414 ORAL ARGUMENT OF FREDERICK R. COUDERT, ESQ. 



On the first page I have pointed out, IsT" 201, there is an extract from 

 the Victoria News of August 31st, 1891. It is ratlier hysterical in its 

 general tone and perhaps 1 ought not to read it in a solemn judicial pro- 

 ceeding. It talks about ''liussian Piracy", "Startling Story", and it 

 loses a good deal probably by being published as an extract and also by 

 not having the large capital letters that emphasize the wrong committed 

 by liussia; I will pass that and take the next page 202. 



The London Htandu) d of September the 10th states the fact in more 

 moderate language: 



The Minister of Marine is preparing a case to submit to the British Government 

 relative to the seizure of Canadian scnlers by the I^nssian cruisers otf Copper Ishiud. 

 He says the seizures were nuide not in Beliriiig .Sea but in the North Pacific, and 

 that they are most glaring violations of the treaty between Russia and Great Britain 

 in 1888. 



That is a misprint tliere. It is not 1888. It is probably 1858 or 1859. 



Mr. Justice Harlan. — There Avas a treaty in 1858. 



Mr. CouDERT. — Then it is probably 1858. We also have an extract 

 from the London Financial Times of September 15, 1892, five days after 

 this. It is written from Victoria, British Columbia, on the 13th Sep- 

 tember but it is published in the London paper on tlie 15th: 



A comparison of the statements made by the captain of the Russian cruiser which 

 seized a number of Canadian sealers in the Northern Pacific and the regular charts 

 prepared by the agents of the marine department shows that the Schooner WiUie 

 McGowan was 42 1/2 miles from the nearest laiul when seized. The Iiosie OJsen also 

 appears to have been 38 miles and the Ariel 30 miles out at sea. The sealer Agnes 

 MaedonaJd arrived here to-day and reports that wlieu 20 or 30 miles from Copper 

 Island she put out her boats, which were, however, socm driven iu by the Russums. 

 The Vancouver Jlelle and other vessels have been seized all tliey contained being con- 

 fiscated. The Russians are said to have declared that they would seize the British 

 schooners wherever they found them, no matter what distance from the shore. The 

 sealer Libbie will probably make a trip to the southern Pacific. 



Then we have in the next page a letter from Collector Milne of Vic- 

 toria to the Canadian Minister of Marine and Fisheries. This is writ- 

 ten in the same year October 8th, 1892, and published in the London 

 Times of November 11th, 1892. 



Mr. Justice Harlan. — That is a letter to the Collector. 



Mr. CouDERT.— "From the Collector" it is headed on the top of the 

 page, but I think that must be an error, I think it is to the Collector. 



Sir, As requested by you, we have measured the distance on the chart of Behring 

 Sea, .as given by you showing tlie exact places where the three British Schooners were 

 seized by the Russian cruiser Znhialca and the Russian Fur Company's steamer Kotik. 

 Schooner Willie McGowan, latitude 50^, 50' N., longitude 167^, 50''E., a distance of 

 42 1/2 miles from Copper Island the nearest land. 



Schooner Iiosie Olseii, latitude 34^,24' N. ; longitude 165°, 40' E., a distance of 38 

 miles from Behring Island the nearest land. 



Schooner Ariel, hititude 54*^, 10' N., longitude 167^^, 40' E., a distance of 30 miles 

 from Copper Island, the nearest laud. 



Yours respectfully. 



Then finally, and that is all I have to read on the subject, it may be 

 interesting to the Tribunal to hear a paragraph from page 204 on this 

 subject. 



The said latitude 54^ 18' north, longitude 167° 19' east, is, by correct observation 

 measured by me, on the United States Coast Survey Chart, N" UOO, more than 50 

 miles from Copi)er or Behring Islands on the high seas, and not in Russian wati-rs; 

 when at said time, and iu the latitude and longitude above mentioned, on the 15th 

 day of July, A. D. 18t)2, as aforesaid, and not being at the tiuie hunting or fishing, 

 and not having at any lime lishcd or hunted seals in Russian waters, but being at 

 said time on my course tor the Kurile Islands, as albrcsaid, the said schooner was 

 boarded by an officer from the Russian war cruiser Zahiaka, wliich said war cruiser 

 Zabiaka was at all times hereiu juentioned, a regularly commissioned war cruiser 

 belonging to the Russian Government, armed for otl'cusive and defensive warfare, and 



