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Show Till! MUIILS WWADI, That modus vlvomll In the Ilerlng Hea matter begins to assume a slgnlll ration foreign to the etymological meaning of tbo phrase, Htrlotly a-ieak Ingttmeanaa method of living, but according to developmenta during the liast few das It promises to become a method of killing It has come up in the Ililllsh iiouiu of Commous lu ion, nectlou wltii tho question of harborde-femes harborde-femes In llrltlsh Columbia, Tho discussion dis-cussion ovokud on lite occ lilon was, to say the least, suggestive. In Washington Washing-ton our authorities are conferring with thuiVnval Department as to what is best to lw done. Unusual eicttemrnt an I activity also piovallslu thu uivy aids ou the Psclflc watt. It Is reported re-ported that Preeldint Harrison Is awaiting a n plr from Lord Hallsbury to tbe demand made for a renewal of the mo lus Vivendi. Iu the event of n nfusal It Is thought that declelv.t action will be taken by the United Btates. Tho modus Ivendl lefern d to, Is an agmraeiit entered Into last Juue, be twem the Iltltl-li govemmeiit and ours, lu relation to seal fishing In Bering ti a. Article 1 of that ogrev-ment ogrev-ment binds Great llrlttln to prohibit seal killing In Hiring sea until Ma), on tho part of Hrltlih euljeitsatid v. eils. Article S binds tho United Btalia to a like court of aotlon on th part of American vessels and cltlfeits, but for certain speolflel reasons a limited number of pes I might lie killed by Americana. Article a rovldi for tb capture (f poachers Irrcepecthe of nationality by any of the high contracting con-tracting partlrs but autject to lIng "handed over as soon as practicable to Iho authorities of tho nsllon to whkji they tespectlvely belong, who shall alono have Jurisdiction to try th clHindcr aud Impose th naltles for In tho meantime provisions wero mad with a view of effecting a permanent per-manent se'ttemenl of theqiicstlon. Under Un-der these a Joint high commls-Iou was appointed to Investigate the seal iroblem bull from a natural hlstoiy and territorial point of view, file mombera of that commission visited listing sea last fall an 1 ma Jo a clo-e study of the habllsan I condition, of the seal. Though these memlwrsall ogrc-id that the iitlnotlou of til animal wsa assured unless rotectlvs measures were adctidt yet tuey did not agreo asUtbi-e mesiiires. Tbe itt-ortaof thlsconitnisslou weru inleudcd furtbu Arbitration Hoard, to which the settlement settle-ment of tho whole matter would b submitted. Th cat was progressing favorably until report came tint Lord HiHsbury ha 1 positively rrfured to renew re-new last year's agreement. As ther Is no possibility that a settlement can bo arrived at before many muotlis, tb refussl to renew gave th question a serious aspect. Thei are now some fifty vesiels or more Hying tbe llrltlsh llsgrrsdy to enter Heating sea. How many Ameilcaus are ready to enter It Is difficult to say, Heforo tho agreement went Into effect last yatr, It li estimated esti-mated that 100 vi ssels, with an averago crew to cacti of itf souls, were engaged lu leaching. With unlimited authority autho-rity to spear, shoot or trap the animal, regardlets of sex, age or condition, the work of the 2000 men meant lu a short time theoompletoVxtermlnatlon of the seal. Unless the agreement Is lenewod tho samo coudltlon will prevail pre-vail this year, aul the seal would bo destroyed beforo tb settlement could be accom Ilstied. Tho Drills)! Columbians are growlog very belligerent about Ibis matter. They aro demaudlug daniajcs for their vessel ownets who were shut cut last ear. Altogit'ier tho case as It stands Ji a cotnpllCAted oue. |