218 DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 



Mr. Blaine to Sir Julian Panncefote. 



Department of State, 



Wasliitu/ioiij June i, 1800. 



Sir: I Lave your favor of tlie 2(i iiLstaut. Tlie President sincerely 

 regrets that liis considerate and most friendly i)roi)Osal for adjustment 

 of all troubles connected with the Behring Sea should be so promptly 

 rejected. The paraoTai)h in your note in which you refer to Lord Salis- 

 bury's position needs explanation. I quote it in full: 



It will suffice for the present purpose to state that the further examination of the 

 question which has taken place has satisfied His Ijordship tliat such an extreme meas- 

 ure as that proposed in 1888 goes far beyond the requirements of tlie case. 



I do not know what may have been the "examination of the ques- 

 tion " that " has satisfied Lor<l Salisbury that such an extreme measure 

 as that proposed in 188S goes far beyond the requirements of the case." 

 I only know that the most extreme measure proposed came from Lord 

 Salisbury himself in suggesting' ai close season as iar south as the forty- 

 seventh parallel of latitude, to last from April 15 to October 1 in each 

 year. 



At the close of his negotiations with Mr. Phelps in September, 1888, 

 His Lordship, still a])proving the "measures to juevent the Avanfon 

 destruction of so valuable an industry," declared, apparently with re- 

 gret, that "the Canadian Government objected to any such restric- 

 tions" {i.e., as those which His Lordship had in ]>art proposed and 

 Avholly approved), and that "until its consent would T)e obtained Her 

 Majesty's Government was not willing to enter into the convention." 

 It is evident, therefore, that in 1888 Lord Salisbury abruptly closed 

 the negotiations because in his own phrase "the Canadian Govern- 

 ment objected." He assigned no other reason whatever, and until your 

 note of the 2d was received this GoV'Crnment had never been informed 

 that His Lordshi]) entertained any other objections than those ex- 

 pressed in Se])te7nber, 1888. 



It is proper to recall to your recollection that at divers times in per- 

 sonal coiiversatiou I have proposed to you, on behalf of this Govern- 

 ment, a close season, materially shorter, in point of time, than was volun- 

 tarily offered by Lord Salisbury and much less extended in pointof space. 

 Instead of going as far south as the forty-seventh parallel 1 have fre- 

 quently indicated the Avillingness of this Government to take the divid- 

 ing line between the Pacific Ocean and the l>ehring S<'a — the line which 

 is tangent to the southernmost island of the Aleutian group — being as 

 near as may be the fiftieth parallel of north latitude. 



Early in April you will rememlx^r tliat you suggested to me the ad- 

 vantage that might follow if tlie sailing of the re\enue cutters for IJehr- 

 ing Sea could be postponed till the iniddle of May. Though that was 

 a matter entirely under the control of tlicTreasuiy I)e])artment, Secre- 

 tary Windom pronq)tly com])licd with your i'e(piest, aud by the Presi- 

 dent's direction a still longer ])osti»ouement was ordered in the hope 

 that some form of equitable adjustment might be pro])osed by Her 

 Majesty's Government. Even the revenue cutter, which annually passes 

 through Behring Sea carrying supplies to the relief station at Point 

 Barrow in the Arctic; Ocean — seventy-second degree jf noi'th latitude — 

 was held back lest her aj)])earance in Behring Sea nnglit be misrepre- 

 sented as a nonobservauce of the understaiuling between us. 



It is ixM-fectl^- clear that if your claiiu for British vessels to kill seals 

 within 10 miles of (he IMibilof Islands, directly after the motheis are 



