19 14] Settlement of International Disputes 203 



United States with the Umpire, Mr. Gray, going so far as to suggest 

 his removal on the ground of flagrant partiaUty; but on the whole the 

 reference was successful. 



13. There was for many years a dispute as to the boundary between 

 the two nations toward the west. By the Convention of 18 18, it was 

 agreed that the 49th parallel should be the boundary from the Lake of 

 the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. Britain west of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains claimed down to the mouth of the Columbia between 46° and 47°; 

 the United States as far north as 54° 40'. By Article III of the Con- 

 vention, it was agreed that west of the Rockies the disputed territory 

 should, for ten years, be open to the vessels, citizens and subjects of 

 either power without prejudice to the rights of each. In 1823 and 1826, 

 attempts were made to settle the line, and the Convention of August 

 6th, 1827, indefinitely extended the period for common use; finally in 

 1846, Pakenham, the British Minister, accepted the offer made more 

 than once, and the line of 49° was agreed upon. This was after Polk's 

 election had been fought on the battle cry "Fifty-four forty or fight"; 

 and war had been thought inevitable. The Treaty was concluded 

 June 15th, 1846. By Article IV it was provided that the farms, etc., 

 of the Puget Sound Agricultural Company to the north of the Columbia 

 River should be confirmed to the Company, but that the United States 

 might take them at a proper valuation. Article III provided that "the 

 possessory rights of the Hudson Bay Company and of any British sub- 

 jects . . . should be respected." These rights were not respected, and 

 negotiations failed to fix the amount which should be paid. A Treaty 

 was at length concluded, July i, 1863, whereby these claims should be 

 referred tc two Commissioners (appointed by the Governments con- 

 cerned), who should choose an Arbitrator or Umpire; if they could not 

 agree the King of Italy was to appoint. The Commissioners were Alex- 

 ander S. Johnson and Sir John F>.ose, the well-known Canadian financier 

 and statesman. They selected as Umpire, Benjamin R. Curtis, who had 

 been a Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, and who gave 

 the magnificent dissenting judgment in the Dred Scott Case; he was 

 afterwards to be of Counsel for Andrew Johnson on his impeachment. 

 September loth, 1869, the Commissioners agreed upon an award without 

 calling upon the Umpire, giving $450,000 to the Hudson's Bay Company 

 and $200,000 to the Puget Sound Agricultural Company. 



A very important treaty commonly called the Treaty of Wash- 

 ington was concluded May 8th, 1871, by which four matters in dispute 

 were referred to arbitration. 



14. The first of these was the "Alabama Claims": the United States 

 claimed for the damage due directly and indirectly to Confederate 

 cruisers built or equipped in British waters during the Civil War, chiefly 



