CoXiiKHSS. (THE PRESIDE.VTV M: 



149 



award, have been earnestly urged upon the British 

 niment. hut thus far without effective results. 

 In the meantime the depletion of the seal herds by 

 means of pelagic hunting lias so alarmingly pro- 

 -d tliat unless their slaughter is at once effect- 

 ively checked their extinction within a few years 

 nis to l>e a matter of absolute certainty. 



The understanding by which the United S- 



to pay. and (freat Britain to receive, a lump 

 sum of $425,000 in full settlement of all British 

 claims for damages arising from our seizure of 

 British sealin. unauthorized under the 



award of the Paris Tribunal of Arbitration, was 

 not confirmed by the last Congress, which declined 

 to make the necessary appropriation. I am still of 

 the opinion that this arrangement was a judicious 

 and advantageous one for the Government, and I 

 earnestly recommend that it be again considered 

 and sanctioned. If, however, this does not meet 

 with the favor of Congress, it certainly will hardly 

 dissent from the proposition that the Government 

 is bound by every consideration of honor and good 

 faith to provide for the speedy adjustment of these 

 claims by arbitration as the only other alternative. 

 A treaty of arbitration has therefore been agreed 

 upon, and will be immediately laid before the Sen- 

 ate, so that in one of the modes suggested a final 

 settlement may be reached. 



Notwithstanding that Great Britain originated 

 the proposal to enforce international rules for the 

 prevention of collisions at sea. based on the recom- 

 mendations of the Maritime Conference of Wash- 

 ington, and concurred in suggesting March 1. 1M'."). 

 as the date to be set by proclamation for carrying 

 these rules into general effect, her Majesty's Gov- 

 ernment, having encountered opposition on the 

 part of British shipping interests, announced its 

 inability to accept that date, which was consequent- 

 ly canceled. The entire matter is still in abeyance, 

 without prospect of a better condition in the near 

 future. 



The commissioners appointed to mark the inter- 

 national boundary in Passamaquoddy Bay accord- 

 ing to the description of the Treaty of Ghent, have 

 not yet fully agreed. 



The completion of the preliminary survey of that 

 Alaskan boundary which follows the contour of 

 the coast from the southernmost point of Prince of 

 Wales island until it strikes the one hundred and 

 forty-first meridian at or near the summit of Mount 

 St. Elias awaits further necessary appropriation, 

 which is urgently recommended. This survey was 

 undertaken under the provisions of the convention 

 entered into by this country and Great Britain July 

 2:2. ls ( .i2. and the supplementary convention of Feb. 



y. i - 



As to the remaining section of the Alaskan bound- 

 ary, which follows the one hundred and forty-first 

 meridian northwardly from Mount St. Elias to the 

 Frozen Ocean, the settlement of which involves the 

 physical location of the meridian mentioned, no 

 conventional agreement has yet been made. The 

 ascertainment of a given meridian at a particular 

 point is a work requiring much time and careful 

 observations and surveys. Such observations and 

 surveys were undertaken by the United States 

 -r and Geodetic Survey in 1890 and 1801. while 

 similar work in the same quarters under British aus- 

 pices are believed to given early coincident results ; 

 but these surveys have been independently con- 

 ducted, and no international agreement to mark 

 those or any other parts of the one hundred and 

 forty-first meridian by permanent monuments has 

 yet been made. In the meantime the Valley of the 

 Yukon is becoming a highway through the hitherto 

 unexplored wilds of Alaska, and abundant mineral 

 wealth has been discovered in that region, especially 



at or near the junction of the boundary meridian 

 with the Yukon and its tributarily. In' tin-!- cir- 

 cumstances it is expedient, and, indeed, imperative, 

 that the jurisdictional limits of the respective gov- 

 ernments in this new region be >)->'<lily deter- 

 mined. Her Britannic M . 'Vernment has 

 proposed a joint delimitation of the one hundred 

 and forty-first meridian by an international com- 

 mission of experts, which, if Congress will author- 

 ize it and make due provision therefor, can be ac- 

 complished with no unreasonable delay. It \s 

 impossible to overlook the vital importance of con- 

 tinuing the work already entered upon, and sup- 

 plementing it by further "effective measures looking 

 to the exact location of this entire boundary line. 



1 call attention to the unsatisfactory delimitation 

 of the respective jurisdictions of the United States 

 and the Dominion of Canada in the Great Lakes at 

 the approaches to the narrow waters that connect 

 them. The waters in question are frequented by 

 fishermen of both nationalities and their nets are 

 there used. Owing to the uncertainty and igno- 

 rance as to the true boundary, vexations disputes 

 and injurious seizures of boats and nets by Cana- 

 dian cruisers often occur, while any positive settle- 

 ment thereof by an accepted standard is not easily 

 to be reached. A joint commission to determine 

 the line in those quarters, on a practical basis, by 

 measured courses following range marks on shore, 

 is a necessity for which immediate provision should 

 be made. 



It being apparent that the boundary dispute be- 

 tween Great Britain and the Republic of Venezuela 

 concerning the limits of British Guiana was ap- 

 proaching an acute stage, a definite statement of 

 the interest and policy of the United States as re- 

 gards the controversy seemed to be required both 

 on its own account and in view of its relations with 

 the friendly powers directly concerned. In July 

 last, therefore, a dispatch was addressed to our am- 

 lor at London for communication to the 

 British Government, in which the attitude of the 

 United States was fully and distinctly set forth. 

 The general conclusions therein reached and formu- 

 lated are in substance that the traditional and es- 

 tablished policy of this Government is firmly op- 

 posed to a forcible increase by any European power 

 of its territorial ja on this continent ; that 



this policy is as well founded in principle as it is 

 strongly supported by numerous precedents : that 

 as a consequence the United States is bound to 

 protest against the enlargement of the area of 

 British Guiana in derogation of the rights and 

 against the will of Venezuela ; that considering the 

 disparity in strength of Great Britain and Vene- 

 zuela, the territorial dispute between them can be 

 reasonably settled only by friendly and impartial 

 arbitration, and that the resort to such arbitration 

 should include the whole controversy, and is not 

 satisfied if one of the powers concerned is permitted 

 to draw an arbitrary line through the territory in 

 debate, and declare that it will submit to arbitra- 

 tion only the portion lying on one side of it. In 

 view of these conclusions, the dispatch in question 

 called upon the British Government for a definite 

 answer to the question whether it would or would 

 not submit the territorial controversy bet ween itself 

 and Venezuela in its entirety to impartial arbitra- 

 tion. The answer of the British Government has 

 not yet been received, but is expected shortly, when 

 further communication on the subject will prob- 

 ably be made to the Cong: 



Early in January last an uprising against the 

 Government of Hawaii was promptly suppressed. 

 Martial law was forthwith proclaimed and numer- 

 ous arrests were made of persons suspected of being 

 in sympathy with the Royalist party. Among these 



