836 



UNITED STATES. 



Wharton wrote that the naval officers and the 

 Treasury agent in Alaska had interpreted the 

 limitation as beginning with the signing of the 

 modus. On Sept. 7 Mr. Wharton replied to 

 the note of Aug. 26 that the President did not 

 assume liability on the part of the British Gov- 

 ernment, but desired to have the question of lia- 

 bility decided by the arbitrators, and that he 

 could not accept the proposition to have ques- 

 tions of fact passed on by the arbitrators, be- 

 cause the facts were well known. The United 

 States Government pressed for a rapid conclu- 

 sion of the negotiations, since the modus vivendi 

 would expire on May 2, 1892. As the British 

 Government insisted on its views regarding 

 damages, Mr. Wharton, Oct. 22, proposed that 

 matters of fact only should be submitted to 

 arbitration, reserving the question of liability 

 for future negotiation. On Oct. 23 Lord Salis- 

 bury signified his acceptance of this proposition. 

 On Nov. 23 Sir Julian Pauncefote brought for- 

 ward a reservation that the necessity and nature 

 of any regulations should be left to the arbi- 

 trators, and another stipulating that regula- 

 tions should not become binding on the United 

 States and Great Britain until they received the 

 assent of the maritime powers. Mr. Elaine de- 

 clined to consider the proposition, as it would 

 postpone the matter indefinitely, saying that 

 there was no objection to submit the matter to 

 the maritime powers for their assent, but that 

 the United States could not agree to make the 

 adjustment with Great Britain depend on the 

 action of third parties not directly interested in 

 the fisheries. Sir Julian Pauncefote withdrew 

 the first reservation, and in regard to the second 

 suggested that either government should have 

 the right to suspend the regulations if after the 

 lapse of a year it was found that in spite of 

 them injury was being done to the fisheries, 

 the object being to prevent the fisheries from 

 being placed at the mercy of a third power. Mr. 

 Elaine replied that the President apprehended 

 no danger of a third nation engaging m sealing, 

 and suggested ' that if the agreement was dis- 

 turbed by a third nation the two governments 

 should act conjointly. Sir Julian Pauncefote 

 replied on Dec. 8 that his Government did not 

 fear that the powers would reject the regula- 

 tions, but that they would refuse to allow the 

 arrest of their vessels, and that sealing would go 

 on in the close season under other flags. Mr. 

 Blaine adhered to the ground he had taken, and 

 on Dec. 11 Sir Julian Pauncefote withdrew the 

 proposition, reserving the right of raising the 

 question when the matter of the regulations 

 came up before the arbitrators. Mr. Blaine ob- 

 jected to an appeal to the arbitrators on a sub- 

 ject not embraced in the seven articles of the 

 draft treaty. On Dec. 17 the British minister 

 renounced the intention of calling on the arbi- 

 trators to decide points not embraced in the arti- 

 cles, and said that he was authorized to sign the 

 seven articles and the articles with reference to 

 a joint commission to investigate the condition 

 of the seals. These commissioners had already 

 been appointed, and had visited the seal islands 

 during the summer of 181 and made their re- 

 ports. Further correspondence resulted in an 

 agreement that there should be seven arbitra- 

 tors, of whom two should be named by the Presi- 



dent of the United States, two by the Queen of 

 Great Britain, one by the President of the French 

 republic, one by the King of Italy, and one by 

 the King of Sweden and Norway, all of them to 

 be jurists of distinguished reputation in their re- 

 spective countries. If the last-named persons 

 failed to designate arbitrators within two months, 

 the vacancy was to be filled in such manner as 

 ,the parties to the treaty should agree. These 

 stipulations constituted the first article of the 

 draft treaty. The second article provided for 

 the meeting of the arbitrators in Paris within 

 twenty days after each party had presented a 

 counter-case in answer to the other's argument ; 

 that each party should be represented by a single 

 person as its agent ; and that all questions, in- 

 cluding the final decision, should be decided by 

 a majority of the arbitrators. The third article 

 provided that a printed case should be submitted 

 by each party, and that all evidence should be 

 delivered in duplicate to each of the arbitrators 

 and to the agents within three months of the ex- 

 change of ratifications. The fourth article re- 

 lates to the counter - case and additional evi- 

 dence, to prepare which each party is allowed 

 three months further, with sixty days more of 

 grace on application to the arbitrators. The 

 fifth article required the agents to deliver printed 

 arguments to the arbitrators within a month 

 after the delivery of the counter- cases, and per- 

 mitted each party to support the same by the 

 oral arguments of counsel. The sixth article 

 recites the question to be submitted to arbitra- 

 tion in the form presented by Mr. Blaine in the 

 first five of his original propositions. The sev- 

 enth article provided that if the determination 

 of these questions should be in such position 

 that the concurrence of Great Britain is neces- 

 sary for the establishment of regulations for the 

 protection of seals, the arbitrators should decide 

 what concurrent regulations would be necessary 

 and over what waters they should extend, and 

 on this point they might consider the report of 

 the joint commission ; and both parties agreed 

 to co-operate in securing the adhesion of other 

 powers to the regulations. The eighth article 

 states that the contracting parties have been un- 

 able to agree on a reference of the question of 

 liability for damages sustained, and declares 

 that they agree to submit questions of fact in- 

 volved in such claims, and ask for the findings 

 of the arbitrators thereon, while reserving the 

 question of liability for future negotiation. The 

 ninth and tenth articles refer to the joint com- 

 mission; the eleventh stipulates that the de- 

 cision of the arbitrators should be rendered, if 

 possible, within three months of the closing of 

 the arguments ; the twelfth relates to the di- 

 vision of the expenses of the arbitrators; the 

 thirteenth provides for recording the proceed- 

 ings ; the fourteenth binds the high contracting 

 parties to consider the decision of the arbitra- 

 tors as a full and final settlement of the ques- 

 tions submitted ; and the fifteenth and last pro- 

 vides for the exchange of ratifications within six 

 months of the signature of the treaty, or earlier 

 if possible. 



The World's Columbian Exposition. The 

 first world's fair was held in London in 1851, 

 and out of it grew the Anglo-French commer- 

 cial treaty of 1852, and the application of free- 



