5. The present agreement shall have no retroactive force as regards the seizure of any seal-hunting vessel of the United States by the naval or other commissioned officer of Russia prior to the conclusion hereof. of a 6. The present agreement being intended to serve the purpose mere provisional expedient to meet existing circumstances, may be terminated at will by either party upon giving notice to the other. In witness whereof we, Walter Q. Gresham, Secretary of State of the United States, and Prince Cantacuzene, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, have, on behalf of our respective Governments, signed and sealed this agreement in duplicate and in the English and French languages, in the city of Washington, this day 1894. SEAL.] [SEAL.] Mr. Bayard to Mr. Gresham. [Telegram.] LONDON, March 29, 1894. Had an interview with minister for foreign affairs. Your instructions by cable communicated. Will reply as soon as possible. Mr. Bayard to Mr. Gresham. [Telegram.] LONDON, March 30, 1894. A bill for executing award and regulations was introduced in the House of Commons by attorney-general yesterday; read for the first time; second reading next Monday. No opposition. Mr. Bayard to Mr. Gresham. EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES, London, March 30, 1894. (Received April 9.) SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your several telegrams of the 17th, 22d, and 28th instant, all in relation to the measures requisite for enforcing the Bering Sea award and regula tions. An interview with Lord Kimberley was instantly sought on the 29th instant, and promptly accorded at his residence, and was followed by a note from me which restated with precision and fullness all that had passed between us on that occasion in relation to the subject matter under consideration, a copy of which note is now herewith inclosed. When we parted (about 2 p. m.) Lord Kimberley was immediately to meet Sir Charles Russell, the attorney-general, for consultation upon this subject; and, although I have not yet received a reply to my last note, yet the report of the proceedings in the House of Commons yesterday discloses the fact that the attorney-general had introduced the bill to enforce the award and regulations as established by the Tribunal of Arbitration, that it had been read the first time without opposition, and the second reading fixed for Monday next, and to this effect I have to-day telegraphed you. I am entirely confident of the intention of this Government to live up to their agreement, and provide by law for the full and honorable execution of the decree of the arbitrators. Under their constitutional arrangements-differing from those of the United States-a treaty has not the force of law, and legislative machinery is requisite to put their conventions in operative force. Last autumn, and throughout the session, until the recess in March, the Irish home rule bill, and one or two other measures, domestic and political in their nature, completely blocked the way of other business, and excluded all other consideration. Now and at last the path is clear, and I am not able to doubt that the measure introduced will speedily become the law, and, once under legal control, I believe all international friction will be at least minimized or put an end to in Bering Sea. I have, etc., T. F. BAYARD. [Inclosure.] Mr. Bayard to Lord Kimberley. EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES, DEAR LORD KIMBERLEY: Referring to our conversation of this morning on the subject of enforcing the award of the Tribunal of Arbitration in the Bering Sea fur sealing case, I beg leave in this note to repeat what I then said. I am this morning instructed by cable that the President is unable to consent to the emendation suggested by you to paragraph 4 of the Memorandum of Agreement between Sir Julian Pauncefote and Secretary Gresham, at Washington, for the reason that it implies a possibility of violation by the United States of the agreement and also of the stipulations of the convention of February, 1892, and of the award of the Tribunal of Arbitration at Paris. I am instructed to assure your Lordship that the United States Government will enact legislation to enforce the award completely, on its part, before the 1st of August next, and that the President entertains no doubt that Great Britain will equally do the same. As stated by me in our last interview on this subject, it is the desire, and manifestly it is essential to the interests of the United States, that the results of the arbitration should be completely carried into effect, and without delay; and this has been urged in their behalf ever since the award was promulgated in August last. The President has great satisfaction in believing that it is the equal purpose of both Governments to carry into effect and enforce the decrees of the Tribunal of Arbitration in letter and spirit; and he is not willing that the force of the treaty which created the arbitration, or any of its results, should be weakened or departed from in any particular. It was with this purpose that it was proposed by the United States in October last by a convention to accept at once and unqualifiedly the award of the tribunal, and the regulations determined and established by it for fur-seal fishing in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea; but to this mode of action Her Majesty's Government demurred, and therefore they now desire, by cooperative legislation, and with the promptness necessitated by the circumstances of the case, to effectuate the same result. Moreover, the welcome and hearty concurrence of your Lordship in the solicitude expressed by me that international resort to arbitration should not fail in completeness, nor its success in any degree be impaired, give great confidence that the arrangements as proposed by the two negotiators at Washington will be adopted. Believe me, etc., T. F. BAYARD. Mr. Gresham to Mr. White. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: On the 9th instant I answered your dispatch of January 10th, in relation to the suggested Russian-American modus vivendi in regard to the fur-seal fisheries of the North Pacific, and pointed out the necessity of deferring a joint understanding, reciprocally applicable to the waters within the purview of the award of the Paris Tribunal of Arbitration, until the invitation contemplated in that award could be extended by the United States and Great Britian acting in concert. Since then, as the result of conferences I have had with the Russian minister here, the way has been opened for the adoption of a more limited understanding with the Imperial Government. I have given to Prince Cantacuzene a draft of a modus vivendi, a copy of which I inclose in order that you may submit it to the Russian Government for its information as to what the United States are willing to do in this relation. It will be observed that the modus vivendi is not reciprocal in its application to the eastern waters of the North Pacific and Bering Sea. Our information is that Russian subjects have never taken seal on our side of those waters, and there is no reason to apprehend that they will do so now. For that reason, the United States exact nothing from Russia in the way of reciprocity, relying on the stipulated right to terminate the agreement at will, in the event of Russia permitting her subjects to poach in the waters embraced in the regulations of the Paris award. My telegram of the 28th instant advised you of the essential features of the proposed modus. W. Q. GRESHAM. I am, etc., AP FR 94- -11 Mr. Gresham to Mr. Bayard. [Telegram.] WASHINGTON, March 31, 1894. Proposition British Government communicated by British ambassador to-day not accepted. Delay on the part of Great Britain and apparent unwillingness to protect waters in first and second regulations against Canadian sealers this season have created some feeling of irritation in Congress. Think bill for full enforcement of award will pass Senate Monday and House in a few days thereafter. Mr. Bayard to Mr. Gresham. [Telegram.] LONDON, April 3, 1894. Long interview with the minister for foreign affairs yesterday, and pressed the necessity for prompt action. Bill as now published gives legislative force to all regulations of Paris Arbitration May 1. I consider it highly important that bill before Congress should strictly adhere to phraseology of regulations, and that measures of both Governments should be as nearly as possible identical. Comments of press of both parties favorable. Mr. White to Mr. Gresham. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, St. Petersburg, April 3, 1894. SIR: I inclose a copy of a note just received from the imperial minister of foreign affairs proposing a modus vivendi similar to that now in operation between Russia and Great Britain, which the Imperial Government understands from the recent telegram of the State Department to this legation that our own Government is ready to adopt. It will be observed that the method of putting the proposed arrangement into force suggested by the imperial minister is very simple, and I may be allowed to suggest that, if our own Government take the same view, a brief dispatch by cable to me to that effect would be well received here by the Imperial Government as showing that we are ready to meet their views with promptness. I am, etc., AND. D. WHITE. [Inclosure.] Mr. Giers to Mr. White. MR. MINISTER: The Government of the United States of North America, having agreed to an arrangement concerning fur-seal fishing similar to the one which already exists between us and Great Britain, I consider it my duty to address you the present note on the subject, accompanied by the reservations which we have formulated toward England. 1. It is understood, in the first place, that the understanding established between our two Governments leaves unimpaired all the rights of Russia in its territorial waters. 2. In delivering to the authorities of the United States the American ships engaged in hunting fur seals in the prohibited waters, we do not in any way intend to prejudice the question of the rights of maritime power to extend its territorial jurisdiction in certain special cases beyond territorial waters properly so called. 3. The Imperial Government reserves its entire liberty as to the choice in the future between the two systems of protecting fur seals, either by means of a prohibited zone or by means of complete prohibition of pelagic hunting, or by regulating it on the high seas. 4. The present arrangement shall only be in force until further orders, will only have an essentially provisional character, and shall in no way be used as a precedent. Under these reservations we consent to the following conditions: 1. The Government of the United States of North America shall forbid its subjects hunting fur seals within a zone of 10 nautical miles along all the Russian coasts of Bering Sea and the Northern Pacific Ocean as well as in a zone of 30 nautical miles around the Commandorski and Tiulenew islands (Robbin Island). 2. Ships belonging to subjects of the United States of North America occupied in fishing fur-seals in the above-mentioned zone outside of the territorial waters of Russia may be seized by Russian ships of war to be delivered over to ships of war of the United States or to the nearest American authorities. In case that this can not be done, or where there arises difficulty in doing so, the commander of the Russian ship may confine himself to seizing the ship's papers of the above-mentioned vessels to the end that they may be handed over to a ship of war of the United States or sent to the nearest American authorities at the earliest opportunity. 3. The Government of the United States agrees to have tried by the ordinary tribunals offering all necessary guarantees American ships which shall have been seized for fishing fur seal in the prohibited zones outside of Russian territorial waters. 4. The Imperial Government will limit the catch of fur seals on the coast of the Commandorski and Tiulenew (Robbin) islands to 30,000 head during the present year. 5. An agent of the Government of the United States may be allowed to land on the above-mentioned Commandorski and Tiulenew islands, so as to collect from the local authorities all necessary information bearing on the working and results of the present agreement, but the local authorities shall be previously informed of the date of his visit which shall not be for a greater length of time than a few weeks. 6. The present agreement shall have no retrospective force as to the seizure of American vessels which may have been previously seized by ships of the imperial navy. The above-mentioned points being based exactly on the texts of our arrangements with Great Britain to which the Government of the United States of North America has already adhered, we do not doubt that the latter will accept it (i. e., the present agreement). A simple acknowledgement conveying the formal acceptance by your Government would be sufficient in our eyes to establish that the agreement between the two Governments concerning fur-seal fishing is provisionally agreed upon until further order. Please accept, etc., GIERS. |