Commission. The Bering Sea it was proposed in the course of the correspondence that a "Joint Commission" be appointed to investigate the facts in relation to seal life, with a view of obtaining beforehand information which might be useful to the contemplated Tribunal of Arbitration in the discussion of measures for its protection and preservation, should that subject be submitted to the Tribunal;1 and, while the formal constitution of the Commission was reserved as a subject to be disposed of in the contemplated Treaty, it was deemed expedient that, in the meantime, two agents should be designated on the part of each Government, immediately after the signature of the Modus Vivendi, to begin such an investigation. The Modus Vivendi was signed on the 15th of June, 1891, and as early as the 3d of July of the same year the Acting Secretary of State proposed to Her Majesty's Minister in Washington "that arrangements be made to have these agents of the respective Governments go together, so that they may make their observations conjointly." On July 6, 1891, the Minister answered that, having communicated this proposal to Lord Salisbury, his lordship replied "that a ship had already been chartered to take the British Commissioners to the seal islands," 1 Appendix to Case of the United States, Vol. I, pp. 305, 311, 312, Commission. but that they would be instructed "to coöperate The Bering Sea as much as possible" with the United States Commissioners.1 It appears from the Report of the British Commissioners that the only intercourse had by them with the Commissioners of the United States was during "several days" on the Pribilof Islands (Sec. 12), while "the cruize in the North Pacific occupied nearly three months" (Sec. 20). The manner in which the British Commission- The British Commissioners. ers conducted their investigations and the spirit which actuated them may in part be inferred from the account which one of them, then a member of the British Parliament, gave publicly to his constituents after his return to England. The agreement for the constitution of the Joint Commission was actually made and signed on December 18, 1891, before the Treaty was executed, and Secretary Blaine, on being advised, Febru- Secretary ary 6, 1892, by Her Majesty's Minister of the Sir J. Pauncefote. names of the British Commissioners, and that they had arrived in Washington and were ready to enter into conference with the Commissioners of the United States, felt it necessary to address the Minister a note, expressing regret that the British Government had selected persons who seemed 1 Appendix to Case of the United States, Vol. I, p. 322. Post p. 418. Blaine's note to Blaine's note to Secretary "disqualified for an impartial investigation and Sir J. Pauncefote. determination of the questions to be submitted Meetings of the to them." The Commissioners of the two GovJoint Commission. ernments, after conferences during the period from February 8 to March 4, 1892, adjourned, and the Report now under consideration is the one subsequently prepared by the British Commissioners and which has been delivered to the United States and the Arbitrators as a part of the British Case. Report of British Commissioners. The bulk of the matter contained in this Report relates to points considered with considerable fullness in the Case of the United States, and may so far be regarded as presenting questions to be dealt with by the printed and oral arguments provided for by the Treaty; but it also embraces matters of allegation, in support of the positions taken upon the part of Great Britain, which have not been dealt with by anticipation in the Case of the United States; and also matters of evidence, bearing upon points dealt with in that Case, the truth or sufficiency of which are denied by the United States. Appendix to Case of United States, Vol. I, p. 348; and Dr. Dawson's paper, Appendix to British Case, Vol. 3, United States No. 2 (1890), p. 450. Commissioners. These subjects and also the schemes of regu- Report of British lations proposed in the Report' constitute matter which should be dealt with in this Counter Case. It will be treated of under appropriate heads. NOTE.-The term "Report" as used herein refers to the Report of the Bering Sea Commissioners, unless otherwise specified; and the term "Case" refers in the same manner to the Case of the United States. All references in the text of this portion of the Counter Case to sections or pages refer to sections or pages of the Report of the British Bering Sea Commissioners, unless otherwise specifically stated. Intermingling of the Alaskan and Russian herds. FIRST. MATTERS IN RELATION TO WHICH THE REPORT HABITS OF THE FUR-SEALS. 1. Distribution of seals in Bering Sea and the suggested intermingling of the Pribilof and Commander seal herds. The British Commissioners, in considering the intermingling of the two herds, after stating the fact that the Pribilof herd enters and leaves Bering Sea by the eastern passes of the Aleutian Islands and referring to certain statements made in the Report as to migration, continue: "These circumstances, with others which it is not necessary to detail here, are sufficient to demonstrate that the main migration routes of the seals frequenting the Commander Islands do not touch the Aleutian chain, and there is every reason to believe that, although the seals become more or less commingled in Bering Sea during the sunmer, the migration routes of the two sides of the North Pacific are essentially distinct." (Sec. 198.) 48 |