
| the producers of similar articles On our
| side of the border will never consent to ad-
| nit Canadian competition. There Is SIM
| liar disagreement on the Canadian side
| but it is reversed. The agricultural indus
| tries over there are exceedingly anxious to
| secure market In the United States by
reducing duties on manufactured goods, but
! the proposition meets with the most deter
| mined opposition from the manufacturing
| interests in Great Britain and their repre-
| sentatives in Canada. who naturally are
| unwilling to meet further competition from
the United States. Hence, it is not proba-
| BILE and scarcely possible that the reci-
procity proposition be settled by the
| tribunal
Long-Pending Fishing Controversy.
1t is equally impossible for any tribuna
to agree upon a satisfactory solution of the
fishing problem In the North Atlantic ocear
which has perplexed both governments fol
a hundred years, and has been discussed sc
long and so often that the correspondence
now fills a bookcase. The Canadian gov
eminent is willing to give the fishermen O,
the United States entire freedom in Ca
madam waters, provided Canadian fishermen
can have free access to the markets of New
York and Boston. Doubtless such an ar
rangement would be to the advantage Of
people who eat fish, but the fishermen o.
Gloucester, Mass. have thus far been in
fuential enough to maintain monopoly
and shut out their Canadian rivals from
their markets. 1t would seem to be
waste of time for the tribunal to take vi
this controversy.
| A rather amusing incident occurred a.
| the Quebec meeting of the tribunal In 1893
| The American commissioners issued a gen
eral invitation to all persons having In
terests affected to appear and present thei
claims. and 1t so happened that the Manu-
facturers' Association of Boston and tn,
fishermen of Gloucester sent up their dele
cations on the same day. They were ad
| mitted together and before many minutes
were at each others throats. The manu-
facturers were arguing for chance to sci
their goods in the Canadian market an,