ORAL ARGUMENT OP SIR CHARLES RUSSELL, Q. C. M. P. 59 



ages in respect to what is prima facie a grievous wrong, tlie onus lies 

 upon that Government to justify its action upon legal grounds. 1 will 

 discuss those legal grounds presently. 



Now I turn to the correspondence which took place, 

 and I assure the Tribunal that I will not trouble them „^c^^^^^|?p^^"^''^^°°« 

 with more than I can avoid. But it is my purpose, which 

 I wish to make very clear to this Tribunal — though I wish to save them 

 all the time and trouble that 1 can — it is my purpose that the statement 

 I am now submitting shall cover the whole ground of tliis case, not per- 

 haps perfectly or completely, but as far as I am able to do it; and I 

 shall leave nothing unsaid which I think ought to be said in this con- 

 nection, even if it should involve very considerable demands upon the 

 patience of this Tribunal. 



I have told jou, Mr. President, that the first seizures took place on 

 the first of August, 1886. Information appears to have reached the 

 Foreign Office in London, then i)resided over by the late Lord Iddesleigh, 

 by the 21st of October of that year; and on page liO is the first commu- 

 nication to which I need call your attention. It is the second commu- 

 nication on that page. It is addressed to Sir Lionel West, then the 

 representative of Great Britain at Washington: 



I have to request you to inform nie whether the United States Government have 

 replied to the comnmiiicatiou which you were directed to make in my dispatch of the 

 9th ultimo, re^ijardiug the seizure of British vessels in Behriug Sea by a United States 

 Revenue cutter. If an answer has been received, I should be glad to receive a report 

 of the substance by telegraph. I should be glad at the same time to know whether 

 any appeal has been lodged against the decision of the. United States Court condemning 

 certain British subjects in connection with this matter. 



Then at the bottom of that page is the further communication of the 

 30th of October, which is an important document. It begins — 



Her Majesty's Government are still awaiting a report on the result of the applica- 

 tion which you were directed by my dispatch of the 9th ultimo to make to the Gov- 

 ernment of the United States for iuformation in regard to the reported seizure by 

 the United States Revenue Cutter *'(;orwin"of three Cacadian schooners while 

 engaged in the pursuit of seals in Behring Sea. 



790 I am inclined to think that this is one of the few letters that 



it may be desirable to read at length. 

 (Sir EiCHARD Webster thereupon read the remainder of the above 

 letter, as follows:) 



In the meanwhile, further details in regard to these seizures have been sent to this 

 country, and Her Majesty's Government now consider it incumbent, on them to bring 

 to the notice of the United States Government the facts of the case as they have 

 reached them from British sources. 



It appears that the three schooners, named respectively the "Carolina," the 

 "Onward," and the "Thornton," were fitted out in Victoria, British Columbia, for 

 the capture of seals in the waters of the Northern Pacific Ocean, adjacent to 

 Vancouver's Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, and Alaska. 



According to the depositions inclosed herewith from some of the officers and men, 

 these vessels were engaged in the capture of seals in the ojien sea out of sight of 

 land, when they were taken j)OSsession of on or about the 1st August last by the 

 United States Revenue cutter "Corwin," the "Carolina," in latitude 55° 52' north, 

 longitude 168° 53' west, the " Onward" in latitude 50° 52' north, longitude 167° 55' 

 Tvest, and the "Thornton" in about the same latitude and longitude. 



They were all at a distance of more than 60 miles from the nearest land at the time 

 of their seizure, and on being captured were towed by the "Corwin " to Ounalaska, 

 ■where they are still detained. The crews of the "Carolina" and "Thornton," with 

 the exception of the captain and one man on each vessel detained at that port, were, 

 it appears, sent by the steamer "St. Paul" to San Francisco, California, and then 

 turned adrift, while the crew of the " Onward " were kept at Ounalaska. 



Atthe time of their seizure the "Carolina" had 686 seal-skins on board, the "Thorn- 

 ton" 404, and the "Onward" tOO, and these were detained, and would appear to be 

 iitiU kept at Ounalaska along with the schooners by the United States authoritieo. 



