the United States Government, but that up to this date there has been no official communication received on the subject. At the same time you have done me the honor to inform me that it has been and is the earnest desire of the President of the United States to have such an adjustment as shall remove all possible ground of misunderstanding with Her Majesty's Government concerning the existing troubles in the Behring Sea; and that the President believes that the responsibility for delay in that adjustment can not be properly charged to the Government of the United States. You request me at the same time to express to the Marquis of Salisbury the gratification with which the Government of the United States learns that Sir Julian Pauncefote, Her Majesty's minister, will be prepared on his return to Washington in the autumn to discuss the whole question, and you are good enough to inform me of the pleasure you have in assuring me that the Government of the United States will endeavor to be prepared for the discussion, and that, in the opinion of the President, the points at issue between the two Governments are capable of prompt adjustment on a basis entirely honorable to both. I shall lose no time in bringing your reply to the knowledge of Her Majesty's Government, who, while awaiting an answer to the other inquiry I had the honor to make to you, will, I feel confident, receive with much satisfaction the assurances which you have been good enough to make to me in your note of yesterday's date. I have, etc., No. 4. H. G. EDWARDES. Mr. Edwardes to Mr. Blaine. WASHINGTON, September 12, 1889. MY DEAR MR. BLAINE: I should be very much obliged if you would kindly let me know when I may expect an answer to the request of Her Majesty's Government, which I had the honor of communicating to you in my note of the 24th of August, that instructions may be sent to Alaska to prevent the possibility of the seizure of British ships in Behring Sea. Her Majesty's Government are earnestly awaiting the reply of the United States Government on this subject, as the recent reports of seizures having taken place are causing much excitement both in England and in Canada. I remain, etc., No. 5. H. G. EDWARDES. Mr. Blaine to Mr. Edwardes. BAR HARBOR, September 14, 1889. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your personal note of the 12th instant, written at Washington, in which you desire to know when you may expect an answer to the request of Her Majesty's Government, "that instructions may be sent to Alaska to prevent the possibility of the seizure of British ships in Behring Sea." I had supposed that my note of August 24 would satisfy Her Majesty's Government of the President's earnest desire to come to a friendly agreement touching all matters at issue between the two Governments in relation to Behring Sea, and I had further supposed that your mention of the official instruction to Sir Julian Pauncefote to proceed immediately after his arrival in October, to a full discussion of the question, removed all necessity of a preliminary correspondence touching its merits. Referring more particularly to the question of which you repeat the desire of your Government for an answer, I have the honor to inform you that a categorical response would have been and still is impracticable,-unjust to this Government, and misleading to the Government of Her Majesty. It was therefore the judgment of the President that the whole subject could more wisely be remanded to the formal discussion so near at hand which Her Majesty's Government has proposed, and to which the Government of the United States has cordially assented. It is proper, however, to add that any instruction sent to Behring Sea at the time of your original request, upon the 24th of August, would have failed to reach those waters before the proposed departure of the vessels of the United States. I have, etc., JAMES G. BLAINE. No. 6. The Marquis of Salisbury to Mr. Edwardes. [Left at the Department of State by Mr. Edwardes.] FOREIGN OFFICE, October 2, 1889. SIR: At the time when the seizures of British ships hunting seals in Behring's Sea during the years 1886 and 1887 were the subjects of discussion the minister of the United States made certain overtures to Her Majesty's Government with respect to the institution of a close time for the seal fishery, for the purpose of preventing the extirpation of the species in that part of the world. Without in any way admitting that considerations of this order could justify the seizure of vessels which were transgressing no rule of international law, Her Majesty's Government were very ready to agree that the subject was one deserving of the gravest attention on the part of all the Governments interested in those waters. The Russian Government was disposed to join in the proposed negotiations, but they were suspended for a time in consequence of objections raised by the Dominion of Canada and of doubts thrown on the physical data on which any restrictive legislation must have been based. Her Majesty's Government are fully sensible of the importance of this question, and of the great value which will attach to an international agreement in respect to it, and Her Majesty's representative will be furnished with the requisite instructions in case the Secretary of State should be willing to enter upon the discussion. You will read this dispatch and my dispatch No. 205, of this date, to the Secretary of State, and, if he should desire it, you are authorized to give him copies of them. I am, etc., SALISBURY. No. 7. The Marquis of Salisbury to Mr. Edwardes. [Left at the Department of State by Mr. Edwardes.] FOREIGN OFFICE, October 2, 1889. SIR: In my dispatch No. 176 of the 17th August last I furnished you with copies of a correspondence which had passed between this department and the colonial office on the subject of the seizure of the Canadian vessels Black Diamond and Triumph in the Behring's Sea by the United States revenue cutter Rush. I have now received and transmit herewith a copy of a dispatch from the governor-general of Canada to the secretary of state for the colonies, which incloses copies of the instructions given to the special officer placed on board the Black Diamond by the officer commanding the Rush, and of a letter from the collector of customs at Victoria, together with the sworn affidavits of the masters of the two Canadian vessels. It is apparent from these affidavits that the vessels were seized at a distance from land far in excess of the limit of maritime jurisdiction which any nation can claim by international law. The cases are similar in this respect to those of the ships Caroline, Onward, and Thornton, which were seized by a vessel of the United States outside territorial waters in the summer of 1887. In a dispatch to Sir L. West dated September 10, 1887, which was communicated to Mr. Bayard, I drew the attention of the Government of the United States to the illegality of these proceedings, and expressed a hope that due compensation would be awarded to the subjects of Her Majesty who had suffered from them. I have not, since that time, received from the Government of the United States any intimation of their intentions in this respect, or any explanation of the grounds upon which this interference with the British sealers had been authorized. Mr. Bayard did, indeed, communicate to us unofficially an assurance that no further seizures of this character should take place pending the discussion of the questions involved between the two governments. Her Majesty's Government much regret to find that this understanding has not been carried forward into the present year, and that instructions have been issued to cruisers of the United States to seize British vessels fishing for seals in Behring's Sea outside the limit of territorial waters. The grounds upon which these violent measures have been taken have not been communicated to Her Majesty's Government, and remain still unexplained. But in view of the unexpected renewal of the seizures of which Her Majesty's Government have previously complained, it is my duty to protest against them, and to state that, in the opinion of Her Majesty's Government, they are wholly unjustified by international law. I am, etc., SALISBURY. [Inclosure 1.] Mr. Bramston to the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. COLONIAL OFFICE, September 10, 1889. SIR: With reference to previous correspondence respecting the seizures of Canadian sealers in Behring's Sea, I am directed by Lord Knutsford to transmit to you for communication to the marquis of Salisbury a copy of a dispatch from the governorgeneral of the Dominion with its inclosures on the subject. I am, etc., JOHN BRAMSTON. [Inclosure 2.] Lord Stanley of Preston to Lord Knutsford. CITADEL, QUEBEC, August 26, 1889. My LORD: With reference to previous correspondence respecting the seizure of the Black Diamond and the detention of the Triumph in Behring Sea, I have the honor to forward herewith a copy of an approved minute of the privy council submitting copies of the instructions given to the special officer placed on board the Black Diamond by the captain of the United States revenue cutter Rush, and of a letter from the collector of customs at Victoria, together with the affidavits of the masters of the two vessels. I have, etc., [Inclosure 3.] STANLEY OF PRESTON. Certified copy of a report of a committee of the honorable the privy council, approved by his excellency the governor-general in council, on the 22d of August, 1889. On a report dated the 13th of August, 1889, from the minister of marine and fisheries, submitting, in reference to the seizure in the Behring sea of the schooner Black Diamond and the boarding of the schooner Triumph, the original instructions given to the special officer placed by the captain of the United States revenue cutter Rush on board the Black Diamond at the time of the latter's seizure, and also a letter from the honorable Mr. W. Hamley, collector of customs at Victoria, British Columbia, together with the following affidavits: 1. Affidavit of Owen Thomas, of Victoria, British Columbia, master of the British sealing schooner Black Diamond. 2. Affidavit of Daniel McLean, of Victoria, British Columbia, master of the British sealing schooner Triumph. The minister recommends that copies of the inclosures here with be immediately forwarded for the information of Her Majesty's Government. The committee concurring advise that your excellency be moved to forward this minute, together with copies of the inclosures, to the right honorable the secretary of state for the colonies. All of which is respectfully submitted. JOHN J. MCGEE, Clerk Privy Council. [Inclosure 4.] Captain Shepard to Mr. Hankanson. U. S. REVENUE STEAMER RUSH, BEHRING SEA, Latitude 56° 22' N., longitude 170° 25′ W., July 11, 1889. SIR: You are hereby appointed a special officer, and directed to proceed on board the schooner Black Diamond, of Victoria, British Columbia, this day seized for violation of law (Section 1956, Revised Statutes of the United States), and assume charge of the said vessel, her officers and crew, twenty-five in number, all told, excepting the navigation of the vessel, which is reserved to Capt. Owen Thomas, and which you will not interfere with unless you become convinced that he is proceeding to some other than your port of destination, in which event you are authorized to assume full charge of the vessel. Everything being in readiness, you will direct Capt. Owen Thomas to make the best of his way to Sitka, Alaska, and upon ar rival at that port you will report in person to the United States district attorney for the district of Alaska, and deliver to him the letter so addressed, the schooner Black Diamond, of Victoria, British Columbia, her outfit, and the persons of Capt. Owen Thomas and Mate Alexander Galt, and set her crew at liberty. After being relieved of the property and persons entrusted to your care, you will await at Sitka the arrival of the Rush. Very respectfully, etc., L. G. SHEPARD, Captain U. S. Revenue Steamer Rush. [Inclosure 5.] Mr. Hamley to the Minister of Customs. CUSTOM-HOUSE, Victoria, August 5, 1889. SIR: I forward herewith, in original, the orders given by Captain Shepard, of the United States revenue cutter Rush, to J. Hankanson, special officer, to proceed on board the British schooner Black Diamond, seized in Behring Sea, and to take her to Sitka. The master of the schooner reports to me that the Indians employed as hunters in the schoouer would, he believes, have murdered Hankanson if an attempt had been made to take her to Sitka. The master got out of the sea and sailed at once for Victoria without any opposition on the part of Hankanson, and I think it is very probable that the orders given him privately by the captain of the Rush were not to interfere in any way with the destination of the vessel. She arrived here on Saturday evening, the 3d of August. The object of the revenue cutter was no doubt attained in taking her skins, rifles, and Indian spears away and sending the vessel out of Behring Sea. Her certificate of registry was also taken away. Shall I give her a fresh certificate? I have, etc., W. HAMLEY. [Inclosure 6.] Declaration of Owen Thomas. In the matter of the seizure of the sealing schooner Black Diamond by the United States revenue cutter Richard Rush on the 11th day of July, 1889. I, Owen Thomas, of the city of Victoria, British Columbia, master mariner, do solemnly and sincerely declare that: 1. I am a master mariner and was, at the time of the occurrences hereinafter mentioned and still am, the master of the schooner Black Diamond, of the port of Victoria, British Columbia. 2. On the 11th day of July, 1889, whilst I was on board and in command of the said schooner, and she being then on a sealing expedition, and being in latitude 56° 22/ north, and longitude 170° 25' west, and at a distance of about 35 miles from land, the United States revenue cutter Richard Rush overhauled the said schooner, and having hailed her by shouting a command which I could not distinctly hear, steamed across the bows of said schooner, compelling her to come to. A boat was then lowered from the said cutter and Lieutenant Tuttle and five other men from the United States vessel came aboard the said schooner. I asked the lieutenant what he wanted, and on his stating he wished to see the ship's papers, I took him down to my cabin and showed them to him. He then commanded me to hand the papers over to him; this I refused to do and locked them up in my locker. As I At this time there were 131 seal-skins aboard the schooner, 76 of which had been salted and 55 of which were unsalted, and Lieutenant Tuttle ordered his men to bring up the skins and to take the salted ones on board the Richard Rush. The cutter's men accordingly transferred all of the salted skins from my schooner to the Richard Rush and also took aboard the cutter two sacks of salt and a rifle belonging to the schooner. Lieutenant Tuttle then again demanded me to give up the ship's papers and told me that if I would not give them up he would take them by force. still declined to part with them he signaled to the cutter and a boat came off with the master-at-arms, who came on board the schooner. Lieutenant Tuttle asked me for the keys of the locker, so that he might get the papers, and upon my refusing to give them to him he ordered the master-at-arms to force open the locker. The masterat-arms then unscrewed the hinges of the locker, took out the ship's papers, and handed them to Lieutenant Tuttle. Lieutenant Tuttle then returned to the Richard Rush and came back to the schooner again, bringing on board with him one whose name I have since heard to be John Hawkinson and who I believe to be a quartermaster of the Richard Rush. Lieutenant Tuttle then told me to take the schooner to Sitka. I told him that I would not go unless he put a crew on board to take the schooner there. He gave Hawkinson directions to take the ship to Sitka and gave him letters to give to the United States authorities on arrival. Lieutenant Tuttle before leaving my schooner ordered twenty Indian spears which were aboard for sealing purposes to be taken on to the Richard Rush. I asked the lieutenant to give me a receipt for the papers, skins, etc., he had taken; this he refused to do, and he then returned to the Richard Rush, taking the said spears with him |