PROPOSED INTERNATIONAL MEASURES, 1890. 215 



Ills lonlsliip, in rcjily, did not question the propriety or tlio importance of tnkinp; 

 nica>sures to prevent tlie wanton destruction of so valuable an industry in wliicli, a.s 

 he remarked, England had a hirge interest of its own; but his lordship stated that 

 the Canadian Government objected to any such restrictions, and that until its con- 

 sent conul be obtained Her Majesty's Government was not willing to enter into the 

 convention. 



It was tlius finally acknowledged that tlie negotiation into which 

 Lord Salisbury had cordially entered, and to which he had readily 

 agreed, even himself suggesting some of its most valuable details, was 

 entirely subordinated to the judgment and desire of the Canadian Gov- 

 ernment, This Government can not but feel that Lord Salisbury would 

 have dealt more frankly if, in the beginning, he had informed Minister 

 rhelps that no arraugement could be made unless Canada concurred in 

 it, and that all negotiation with the British Government direct was but 

 a loss of time. 



When you, Mr. Minister, arrived in this country a year ago, there 

 seemed the best prospect for a settlement of this question, but the Eus- 

 sian minister and the American Secretary of State have had the expe- 

 riences of Mr. Phelps and the Russian ambassador in London repeated. 

 In our early interviews there seemed to be as ready a disposition on 

 your part to come to a reasonable and friendly adjustment as there has 

 always been on (uir part to offer one. You will not forget an interview 

 between yourself, the liussian minister, and myself, in which the lines 

 for a close season in the Behring Sea laid down by Lord Salisbury were 

 almost exactly repeated l)y yourself, and were inscribed on maps which 

 were before us, a copy of which is in the possession of the Russian 

 minister, and a copy also in my possession. A promi)t adjustment 

 seemed i)racticable— an adjustment which I am sure would have l)een 

 honoral)]e to all the countries interested. No obstacles were presented 

 on the American side of the question. No insistance was nuide upon 

 the Behring Sea as mare clausum; no objection was inter])ose(l to the 

 entrance of British ships at all times on all commercial errands tlirough 

 all the waters of the Behring Sea. But our negotiations, as in London, 

 were suddenly broken off for many weeks by the interposition of Canada. 

 When correspondence was resumed on the last day of April, you made 

 an offer for a mixed commission of experts to decide the questions at 

 issue. 



Your proposition is that jtelagic sealing should he ]>rohibited in the 

 Behring Sea during the months of May, June, October, November, and 

 ])ecember, and that there should he no prohibition during the months 

 of July, August, and Se])teml)er. Your proposition involved the con- 

 dition that British vessels sliould be allowed to kill seals within 10 

 miles of the coast of the Pi ibilof Islands. Lord Salisbury's proposition 

 of 1888 was that during the same months, for which the 10 niileprivilege 

 is now demanded, no British vessel hunting seals should come nearer 

 to the Pribilof Islands than the 47th parallel of north latitude, about 

 GOO miles. 



The open season which you thus select for killing is the one when the 

 areas around the breeding islands are most crowded with seals, and es- 

 pecially crowded with female seals going forth to secure food for the 

 hundreds of thonsands of their young of which they have recently been 

 delivered. The destruction of the females which, according to expert 

 testimony would be l»r) per cent of all wliicli the sealing vessels might 

 readily capture, would inllict deadly loss upon the rookeries. The de- 

 struction of the females wonld be followed by the destruction of their 

 young on the islands, and the herds would be diminished the next year 



