SESSION OF THE TRIBUNAL OF ARBITRATION. 



SECOND DAY, APRIL 4™, 1893. 



The President. — The Tribunal has decided to appoint Mr. A. Bailly- 

 Blanchard, and Mr. Cunynghaine, as co- Secretaries with Mr. A. Irabert. 

 Also, M. le chevalier Bajnotti, M. Henri Feer, M. le vicomte de Manne- 

 ville, as assistant Secretaries and these gentlemen are, therefore, to take 

 their seats. 



Now, gentlemen, I address both the Agents and I may say that the 

 Tribunal is ready to hear any motion from either of you or your Counsel. 

 If anybody has a motion to present, the Tribunal are ready to hear it. 



Sir Charles Russell. — i have, on the part of theGovernment of Her 

 Majesty, to make an application to the Tribunal which is based on Article 

 4 of the Treaty and also upon the general jurisdiction of tliis Tribunal to 

 regulate the order of its proceedings. The application is that the repre- 

 sentatives of the United States may be called upon to furnish either 

 the original or an authentic copy of an important Keport bearing upon 

 seal life, and tliat they may be so ordered for the assistance of this Tri- 

 bunal and in support of the contentions to be advanced on behalf of the 

 Government of the Queen. The Report in question is the Report of an 

 American citizen Mr. H. W. Elliott, and its subject is " Seal life". 



It is important that the Tribunal should understand why we think it 

 necessary that this Report should be forthcoming and why we think 

 that the authority of Mr. Elliott on this subject should be brought to 

 the attention of the Tribunal. Mr. Elliott is a gentleman who in the 

 diplomatic correspondence leading up to this Treaty has been vouched 

 by successive Ministers of the United States as an authority without 

 any equal. Mr. Bayard, when he was Secretary of the United States, 

 writing upon the 7*" of February, 1888, describes Mr. Elliott as "a well 

 known authority on seal life". That communication is to be found in 

 the United States Appendix to their Case, and I can give my friends 

 the reference, if they have not it at hand. Later, on the V^ of March, 

 Mr. Blaine, who was then Secretary of State in America, on that date 

 quotes Mr. Elliott again, in similar language, as an important authority 

 on seal life; and linally on the 3''^ of July, 1890, Mr. Goff", Treasury 

 Agent to the United States, cites Mr. Elliott in this language. He says 

 "There is but one authority on the subject of seal life," and he refers to 

 Mr. Elliott as that one authority. 



Now as to the Report, the Report which we desire is one which has 

 peculiar importance from the fact that the authority of Mr. Elliott to 

 make this special Report was conferred upon him by an Act of the 

 Legislature of the United States which came into force in April, 1890. 

 He was appointed under a special Act which authorises the Secretary 

 of the Treasury to appoint some person well qualified by experience and 

 education a special agent for the purpose of visiting the various trading 



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