| Show THE SQUABBLE OVER THE SEAL THE behring sea controversy 14 is the suba subject ct of an exhaustive article uy edward J phelps ex minister to great britain in one of the principal eastern magazines the artiel article V is worthy of consideration inasmuch B it comes from an able lawyer aud fen experienced diplomat he has ninde made a careful study of the points at issue 11 he regards the alaskan seal fishery as the must important in the world and one of the chief causes caum s vhf which eh led to the purchase of alaska by the united states 1 f I 1 one of mr phelps content contentions tod is that the seal is not a fish but an am m phinious phi blous bious animal whose fixed habitation habith tion ison is on the alaskan shore the seal therefore belongs to the territory on which it is domiciled and where it reproduces itself but the seal has migratory habits and in i these thesle rest reet the chief trouble ambr at breeding oed time it crosses crose eis an arm of sea to reach the byloff islands also alas kan territory the ayal aval themselves of this migration and lay 14 in wait for the seals large numbers of which we are theu them slaughtered 1 1 1 this proceeding mr phelps regards as exceedingly ungentlemanly and aid synonymous with robbery he i it quires whether the united states gov eminent is not bound to protect its I 1 property and the industries of its citizens I 1 and he asks it as if an affirmative answer was expected he also wants to know if the barbarous d eatrou destruel tion can be tolerated because it W takes place in waters that admit of dispute aft to whether they are an open sea or not to this he expects also an affirmative reply he leaves faia readers to conclude that because seals are am the produce of alaskan soil they should be protected in their migration A no matter where they may roam even if it were up the mersey to liverpool some time ago great britain acquiesced in an arrangement to settle tie question by arbitration russia who was to be invited to act as a kind of moderator the proposition was to limit the season of the year in which seals might be taken this scheme fell through throng because canada would not consent to it england has tried ever since X to evade or to procrastinate this I 1 issue WR the question now which mr phelps wants to be explained Is are the canadian vessels engaged in legitimate open sea enterprise when poaching for migrating seals he says england has never stated that canadians were doing lawful work also that blaine has shown conclusively that england and canada were both in the wrong mr phelps charges the american press with want of patriotism in this matter he says it is playing into the hands of england and that england is filing away american litera tue on this subject to show in future that public opinion in the united states favored the english side he concludes his article as follows there are three methods by which the behring sea question can be settled and by one or other of which it enst soon be disposed of first by putting a stop without further farther debate to the depredations of individual foreigners upon the breeding seals second by conceding to these foreigners the right to destroy the fishery and withdrawing further remonstrance thirdly by continuing the ats discussion with great britain of abstract questions questions supposed sud P to be involved until ae the extermination 0 on of the seal is completed and the subject of the dispute thereby exhausted for which we shall not have long to wait well suppose the extermination of the sew seal should take place would that be a calamity the special agent of the census bureau in alaska says that the fla fisheries berles of that territory would be much more profitable than seal fisheries it if the seal were exterminated mina ted the seals prey on the flah fish and destroy as much annually as aa would supply the whole united states A lady can manage to get on without a wal seal skin cloak but she can not do very well without nourishing foo dand fish is almost a necessity besides the product of the seal goes to the rich and luxuriously inclined whereas the fish would reach the work ingmans table from maine to california perhaps the american press is right after all though it may be by accident rather than on principles of political economy at alL al events it seems as if it were a very insufficient question to think of going to war over it is a matter that ought to be settled by peaceable methods on the basis of fairness and common sense |
