MODUS VIVENDI OF 1891 AND ARBITRATION. 315 



agreement for the nw(l US Vivendi, of \yhich \t should, in the opinion of 

 Her Majesty's Government, be a com])onent part. 



Tlie objection of the President to that article in the mochts vivendi 

 api)ears to nie to create the greatest difficnlty wliich has yet presented 

 itself in the course of this negotiation, and I earnestly hope that, if 

 Lord Salisbury should be disposed to waive the other conditions to 

 which exception is taken in your note, tln^ President, on his i^art, will 

 accede to his lordship's wishes in respect of the Joint Conmiission. 

 1 have, etc., 



elULIAN PAUNOEFOTE. 



Sir Julian Paunccfote 1o Mr. Wliarfon. 



British Legation, 

 Wofthington, June 11, 1S91. 



Sir: With reference to my note of yesterday, and esi)ecially to the 

 concluding ])art of it, I have the honor to inform you that 1 have this 

 day received by telegraph from the Marquis of Salisbury a reply to the 

 ]n<)posal for a modus vivendi during the present fur-seal flshery season 

 in Lehring Sea, contained in your- note of June 9. 



His lordship states that the President's refusal to adopt his sugges- 

 tions with respect to Kus.sia renders the proposed modus vivendi nnich 

 less valuable, and that he is reluctant to abandon the words which he 

 had i)ro])osed for insertion in article 2 in relation to the reservation of 

 the 7,500 seals to be killed on the islands. 



ISevertheless, in view of the urgency of the case, his lordship is dis- 

 l)osed to authorize me to sign the agreement in the precise terms foiniu- 

 lated in your note of June 9, provided the question of a joint commission 

 be not left in doubt and that your Government Avill give an assurance 

 in some form that they will concur in a reference to a joint commission 

 to ascertain what permanent measures are necessary for the preserva- 

 tion of the fur-seal species in the Northern Pacific Ocean. 



I have the honor, therefore, to inquire whether the President is jn^e- 

 pared to give that assurance, and, if so, I shall, on receipt of it, lose no 

 time in communicating it by telegraph to Lord Salisbury and in ap- 

 plying to his lordship for authority to sign the proposed agreement. 

 I have, etc., 



Julian Pauncefote. 



Mr. Wharton to Sir Julian Paiincefote. 



Department of State, 

 Washington, Jmie 11, 1891. 

 Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of to- 

 day's date, and in rejily I am directed by the President to say that the 

 Government of the United States, recognizing the fact that full and 

 adequate measures for the protection of seal life should embrace the 

 whole of Behring Sea and portions of the North Pacific Ocean, will 

 have no hesitancy in agreeing, in connection with Her Majesty's Gov- 

 ernment, to the appointment of a joint commission to ascertain what 

 permanent measures are necessary for the jjreservation of the seal 



