CO885-(13-15) — Page 341

19190.

No. 45.

(CANADA.)

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O.885

14 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH—NOT TO |

FOREIGN OFFICE to LAW OFFICERS.

GENTLEMEN,

Foreign Office, September 16, 1893. WITH reference to your letter of the 23rd November last relative to the seizure by Russian Government vessels in Behring Sea of certain British sealing-vessels, I have the honour to transmit to you, by direction of the Earl of Rosebery, further correspon. dence on this subject noted in the accompanying list.

The first paper, marked (A), is a despatch from Sir R. Morier, Her Majesty's Ambassador at St. Petersburgh, inclosing a copy of the note which, in accordance with your advice, his Excellency addressed to the Russian Government on this subject on the 29th November last.

The Russian reply to this note (inclosure in Paper B) is accompanied by two Reports of the Special Commission appointed by the Emperor of Russia to examine the question. The first of these Reports has reference to the complaints made by the crews of some of the sealers of ill-treatment while on their way to Petropaulovski and during their detention at that place. The Report states that these complaints are not justified by the facts, and that if the aggrieved parties are not satisfied they can, in the ordinary course of law, seek redress either from the superior naval authorities or through the competent tribunals.

The second Report contains a detailed examination of the circumstances under which the vessels and their boats were seized, and examines the legality of the captures. In regard to this latter question, the Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs observes :-

"In considering the legality of the capture effected by the commanders of the Russian cruizers, and by the District Governor of the Commander Islands, the Com- mission was guided by a principle the justice and equity of which cannot be disputed. It recognised as lawful seizures all vessels whose boats were seen or captured in our territorial waters. It cannot, indeed, be denied that the boats constitute, juridically, an appendage of the schooner to which they belong; consequently, their seizure in territorial waters renders the capture of the vessels, of which they in some respects form part, perfectly legal. If it were otherwise, a schooner could with impunity pursue seals on the coasts by sending her boats there, and thus infringe the inviolability of territorial waters, although herself remaining outside the said waters."

Applying this principle to the case of the six captured schooners, the Commission, whose view is adopted by the Russian Government, consider that the seizure of four of them, the Marie," "Rosie Olsen," "Carmolite," and "Vancouver Belle," must be recognised as legal, inasmuch as the evidence that their respective canoes captured seals, either actually in the rookeries or within the 3-mile limit, was conclusive. On the other hand, though they maintain that the circumstantial evidence was equally conclusive against the "Willie McGowan" and "Ariel," yet, as the canoes of these vessels had not been actually seen within the territorial waters, the Russian Govern- ment state that they are ready to entertain the question of indemnifying their owners

and crews.

Sir R. Morier's despatch was referred to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies, and it will be seen from his Lordship's reply, which is herewith inclosed (Paper C), that he entertains serious doubts whether the procedure of the Russian Government, or the conclusions they have arrived at with regard to these seizures, are in accordance with established rules of international law.

Lord Ripon further observes that there is much uncertainty as to the facts connected with the seizure of these schooners, and points out that the evidence upon which the Russian Commissioners rely, and which in every case they take as conclusive, is simply the ex parte and apparently unsworn statements of the captors of the vessels, whose own conduct is being investigated; that that evidence has not been furnished to Her Majesty's Government, and was given in the absence of all persons in any way con- nected with the vessel seized, and apparently without any cross-examination whatever, but with the full knowledge of the evidence of Her Majesty's Government, so that it is not testimony to which prima facie much weight can be attached. To bear out this view, his Lordship incloses copy of a Memorandum (Inclosure 2 in Paper C) which has been prepared in the Colonial Office on the Report of the Commission, and from which it will be seen that not only does the account given of the various seizures differ wholly from that contained in the affidavits submitted by Her Majesty's Government, but that

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