Evening star., 1914-04-26

stance famed British indignation to
flame 1t was evidence. SO the Britons
charged. that the outlanders We're being
Disseminated against; that the laws
Were changed on the moment if an out
lander was to profit by them.
All these years the thing has dragged
until now an International tribunal is to
determine whether the successor of a
state is bound to pay the adjudged debts
OF its predecessor in sovereignty. n new
precedent in international law is to be
eSta hliShed.
The Cayuga Indian case is notable
one on the records of the tribunal. A
little matter of $976023 is demanded of
Uncle Sam by the remnants of the
Cayuga tribe now residing on the Grand
river in Canada.
The Cayugas were one of the Six Ma
tions. They had undisputed title to
some / 700 square miles of territory north
OF Cayuga lake in New York After the
revolution most of them moved over into
the Grand river valley in Canada In
1898, after several abortive attempts.
treaty was concluded between them and
the state of New York by which they
ceded to the state their lands, with small
reservations. in consideration of the
state paying them annuities. yearly, at
Canandaigua, amounting to S2,3O.
The Cayugas in Canada became in
tensely loyal to the British crown. When
events were moving toward the war OF
1872 they took the British side Ac-
cordingly New York stopped paying the
annuitieS.
Now come the Cayugas. backed by the
British government, with demand Tor
the annuities for lob years. amounting to
s236. 800, with interest at 6 per cent. The
interest amounts to SI39,12S, or more Inah
three times the principal.
There are many small and individual
cases before the tribunal. One, which
1nd ha 9TH n
itself 1t appears that in July. 1907, Miss
Elizabeth Cadenhead of Kingston, On
tarfo went across the line to visit her
brother at Sault Ste Marie, Mich. While
sightseeing at Fort Brady. an army post
then garrisoned by Company NJ of the tth
United States Infantry.
The party was leaving the post when a
military prisoner. charged with desertion.
jumped the wall and started to make a
getaway. Private Cyrus Gillette. the SEN
try in charge of the prisoner, took a shot
at the escaping man. 1t is evident that
the sentry had not profited by the course
OF target practice laid down in the firing
regulations of the United States Army.
for he missed the deserter entirely, but
shot and killed Miss Cadenhead.
The British government asks indignant
ly II a feminine subject of his Britannia
majesty is thus ruthlessly to be shot down
In time of peace without something being
done about it. and demands SD, 900 for
The United States responds that the
shooting was n mere accident: that Pri-
vate Cyrus Gillette has been duly court
martialed for the shooting and also for
letting a prisoner escape. and that he has
been acquitted. as both matters were
things he could not help.
Seven British claims against the United
States, totaling sum of S2SS 69i, arising
out Of the ancient Bering sea sealing dis
pute have been argued before the tri-
bunal since it began sitting early in
March this year. After the Paris Bering
sea tribunal of 1893 had made its award
the United States was compelled to pay
several hundred thousand dollars damages
for Illegal seizures of Canadian sealing
schooners. but the claims now pending
have arisen since then.
In 1892, while the question as to whether
the United States and Russia had the
right to prohibit open sea, or pelagic.
hunting for seals in Bering sea was still
undecided. the Canadian steamer Coduit-
lam. carrying supplies for the Canadian
seal hunters. was seized a Port Etches
in western Alaska. This seizure was far
outside of Bering sea
The revenue cutter Corwin Cant. Thorn
as l.. Hooper, commanding. made the seiZ-
IRE on the express orders OF Fighting
Bob" Evans. then commander in tbe
navy and in command of the Bering sea
patrol fleet of that year. For this seiz-
ure the Canadian owners of the vessel
are now demanding damages in the sum
of Sl04. 7O9.03
In his book. "A Sailors Log" published
nine years after the event. Admiral Evans
told of his part in it. He described the
purpose of this government as being 10
break up pelagic sealing for that year
at any costs. Il read plainly between
the lines of my orders that the WASH
ington authorities he wrote, "consid-
cred IL of vital Importance that she the
CoQuitlam should be captured and |
made up my mind to get her legally If |
could. illegally if I must
1t is the contention of the British GOV
that he got her Illegally Sir
Charles HILBERT Tupper, X. c.. a Cana
dian lawyer. who argued this and other
sealing cases for the British side in
March, read this and other extracts from
Evans book in making his argu-
ment.
1t charged by the American
on making the seizure that
the vessel had violated the law because
her losbook showed that she had towed
a number of British schooners from
Alaskan harbors to the three-miie
limit and provisioned them, receiving
from them some 5000 sealskins. The
ancient towering act" intended to pre-
vent smuggling. gives nation certain
jurisdiction over the waters twelve
miles off shore. On this law the seizure
was laid, the charge being of unlawfully
cargo in American waters.
The Alaska courts upheld the conten-
ton. but the circuit court of appeals
reversed this decision and held the ship
g,iltless James Hamilton Lewis. now
senator from Illinois. presented the case
of the ship before the circuit court. for
which he received more than $1,000.
This expense is one OF those figured in
the total judgment asked.
owners of the ship maintain that the
loss of the ships time while she was
under detention. the subsequent loss
resulting from the expense of getting
a bond for her. law costs. injury to the
sealskins because they did not have
proper care, and loss of perishable pro-
visions damaged them in the sum given
above.
The United States resists the claim
.hiiy on the ground of extravaEant
;laims for damages, not denying the