VENEZUELA AND AFTER 325 



ively protectionist tariff of 1897, was definitely 

 committed to the scheme of reciprocal arrange 

 ments for which that tariff act provided. The 

 possibility of some agreement on this difficult 

 but familiar subject led to the discussion of 

 other matters, some equally familiar, others less 

 familiar but distinctly more pressing. Among 

 the old and well-known items were the seal 

 fisheries of Behring Sea, the coast fisheries of 

 the North Atlantic, and, after long quiescence, 

 the Rush-Bagot arrangement concerning ships- 

 of-war on the Great Lakes. Of the novel items 

 by far the most important was the Alaskan 

 boundary; for the discovery of gold on the 

 Klondike River in 1896 brought a large popula 

 tion at once to that remote region and raised 

 grave questions of jurisdiction where the bound 

 ary line had never been run. 



For the settlement of all these and other mat 

 ters a joint commission was constituted, which 

 met at Quebec and also at Washington from 

 August, 1898, to February, 1899. In the mem 

 bership of the commission the now established 

 policy of leaving Canadian foreign affairs 

 chiefly to Canadians was again conspicuously 

 illustrated; for the British representatives in 

 cluded five British-Americans and but one 



