10133.
No. 168.
(CANADA.)
LAW OFFICERS TO FOREIGN OFFICE.
Royal Courts of Justice, April 23, 1898.
MY LORD,
We were honoured with your Lordship's commands signified in Mr. Villiers letter of the 4th instant transmitting to us the accompanying papers relating to the extent and character of the obligations which devolved on the United States Government in consequence of their purchase of the territory of Alaska from Russia in 1867, and requesting that your Lordship might be favoured with our opinion as to whether in virtue of the Treaty of 1825 with Russia as revived by the Treaty of 1859 Her Majesty's Government can still claim from the United States the right of navigating freely, without hindrance whatever, all the rivers and streams which in their course towards the Pacific may cross the line of demarcation upon the strip of coast described in Article III of the former Treaty, and also as to the rights of this country under Article XXVI of the Treaty of Washington, in regard to the free navigation of the Stikine, including the right of transhipment at Wrangel.
any
In obedience to your Lordship's commands we have taken the papers into our consideration, and have the honour to
Report-
That the terms of Article XXVI of the Treaty of 1871 make it difficult for Her Majesty's Government to base their claims to tranship goods at Wrangel upon rights given to Great Britain in the River Stikine by virtue of the Treaty of 1825, and for the purposes of that claim it does not appear to us to be material whether any right can be claimed under the latter Treaty.
The rights conferred by the Treaty of 1825 were not, in our view, affected by the cession to the United States, inasmuch as Russia could cede only what she had.
In our opinion, however, the 26th Article of the Treaty of 1871 confers on Hự Majesty's subjects the right of navigating the Stikine for commercial purposes, and the right of transhipment at Wrangel is an incident to the right of navigation, without which it would be useless. The United States can frame regulations reasonably regulating the exercise of this right, but cannot impose any such conditions as are contained in the Bill before Congress. Free navigation including transhipment is a matter of right.
RICHARD E. WEBSTER. ROBERT B. FINLAY.
We have, &c.,
&c.,
The Marquess of Salisbury, K.G.,
&c.,
&c.
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
PEPELE.C.O. 885
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