Evening star., 1914-04-26

illegality of the seizure. as the United
States courts already have passed on
that.
Claims of the British sealing schoon-
ers Wanderer and Favourite, respective
~, for Sl1.io1 and Sla.I43, with interest n
: per cent date back to 1894 Com
mander Charles E Clark. L. :. N was
in command of the patrol fleet in Ber-
ing sea that year. Later he was ~
win distinction as captain Of the Ore
gon in her famous dash around the
American war.
The use Of firearms il sealing is pro-
hibited hy International regulations
since 1928. aboard the Wandercr
Capt. ciarlS's boarding officer found !
shotgun which the mate had cuncealed
in his bunk Aboard the Favouritn i
sawed-off shotgun. said to be used onls
in firing signals. found. Both ships
were seized and turned ovec 10 the
British warship Pheasant which sent
them TO Victoria Under international
regulations tins was the practice. eaois
nation undertaking to punish its own
mariners for onenses
At Victoria the Rritish admiral n
cided that the schooncrs had Vioiat"d
no law or regulation and dismissed
them. The owners now ask damaccS.
including damages for prospective catch
81 shlilS. I'll" EINUutitt tanks
could have taken 2.24i moro SKINS tEHN
she did II sre had unt hc"n inicItsr.,l
With.
The United states government r~siS 4
the claims. 81 wig The seizures Nsr.s.
made in behalf II Great Britain thsr
the British admiral violated the into
national agreement III discharcIug ths
schooners. and that tile dama yes ask
are excessive
only $4,000. win interest, IS lie DE-
mand of the owners Of tie Britfs.
schooner Kate for seizure in Bcring Sc
such sealing in the open season. lrtz
rided only spears are used, is perrnis
sio.e. The boarding officer of the reven;.-
cutter Perry. in the season of 1885
found four sealskins aboard the Kat.
with holes in them that looked ik"
shot holes. He seized the vessel. \
week later a superior officer decided tie
suspicion was unfounded and turned H..
vessel loose Now comes the demand
for damages
June %. 1909. capt Z. + Bertholf IN
command Of the revenue cutter Bear
the same Capt. Bertholf who is now
captain commandant of the revenue cut
ter service-found the British schoon-
Pescawha at the north end of cherikof
Island, in western Alaska They had
firearms aboard. He caused these and
the ammunition To be sealed up. ana
warned the vessels away from those
waters. They went home and nut IL
claims for s3S.I00. S51.62S and s5e.e
respectively
They We're not seal hunters at all. they
allese, but sea otter hunters; further
more. the old regulations regarding seal
ing up firearms We're not in effect II
was a good season for sea otter. thev as
sert; sea otter skins selling for
sats each and they estimate they would
have got a lot of them If Capt: Bertholf
had not interfered
The United States admits the absence
or regulations that year. but asserts that
Capt Bertholf acted in bona fde belief
ms course was right and precautionary
measure to protect the seal herds: and
Furthermore. the United States asserts
that the schooners cannot prove they
would have secured the excessive number
OF sea otter skins set forth in the claim.
Great Britain in another set of cases
demands damages on behalf of British
cable companies for Admiral Dewey's act
IN cutting the cable at Manila. and for
Admiral Sampsons act in cutting the ca
bic under fire at Cienfuegos Cuba Also
there is a demand for damages for a cable
torn up by the naval ship Essex in her
cruise about the great lakes with the na-
val militia aboard. In that cruise she got
tangled with three Canadian cables. In
Gle sam has paid for two of them, but re-
slsts paying for the third.
American missionaries lost some proner-
tv through the raids of hostile natives in
Sierra Leone Africa, and the United
states wants damages because the British
government didn't make the natives be-
nave better Four claims of Americans
whose property was arbitrarily takef,
from them in the Fiji Islands, for which
taking the British government is held re-
Sponslble, are Yet to be argued.
And these are only a part
Each government has in general charge
OF its cases an agent and under him a
considerable staff of officers and coun-
sci. The American agent IS Robert Ian
sing of Watertown, y. Y. who. after 10
had prepared the American cases and
the American answers. was recently az
pointed counselor of the Department q
State. succeeding John Bassett Moore.
Under him are r. A. Young. secretary.
and L. NJ snowden. disbursing officer
The British agent is c. ]. b. Hurst.
assistant legal adviser of the British
foreign office in London. with Hon. +
l.. Newcombe of Ottawa, deputy miu-
lister of justice of Canada. as associate
agent. Under Mr.. Hurst are =. g. os-
borne. secretary, and John III. L. Leslie,
disbursing officer.
NJ. Fromageot adjusts his spectacles.
clears his throat casts a glance oyer
the courtroom. and, from a paper he
holds before him reads an order of the
tribunal regarding some small matter
of expenses. His French accent Is
noticeable Then
To-day we viii take up the Newchars
case"
Mr.. Newcombe arises and bows M
President, he announces, the case or
the part Of his majesty's government
Will be presented by" and he Announces
the name of counsel in that particular
cause.
The lawyer comes forward TO tfnv
reading desk over which a shaded eie,-
tric lamp is hung He lays his notes
upon the desk bows and begins: 'Nr.
President and members of the tribunal
this is case and he proceeds, as law
yers have done from the beginning OF
law courts. to recite the facts.
In this manner do modern nations
settle their grievances.
The King Incog.