The Marquis of Salisbury
to Mr. Edwardes.
Foreign
Office
,
October 2,
1889.
[Left at the Department of State by Mr. Edwardes.]
Sir: In my dispatch No. 176 of the 17th August
last I furnished you with copies of a correspondence which had passed
between this department and the colonial office on the subject of the
seizure of the Canadian vessels Black Diamond and
Triumph in the Behring’s Sea by the United
States revenue cutter Rush.
I have now received and transmit herewith a copy of a dispatch from the
governor-general of Canada to the secretary of state for the colonies,
which incloses copies of the instructions given to the special officer
placed on board the Black Diamond by the officer
commanding the Rush, and of a letter from the
collector of customs at Victoria, together with the sworn affidavits of
the masters of the two Canadian vessels.
It is apparent from these affidavits that the vessels were seized at a
distance from land far in excess of the limit of maritime jurisdiction
which any nation can claim by international law.
The cases are similar in this respect to those of the ships Caroline, Onward, and Thornton, which were seized by a vessel of the United States
outside territorial waters in the summer of 1387. In a dispatch to Sir
L. West dated September 10, 1887, which was communicated to Mr. Bayard,
I drew the attention of the Government of the United States to the
illegality of these proceedings, and expressed a hope that due
compensation would be awarded to the subjects of Her Majesty who had
suffered from them. I have not, since that time, received from the
Government of the United States any intimation of their intentions in
this respect, or any explanation of the grounds upon which this
interference with the British sealers had been authorized. Mr. Bayard
did, indeed, communicate to us unofficially an assurance that no further
seizures of this character should take place pending the discussion of
the questions involved between the two Governments. Her Majesty’s
Government much regret to find that this understanding has not been
carried forward into the present year, and that instructions have been
issued to cruisers of the United States to seize British vessels fishing
for seals in Behring’s Sea outside the limit of territorial waters. The
grounds upon which these violent measures have been taken have not been
communicated to Her Majesty’s Government, and remain still
unexplained.
But in view of the unexpected renewal of the seizures of which Her
Majesty’s Government have previously complained, it is my duty to
protest against them, and to state that, in the opinion of Her Majesty’s
Government, they are wholly unjustified by international law.
I am, etc.,
[Inclosure 1.]
Mr. Bramston to
the undersecretary of state for foreign
affairs.
Colonial Office
,
September 10, 1889.
Sir: With reference to previous
correspondence respecting the seizures of Canadian sealers in
Behring’s Sea, I am directed by Lord Knutsford to transmit to you
for communication to the Marquis of Salisbury a copy of a dispatch
from the governor-general of the Dominion with its inclosures on the
subject.
I am, etc.,
[Page 363]
[Inclosure 2.]
Lord Stanley of
Preston to Lord Knutsford.
Citadel, Quebec
,
August 26, 1889.
My Lord: With reference to previous
correspondence respecting the seizure of the Black
Diamond and the detention of the Triumph in Behring Sea, I have the honor to forward
herewith a copy of an approved minute of the privy council
submitting copies of the instructions given to the special officer
placed on board the Black Diamond by the
captain of the United States revenue cutter Rush, and of a letter from the collector of customs at
Victoria, together with the affidavits of the masters of the two
vessels.
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 3.]
Certified copy of a report of a committee of the
honorable the privy council, approved by his excellency the
governor-general in council, on the 22d
of August, 1889.
[undated]
On a report dated the 13th of August, 1889, from the minister of
marine and fisheries, submitting, in reference to the seizure in the
Behring Sea of the schooner Black Diamond and
the boarding of the schooner Triumph, the
original instructions given to the special officer placed by the
captain of the United States revenue cutter Rush on board the Black Diamond at
the time of the latter’s seizure, and also a letter from the
honorable Mr. W. Hamley, collector of customs at Victoria, British
Columbia, together with the following affidavits:
- 1.
- Affidavit of Owen Thomas, of Victoria, British Columbia,
master of the British sealing schooner Black Diamond.
- 2.
- Affidavit of Daniel McLean, of Victoria, British Columbia,
master of the British sealing schooner Triumph.
The minister recommends that copies of the inclosures herewith be
immediately forwarded for the information of Her Majesty’s
Government.
The committee concurring advise that your excellency be moved to
forward this minute, together with copies of the inclosures, to the
right honorable the secretary of state for the colonies.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
John J. McGee,
Clerk Privy Council.
[Inclosure 4.]
Captain Shepard
to Mr. Hankanson.
U.
S. Revenue Steamer Rush, Behring Sea,
Latitude 56° 22′ N., longitude 170° 25′ W.
,
July 11,
1889.
Sir: You are hereby appointed a special
officer, and directed to proceed on board the schooner Black Diamond, of Victoria, British Columbia,
this day seized for violation of law (Section 1956, Revised Statutes
of the United States), and assume charge of the said vessel, her
officers and crew, twenty-five in number, all told, excepting the
navigation of the vessel, which is reserved to Capt. Owen Thomas,
and which you will not interfere with unless you become convinced
that he is proceeding to some other than your port of destination,
in which event you are authorized to assume full charge of the
vessel. Everything being in readiness, you will direct Capt. Owen
Thomas to make the best of his way to Sitka, Alaska, and upon
arrival at that port you will report in person to the United States
district attorney for the district of Alaska, and deliver to him the
letter so addressed, the schooner Black
Diamond, of Victoria, British Columbia, her outfit, and the
persons of Capt. Owen Thomas and Mate Alexander Gait, and set her
crew at liberty. After being relieved of the property and persons
entrusted to your care, you will await at Sitka the arrival of the
Rush.
Very respectfully, etc.,
L. G. Shepard,
Captain U. S. Revenue Steamer
Rush.
[Page 364]
[Inclosure 5.]
Mr. Hamley to
the minister of customs.
Custom-House, Victoria
,
August 5,
1889.
Sir: I forward herewith, in original, the
orders given by Captain Shepard, of the United States revenue cutter
Rush, to J. Hankanson, special officer,
to proceed on board the British schooner Black
Diamond, seized in Behring Sea, and to take her to Sitka.
The master of the schooner reports to me that the Indians employed
as hunters in the schooner would, he believes, have murdered
Hankanson if an attempt had been made to take her to Sitka. The
master got out of the sea and sailed at once for Victoria without
any of position on the part of Hankanson, and I think it is very
probable that the orders given him privately by the captain of the
Rush were not to interfere in any way
with the destination of the vessel.
She arrived here on Saturday evening, the 3d of August. The object of
the revenue cutter was no doubt attained in taking her skins, rifle,
and Indian spears away and sending the vessel out of Behring Sea.
Her certificate of registry was also taken away. Shall I give her a
fresh certificate?
I have, etc.,
[Inclosure 6.]
Declaration of Owen Thomas.
In the matter of the seizure of the
sealing schooner Black Diamond by the United States revenue
cutter Richard Rush on the 11th day of
July, 1889.
I, Owen Thomas, of the city of Victoria, British Columbia, master
mariner, do solemnly and sincerely declare that:
- 1.
- I am a master mariner and was, at the time of the
occurrences hereinafter mentioned and still am, the master
of the schooner Black Diamond, of the
port of Victoria, British Columbia.
- 2.
- On the 11th day of July, 1889, whilst I was on board and
in command of the said schooner, and she being then on a
sealing expedition, and being in latitude 56° 22′ north, and
longitude 170° 25′ west, and at a distance of about 35 miles
from land, the United States revenue cutter Richard Rush overhauled the said
schooner, and having hailed her by shouting a command which
I could not distinctly hear, steamed across the bows of said
schooner, compelling her to come to. A boat was then lowered
from the said cutter and Lieutenant Tuttle and five other
men from the United States vessel came aboard the said
schooner. I asked the lieutenant what he wanted, and on his
stating he wished to see the ship’s papers, I took him down
to my cabin and showed them to him. He then commanded me to
hand the papers over to him; this I refused to do and locked
them up in my locker.
At this time there were 131 seal-skins aboard the schooner, 76 of
which had been salted and 55 of which were unsalted, and Lieutenant
Tuttle ordered his men to bring up the skins and to take the salted
ones on board the Richard Rush. The cutter’s
men accordingly transferred all of the salted skins from my schooner
to the Richard Rush and also took aboard the
cutter two sacks of salt and a rifle belonging to the schooner.
Lieutenant Tuttle then again demanded me to give up the ship’s
papers and told me that if I would not give them up he would take
them by force. As I still declined to part with them he signaled to
the cutter and a boat came off with the master-at-arms, who came on
board the schooner. Lieutenant Tuttle asked me for the keys of the
locker, so that he might get the papers, and upon my refusing to
give them to him he ordered the master-at-arms to force open the
locker. The master-at-arms then unscrewed the hinges of the locker,
took out the ship’s papers, and handed them to Lieutenant Tuttle.
Lieutenant Tuttle then returned to the Richard
Rush and came back to the schooner again, bringing on board
with him one whose name I have since heard to be John Hawkinson and
who I believe to be a quartermaster of the Richard
Rush. Lieutenant Tuttle then told me to take the schooner
to Sitka. I told him that I would not go unless he put a crew on
board to take the schooner there. He gave Hawkinson directions to
take the ship to Sitka and gave him letters to give to the United
States authorities on arrival.
Lieutenant Tuttle before leaving my schooner ordered twenty Indian
spears which were aboard for sealing purposes to be taken on to the
Richard Rush. I asked the lieutenant to
give me a receipt for the papers, skins, etc., he had taken; this he
refused to do, and he then returned to the Richard
Rush, taking the said spears with him [Page 365] and leaving the man Hawkinson in
charge of the schooner; shortly afterwards the cutter steamed away
without returning the ship’s papers, seal skins, and other goods
before mentioned.
After the departure of the United States vessel, I directed my course
to Ounalaska, hoping to meet with an English man-of-war. We arrived
there on the 15th of July. My crew at this time consisted of a mate,
Alexander Gault, two white seamen, deck hands, and a white cook and
twenty Indians. The Indians, thinking we were going to Sitka, became
mutinous, and told me the best thing I could do to avoid trouble was
to take the schooner home; they also warned the other white men on
board that if they thought I meant to take the schooner to Sitka
they would throw us all overboard.
There being no man-of-war at Ounalaska, I left there and directed my
course to Victoria, and arrived at that port at about 7 p.m. on
Saturday, the 3d of August last, having on board the said John
Hawkinson, who during the cruise to Victoria had not tried to give
me any directions or made any suggestions as to the course to be
taken by the schooner. On arrival at Victoria, Hawkinson was put on
shore by one of my boats.
And I make this solemn declaration, conscientiously believing the
same to be true, and by virtue of the oaths ordinance 1869.
Declared at the city of Victoria, British Columbia, the 7th day
of August, 1889, before me,
Ernest V. Bodwell,
A Notary Public for the Province of
British Columbia.
[Inclosure 7.]
Affidavit of Daniel McLean.
I, Daniel McLean, of the city of Victoria, in the province of British
Columbia, Dominion of Canada, being duly sworn, depose as
follows:
That I am master and part owner of the British schooner Triumph, registered at the port of Victoria,
British Columbia; that in conformity with the laws of the Dominion
of Canada I regularly cleared the said schooner Triumph for a voyage to the North Pacific Ocean and
Behring Sea, and that in pursuance of my legitimate business did
enter the said Behring Sea on 4th day of July, 1889, and did in a
peaceful manner proceed on my voyage, and being in latitude 56° 05′
north, longitude 171° 23′ west, on the 11th day of July, 1889, at
the hour of 8.30 a.m., was hailed by commander of the United States
revenue cutter Richard Rush, the said revenue
cutter being a vessel belonging to the Government of the United
States and regularly commissioned by the same; a boat having been
lowered by officer and crew, I was boarded by the same.
The officer in charge of the boat being one Lieutenant Tuttle, who
demanded the official papers of my vessel, and after reading the
same proceeded to search my vessel for seals, and finding no
evidence of the same, informed me that orders had been issued by the
Secretary of the United States under the proclamation of the
President, instructing the commanding officer of the said revenue
cutter Rush to seize all vessels found
sealing in Behring Sea; he also told me that should he again board
me and find seal skins on board he would seize and confiscate the
vessel and catch; he furthermore informed me that he had already
seized the British schooner Black Diamond, of
Victoria, British Columbia, and that she had been sent to Sitka, and
that therefore, by reason of his threats and menaces, I was caused
to forego my legitimate and peaceful voyage on the high seas and
return to the port of my departure, causing serious pecuniary loss
to myself, crew, and owners, for which a claim will be formulated
and forwarded in due course. And I make this solemn affidavit,
conscientiously believing the same to be true, and by virtue of the
oaths ordinance 1869.
Daniel McLean,
Master of schooner
Triumph.
Sworn before me this 8th August,
1889, at Victoria, British
Columbia.
G. Morison, J. P.,
A Justice of the Peace for the Province of
British Columbia.