47 



could be obtained, Iler ]\rajesty's Government was not willing to enter 

 into the convention; that time would be requisite to bring about that; 

 and that meanwhile the convention must wait. It then became ap- 

 parent to Mr. Phelps tliat the British Government would not execute 

 the desired convention without the concurrence of Canada. Writing 

 to Mr. Bayard, September 12, 1888, Mr. Phelps, in giving an account 

 of his interview with Lord Salisbury, said : " Certain Canadian vessels 

 are making a prolit out of the destruction of the seal in the breeding 

 season in the waters in question, inhuman and wasteful as it is. That 

 it leads to the speedy extermination of the animal is no loss to Canada, 

 because no part of these seal fisheries belong to that country; and the 

 only profit open to it in connection with them is by destroying the seal 

 in the open sea during the breeding time, although many of the animals 

 killed in that way are lost, and those saved are worth much less than 

 when killed at the proper time. Under these circumstances, the Gov- 

 ernment of the United States must, in my opinion, either submit to 

 have these valuable fisheries destroyed or must take measures to prevent 

 their destruction by capturing the vessels emi)loyed in it. BetAveen 

 these alternatives it does not appear to me there should be the slightest 

 hesitation." U. S. Case, Vol. l,pp. 181,182. 



Upon the accession of Mr. Harrison to the office of President, tne 

 matters in dispute between the two Governments being unsettled, 

 again became the subject of diplomatic correspondence. That corre- 

 spondence is too voluminous to be reproduced in this opinion. But a 

 reference to an interview between Mr. Blaine and the British minister 

 at Washington, which took place October 24, 1880, together with 

 extracts from some of the communications emanating from the State 

 Department, will suifice to show the general grounds ui)on which the 

 l)osition then taken by the United States was based. 



In the report which Sir Julian Pauncefote made to Lord Salisbury of 

 the above interview, it is said: 



" We had a great deal of friendly discussion, in the course of which 

 he stated that the seizures of the Canadian seal fishing vessels had 

 been effected by the Treasury Department, whicli is cliarged with the 

 protection and collection of the revenue (including that derived from 

 the Alaska Company), and the measure had been resorted to under the 

 belief that it was warranted by the act of Congress and the proclama- 

 tion of the President. In this view the Department had been confirmed 

 by the judgment of the district court of Alaska. I observed that this 



