838 APPENDIX TO CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
appointment of a Joint Commission to inquire into the conditions of seal life in 
Behring’s Sea. : 
I desire at present to confine myself to the clause proposed in your note which 
deals with the question of compensation, namely, clause 7. : 
It is the only one which appears to me to raise any serious difficulty, and I trust 
that, after considering the following observations, and with a view to expediting the 
conclusion of this negotiation, the President will not object to the substitution of a 
clause in the form which I shall presently kave the honour tosubmit. Her Majesty’s 
Government have no desire to exclude from the consideration of the Arbitrators any 
claim of compensation in relation to the Behring’s Sea fisheries which the United 
States Government may believe themselves entitled to prefer consistently with the 
recognized principles of international law. But they are of opinion that it is inex- 
pedient, in a case involving such important issues and presenting such novel features, 
to prejudge, as it were, the question of liability by declaring that compensation shall 
be awarded on a hypothetical state of facts. Her Majesty’s Government consider 
that any legal liability arising out of the facts as proved and established at the arbi- 
tration should be as much a question for argument and decision as the facts them- 
selves; and, in order that this should be made quite clear, and that both Governments 
should be placed, in that respect, on the same footing, I am authorized by Lord 
Salisbury to submit the following clause in substitution for the 7th clause proposed 
by the President: 
“7, Either Government may submit to the Arbitrators any claim for compensation 
which it may desire to prefer against the other Government in respect of any losses 
or injuries in relation to the fur-seal fishery in Behriny’s Sea, for which such other 
Government may be legally liable. 
“The Arbitrators shall decide on the legality of every such claim, and, if it shall 
be established, they may award such compensution as in their judgment shall seem 
equitable.” 
IT have, &c. (Signed) JULIAN PAUNCEFOTE. 
No; att: 
Sir J. Pauncefote to the Marquis of Salisbury.—( Received July 23.) 
[Telegraphic.] 
WASHINGTON, July 23, 1891. 
With reference to my despatch of the 14th instant, on the subject of 
the Behring’s Sea compensation clause, I have the honour to state that 
after long discussions, in the course of which I have insisted on the 
principle contended for in my above-mentioned despatch, I have to-day 
received a note from the United States Government which is to the 
following effect: 
[See Inclosure in Sir J. Pauncefote’s despatch of the 24th July, 1891: Inclosure in 
No. 118, infra. | 
70 No. 118. 
The Marquis of Salisbury to Mr. Fraser. 
(Telegraphic. ] 
FOREIGN OFFICE, July 24, 1891. 
The following is urgent: 
The British Commissioners in Behring’s Sea are anxious to receive 
information on the following points: 
[See despatch from Behring’s Sea Commissioners of the 9th July, 1891: No. 109.] 
You should forward any information you can obtain to the Behring’s 
Sea Commissioners, addressed to the care of the Postmaster, Victoria, 
British Columbia, with as little delay as possible. 
