1. I am the duly authorized agent of Charles Spring, merchant, of Victoria aforesaid, the owner of the hereinafter mentioned schooner "Favorite." 2. That the schooner "Favorite" herein referred to is a British vessel of 80 tons, registered at the port of Victoria aforesaid, and was so registered at the time of the occurrence hereinafter set out, namely, on the 1st and 2nd days of August, A.D. 1886. 3. That towards the end of the month of May A.D. 1886, after having been duly cleared at the port of Victoria aforesaid, for that purpose, the said schooner "Favorite" sailed on and for a full season's hunting and fishing in the North Pacific Ocean and Beliring's Sea. 4. That on and for said voyage the crew of the said "Favorite" consisted of Alexander McLean, of Victoria aforesaid, master, a mate, and twenty-three sailors and hunters, and completely equipped and provisioned for a full season of hunting and fishing in said waters. 5. I am informed by the said master of the "Favorite," and several of the crew of the "Favorite," and do verily believe, that on the night of the 1st August, or early morning of the 2nd August, A.D. 1886, the said "Favorite," while in the Behring's Sea, not far from where the schooner "Onward" was seized on the said morning of the 2nd August, 1886, and while lawfully pursuing the objects of said voyage, was hailed by United States' steam-ship "Corwin," then having in tow the seized vessels "Thornton " and "Carolena." After the usual inquiries as to the name of the vessel, the Commander or officer then in charge of the said "Corwin" ordered the "Corwin" ordered the "Favorite" to cease sealing and leave Behring's Sea forthwith, otherwise she would be seized, or words to that effect. The master of the "Favorite," not wishing to risk seizure, and fearing that if he remained in the said sea his vessel and cargo would be so seized as threatened by the Commander of the "Corwin," and for no other reason or reasons whatever, at once made all sail and left the said sealing grounds, thereby losing the remainder of the sealing season. 6. That by reason of so being forced to cease sealing and leave Behring's Sea at about the beginning of the best period of the sealing season, the "Favorite" lost at least 1,000 seal-skins, and her total catch for the season was reduced by that much. 7. That on said voyage the "Favorite" carried twenty hunters and ten canoes. The schooner "Mary Ellen," of Victoria aforesaid, on a similar voyage the same season, with fifteen hunters and five sealing-boats, not seeing or hearing of the said seizures, and remaining in the sea till or about the close of the sealing season, caught 4,256 seal-skins. The actual catch of the "Favorite" for said season was only 3,325, though she had one-third more hunters than the said "Mary Ellen," and equally as good, if not better, chances of obtaining as large a catch; and I verily believe that the sum of the actual catch of the "Favorite," together with the 1,000 herein claimed, making a total of 4,325 for the season of 1886, is a fair and reasonable estimate for the catch of the "Favorite" that year, had she had not been interfered with as above set out. S. That the market price per seal-skin at Victoria at the close of the season of 1886 was 7 dollars, and the amount claimed as the value of 1,000 skins lost to the owner of the "Favorite" by reason of her so leaving the Behring's Sea is 7,000 dollars. And I, James Douglas Warren aforesaid, make this solemn declaration, conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of the "Act respecting Extra-judicial Oaths." (Signed) J. D. WARREN. Declared and affirmed before me at the city of Ottawa, in the County of Carleton, in the Province of Ontario, this 9th day of December, A.D. 1887, and certified under my official seal. Sir, Inclosure 4 in No. 90. The Marquis of Lansdowne to Sir H. Holland. Government House, Ottawa, January 5, 1888. WITH reference to previous correspondence, I have the honour to forward herewith a copy of an approved Minute of the Privy Council of Canada, embodying a Report of my Minister of Marine and Fisheries, submitting detailed statements of the claims of the owners and agents of the "W. P. Sayward," "Grace," "Anna Beck," " Dolphin," "Alfred Adams," and "Ada," seized in the Behring's Sea during the present season for the alleged offence of illegally capturing seals. The Minister, you will observe, is of opinion that the claims submitted are reasonable, and recommends that they be presented to the United States' Government. I have, &c. (Signed) LANSDOWNE. Inclosure 5 in No. 90. Report of a Committee of the Honourable the Privy Council for Canada, approved by his ON a Report dated the 19th December, 1887, from the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, submitting detailed statements of the claims of the owners and agents of the following vessels seized in the Behring's Sea during the present season by United States' revenue vessels, for the alleged offence of illegally capturing seals : 1. Schooner "W. P. Sayward," seized the 9th July, 1887, latitude 54° 43′ north, longitude 167° 51' west, 58 miles from nearest land; 2. Steam-schooner "Grace," seized the 17th July, 1887, latitude 53° 3′ north, longitude 168° 40′ west, 92 miles from nearest land; 3. Schooner "Anna Beck," seized the 2nd July, 1887, latitude 54° 58′ north, longitude 167° 26' west, 66 miles from nearest land; 4. Steam-schooner "Dolphin," seized the 12th July, 1887, latitude 54° 38′ north, longitude 167° 3′ west, 42 miles from nearest land; 5. Schooner "Alfred Adams," seized the oth August, 1887, latitude 54° 48′ north, longitude 167° 49' west, 62 miles from nearest land; 6. Schooner "Ada," seized the 25th August, 1887, about 15 miles northward from Ounalaska Island, which was the nearest land; The Minister represents that the circumstances connected with the seizure of these vessels do not materially differ from those attending the seizures of 1886, and for which claims for the losses sustained have already been forwarded to Her Majesty's Government, for presentation to the Government of the United States. It may, however, be maintained that the injustice of the seizures made in 1887 is emphasized by the action of the United States' Government in ordering the release of the vessels seized in 1886, and thus leading owners of the vessels for which claims are now presented to fairly assume that, under similar circumstances, no further seizures of Canadian vessels in Behring's Sea would be effected by the United States' Government. The Minister believes that the claims submitted herewith, the particulars of which, as far as possible, are attested to, are reasonable, and recommends that they be forwarded to Her Majesty's Government, for presentation to the Government of the United States. The Committee advise that your Excellency be moved to forward the claims herein mentioned to the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, for transmission to the United States' Government. All which is respectfully submitted for your Excellency's approval. (Signed) JOHN J. MCGEE, Clerk, Privy Council. Inclosure 6 in No. 90. Declaration of James Douglas Warren. City of Ottawa, Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada. I, JAMES DOUGLAS WARREN, of the city of Victoria, in the Province of Britis Columbia of the Dominion of Canada, master mariner and ship-owner, do solemnly and sincerely declare as follows: 1. That I have been a resident of the said city of Victoria for the past twenty-nine years, and during that time I have been largely interested in the building, equipment, and management of steam and sailing vessels. I have also been engaged in the sealing and fishing business at said city for the past fourteen or fifteen years. ward, 2. The steam-schooners "Grace" and " "Grace" and "Dolphin," and the schooner "W. P. Say" and the rebuilding and fitting with steam-power of the steam-schooners "Anna " and "Thornton," all of which vessels have been seized in Behring's Sea by the Beck United States' authorities, were built and done for me, and under my personal direction, and were each owned and managed by me for some time after their completion, and are now managed by me for their respective owner and owners. The schooners "Carolena," "Favorite," "Alfred Adams," "Ada," and "Onward," all also seized in Behring's Sea by the United States' authorities, were each and all well known to me from personal knowledge. From my interest in the Behring's Sea sealing business, I kept myself well posted on the matter and manner of the condition and equipment of the said vessels, and most of the facts stated in the declarations of claim in the case of each of these vessels came under my personal observation. The said vessels, excepting the "Thornton," "Onward," and "Carolena," which are at Ounalaska, are at Sitka, in the United States' Territory of Alaska. 3. To bring these vessels from Sitka to Victoria, a distance of about 900 miles, will involve a cost of at least 1,600 dollars to purchase the necessary materials and take them to Sitka, and to convey the necessary men to Sitka and pay their wages. From leaving Victoria until arrival back with any one of said vessels would take about two months, or perhaps a few days less in the summer months, and a few days more in the winter months. 4. A full hunting and sealing season begins as early as the 1st January and up till the 1st March, and extends thence until the end of September. This season is divided into two parts, the coast season and the Behring's Sea season. The coast season terminates about the end of June, but vessels intending to go to Behring's Sea generally leave the coast fishing during the month of May, sealing as they go northward, and reaching Behring's Sea the end of June or beginning of July. The best period of the sealing season in Behring's Sea varies in different years according to the prevailing weather from about the 20th July to the end of September, after which date, though seals are plentiful, stress of weather compels sealing-vessels to leave the sea and go south. 5. On sealing voyages the hunters are paid in lieu of wages so much per seal skin on each skin they capture, receiving from 2 to 24 dollars per skin. The masters are generally paid partly in wages and partly in the same manner as the hunters. The only vessel in the Behring's Sea in either of the seasons of 1886 or 1887 that made a reasonably full catch of seals was the schooner "Mary Ellen," of Victoria, which, in the season of 1886, took 4,256 seal-skins. On and for said season the "Mary Ellen carried fifteen hunters and five boats, an average catch per boat of 851 seal-skins, the five boats being about equal to eight or nine canoes. The "Mary Ellen" was the only vessel in Behring's Sea in either 1886 or 1887 which, so far as I know, or am able after inquiry to learn, remained the full season in said sea on and about the best sealing grounds without being disturbed by the United States' authorities. And I believe that the said steam-schooners "Grace Dolphin" and "Anna Beck," and the said schooner " W. P. Sayward," which were the best equipped vessels for sealing that had ever entered the Behring's Sea, would have, if not seized or disturbed by the United States' authorities, made an equally large catch in said years 1886 and 1887, there being no reason why they should not do so. 6. The masters of the steam-schooner "Thornton " and schooner "Onward," and the mate of the schooner "Carolena," after their arrival at Sitka as prisoners in the latter part of August, entered into an agreement with one Clarke, a counsellor-at-law at Sitka, to defend their vessels and themselves on their pending trial at Sitka before the United States' District Court, and the charge of 500 dollars for legal expenses at Sitka in the case of each of the said vessels is to cover the claim of said Clarke. 7. The wages of the crew of each of the said seized vessels, except the "Alfred Adams" and "Onward," are based on two months' service expiring on the day of seizure in each case. In the "Adams" and "Onward" cases, the crews were paid up to the time of their arrival at Victoria. And I, James Douglas Warren aforesaid, make this solemn declaration, conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of the "Act respecting Extra-judicial Oaths." Declared and affirmed before me, at the city of Ottawa, in the County of Carleton and Province of Ontario, this 9th day of December, A.D. 1887, and certified under my official seal. (Signed) J. M. BALDERSON, Notary Public for Ontario. Inciosure 7 in No. 90. Declaration of James Douglas Warren. City of Ottawa, Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada. I, JAMES DOUGLAS WARREN, of the city of Victoria, in the Province of British Columbia of the Dominion of Canada, master mariner and ship-owner, do solemnly and sincerely declare as follows: 1. That I am the duly authorized agent, by power of attorney bearing date the 4th November, A.D. 1886, of Thomas H. Cooper, of the city of San Francisco, in the State of California, one of the United States of America, the managing owner of the hereinafter mentioned schooner "W. P. Sayward." 2. That the said Thomas H. Cooper is, as I am informed and do verily believe, a British subject by birth, and has never renounced his allegiance to the Sovereign of Great Britain. 3. That the said schooner "W. P. Sayward" is a British vessel, having been built at Victoria aforesaid in A.D. 1882, and duly registered at the port of Victoria aforesaid, and was at the time of her seizure, as hereinafter set out, so registered. The said "W. P. Sayward" is 135 tons burden, by builder's measurement, and is a well and strongly built vessel, 4. That on the 16th day of May, A.D. 1887, after having duly cleared at Customs at the port of Victoria aforesaid for such purpose, the "W. P. Sayward" sailed from Victoria on and for a full hunting and fishing voyage in the North Pacific Ocean and Behring's Sea. On said voyage George E. Ferey, of the said city of Victoria, was master; Andrew Laing, of the same place, mate; and the crew numbered, in addition to the master and mate, twenty-two or twenty-three, with nine canoes and one boat for hunting and sealing purposes. 5. On the 2nd day of July then next following the said "W. P. Sayward" entered Behring's Sea, having then on board, as by the report of the master sent to me, 479 sealskins, all taken on the voyage from Victoria to Behring's Sea prior to the said 2nd day of July. After entering the said sea the weather was very thick, and no sealing was done by the "W. P. Sayward." 6. On the 9th day of said July, the "W. P. Sayward" then being in latitude 54° 43′ north and longitude 167° 51′ west, and about 58 miles from Ounalaska Island, the nearest land, and lawfully pursuing the objects of her voyage, was seized by the United States' steam-ship "Richard Rush," and taken to Illoolook Harbour, at Ounalaska Island, in the United States' Territory of Alaska. At said harbour the seal-skins on board the "W. P. Sayward" were taken out and stored on shore, and the "W. P. Sayward" was, by order of the authorities of the United States, sent to Sitka, in the said Territory of Alaska, in charge of an officer from said "Richard Rush," together with all her crew. 7. Upon arrival at Sitka the "W. P. Sayward" was handed over to United States' Marshal Atkins, the master and mate of the "W. P. Sayward," the said George E. Ferey and Andrew Laing, were taken before a Judge and bound over to appear for trial on the 22nd day of August then instant, and from day to day thereafter, on a charge of having violated the laws of the United States relating to seal-fishing in the waters of Alaska. The said master and mate so appeared on the 22nd August and day by day thereafter, until the 9th day of September, when, without having been tried on said charge or any other charge whatever, they were unconditionally released. 8. That hereto annexed, marked "(A)," is a statement of the value of the said schooner "W. P. Sayward" at the time of her seizure by the "Richard Rush," also of the articles, and groups of articles, and the value thereof, comprising the outfit of the "W. P. Sayward on and for said voyage, also of the amount of premiums paid for insurance of the hull, outfit, and cargo of said schooner during said voyage; also of the amount paid in wages to the crew and hunters on said voyage; also of the fares and expenses of the mate to and from Victoria for instructions, and of the master, mate, and part of the crew in returning to Victoria from Sitka; and also of the number and value of the seal-skins taken from the said schooner when seized. 9. The value placed on the schooner " W. P. Sayward" in said Exhibit (A), namely, 6,000 dollars, is a fair and reasonable valuation of the said schooner, considering her original cost, which was about 7,000 dollars, the condition of repair she was in when seized, and the value of vessels of her class at Victoria aforesaid, for such purposes as the "W. P. Sayward" was designed and used. Immediately before going on said voyage she was thoroughly repaired and refitted, and, at the time of her seizure, was in first-class order and condition. Besides the outfit mentioned in Exhibit (A), there was on board the "W. P. Sayward," when seized, a considerable quantity of extra gear, tackling, and ship stores. The insurance value of the "W. P. Sayward," for the year 1887, was 6,000 dollars, and on and during said voyage she was insured in the sum of 1,000l. on her hull, and in 2,000l. on her outfit and cargo. 10. The value placed on the various articles and groups of articles comprising the outfit of the said schooner, as given in Exhibit (A), is the market price for each of said articles at Victoria aforesaid at the time of their purchase for the use and purposes of said voyage. The price charged in Exhibit (A) for the seal-skins on board the "W. P. Sayward" when seized, namely, 5 dol. 50 c. per skin, is the market price per skin current at Victoria aforesaid on or about the close of the sealing season of 1887, when the catch of the "W. P. Sayward," had not such seizure taken place, would have been placed on the said market. 11. That hereto annexed, marked "(C)," is a statement of the legal and personal expenses incurred at Sitka and elsewhere by reason of the seizure of the "W. P. Sayward," the arrest and detention of her master and mate, and the claims arising therefrom. 12. That hereto annexed, marked " (D)," is an estimate of the loss and damage resulting to the owner thereof by reason of the seizure and detention of the schooner “W. P. Sayward" during the season of 1887, and the probable loss from the same cause for the season of 1888. The estimated catch of seals by the "W. P. Sayward" for the season of 1887 is based upon an average catch of 350 seals per boat and canoe for a full season, and I verily believe, had the above seizure not taken place, that, under ordinary circumstances, the total catch of the "W. P. Sayward" for said full season would have been at least the said number of 3,500 seals. 13. That after the close of the sealing season, and during the months of October, November, and December, A.D. 1887, and January 1888, had the "W. P. Sayward" been in her owner's possession she would have been engaged in the coasting and general freighting trade in and about the coasts of British Columbia, and the said claim of 300 dollars per month for each of said months is a fair and reasonable estimate of the earnings of the "W. P. Sayward" for and during said months, after deducting therefrom the cost of wages and running expenses. 14. In order to put the "W. P. Sayward" in order and condition to engage in hunting and fishing the full season of 1888, it is necessary that she should be in her owner's possession at Victoria aforesaid on or before the 1st day of February, A.D. 1888. If not then at Victoria it will be impossible to repair and refit her in time to start out on a full season voyage which begins about the 1st March. As during the summer months there would be little for a vessel like the "W. P. Sayward" to do in the coasting and local freighting trade, if she were not got away on a fishing and hunting voyage the season would be practically lost. The estimated profit on a full season of hunting and fishing by the "W. P. Sayward" in 1888, namely, 6,000 dollars, is a fair and reasonable catch estimate, based on a catch of 3,500 seal-skins, and, deducting from the gross value thereof, at 5 dol. 50 c. per skin, the cost of outfit and wages based on the "W. P. Sayward's " voyage of 1887. 15. That hereto annexed, marked "(E)," is a statement of the principal sums on which interest at 7 per cent. per annum is claimed, and the time for which it is so claimed. On the 1st October, A.D. 1887, on or about which date the catch of the "W. P. Sayward for 1887 would have been, in the ordinary course of events, realized on, the minimum rate of interest on money for commercial purposes at the said city of Victoria was, has since continued to be, and now is, 7 per cent. per annum. 16. That hereto annexed, marked "(F)," is a statement of the articles, and groups of articles, and the value thereof, comprised in the outfit of the "W. P. Sayward" on said voyage as given in Exhibit (A), which would have been wholly or almost wholly consumed in the course and prosecution of a full season's hunting and fishing voyage, such as contemplated by the "W. P. Sayward" in 1887. And I, James Douglas Warren aforesaid, make this solemn declaration, conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of the " Act respecting Extra-judicial oaths." (Signed) J. D. WARREN. Declared and affirmed before me at the city of Ottawa, in the County of Carleton and Province of Ontario, this 9th day of December, A.D. 1887, and certified under my official seal. |
