| Show THE BLACK DIAMOND SEIZURE THE last congress passed an act which was signed by president cleveland assuming complete jur Is diction over the seal fisheries within the waters of behring sea this was largely due to the influence and work of the alaska corn com a monopoly from the government which they sought to make more valuable and more lasting by retaining the exclusive right to catch seal in those waters and thus to maxe make all foreign craft salling sailing in them prima fade fack trespassers and subject to seizure it was by virtue of this act that the english vessel black was captured a short time ago although she oho subsequently escaped there is considerable of a flurry burry over the event as there must inevitably be over anything which brings the united states and great britain in opposition to each other england looks after her fishing interests with great tenacity and persistence so much so that nearly all of the unpleasantness between the two countries for many years has grown out of that subject this country countey does not need such an example as a justification for doing likewise for if england were to let her fishing interests go to destruction we would still have the inherent right to look after and main maintain tain our own but it would be the policy of wisdom to first ascertain and determine by some other means than a congressional enactment what our own actually is it would be considered a piece of impudence if nothing worse for russia to claim the exclusive right to the black sea to proceed to take possession pursuant to such a claim would be to precipitate one of the bloodiest wars ware the world ever saw and yet she has a continuous frontage on that body of water of about 1000 miles nearly as much as have turkey in europe and asia and the turkish principalities combined the black sea is about one third the size of the behring sea which our territory would not so nearly surround as does that of russia the black sea but for the aleutian archipelago the question as to whether it should not be behring ocean is a proper one and in any event it is and must be for purposes of navigation at least an open highway it ill becomes us to be constantly on the alert for any act of tion or highhandedness highhanded ness on the part of other powers while proceeding somewhat in the same game direction ourselves |
