912 
 .67Me 
 
 
THE 
 
 S\i^ 
 
 ALASKAN BOUNDARY 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN BASSETT MOORE 
 
 With map 
 
 PROM 
 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW 
 OCTOBER 18 9 9 
 
I A \l 
 
 {'A 
 
 • - • 
 
 ^ 
 
THE ALASKAN BOUNDARY. 
 
 BY PROFESSOR J. B. MOORE, FORMERLY ASSISTANT SECRETARY 
 
 OF STATE. 
 
 In his annual message of December 2, 1872, President Grant, 
 referring to the award rendered by the Emperor of Germany in 
 the preceding October upon the long-pending dispute as to the 
 San Juan Water Boundary, remarked that this award left us, "for 
 the first time in the history of the United States as a nation, with- 
 out a question of disputed boundary between our territory and the 
 possessions of Great Britain on this continent/^ In making this 
 statement. President Grant was not unmindful of the fact that 
 the boundary between the British possessions and Alaska, as de- 
 fined in the treaty between Great Britain and Russia of 1825, had 
 not been surveyed and marked. No dispute, however, in regard 
 to this line had then arisen; and, with a view to prevent the oc- 
 ci'trrence of any in the future, he immediately proceeded to make, 
 in the same message, the following recommendation: 
 
 "Experience of the difficulties attending the determination of our 
 admitted lire of boundary, after the occupation of the territory and 
 its settlement by those owing allegiance to the respective governments, 
 points to the importance of establishing, by natural objects or other 
 monuments, the actual line between the territory acquired by purchase 
 from Russia and the adjoining possessions of Her Britannic Majesty. 
 The region is now so sparsely occupied that no conflicting interests of 
 individuals or of jurisdiction are likely to interfere to the delay or 
 embari'assment of the actual location of the line. If deferred until 
 population shall enter and occupy the territory, some trivial contest of 
 neighbors may again array the two governments in antagonism. I 
 therefore recommend the appointment of a commission, to act jointly 
 with one that may be appointed on the part of Great Britain, to de- 
 termine the line between our territory of Alaska and the coterminous 
 possessions of Great Britain." 
 
 By correspondence published in the Canadian Sessional 
 
 Papers, this recommendation appears to have been inspired by 
 
502 ^^-^ NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 
 representations, originating with the government of Canada, and 
 communicated tlirough tlie British Alinisterat Washington, as to 
 the desirableness of definitely marking the boundary. No action 
 upon the recommendation was taken; but an estimate then made 
 by United States officials as to the probable cost and duration of 
 the task of surveying and marking the line as laid down in the 
 treaty, placed the cost at about $1,500,000, and the time at nine 
 years for field operations and at least an additional year for oflfice 
 work. 
 
 In January, 188G, the Minister of the United States in Lon- 
 don, acting under instructions, proposed the appointment of a 
 joint commission, which should designate and establish the boun- 
 dary line, or else report such data as might afford a basis for its 
 establishment by a new treaty. The Dominion Government, to 
 whom this proposal was referred, expressed the opinion that a 
 preliminary survey was "preferable to a formally-constituted joint 
 commission," and suggested that such a survey "would enable the 
 two governments to establish a satisfactory basis for the delimita- 
 tion of the boundary and demonstrate whether the conditions of 
 the convention of 1825 are applicable to the now more or less 
 known features of the country." 
 
 Early in 1888 several informal conferences were held in Wash- 
 ington between Prof. W. H. Dall, of the United States Geological 
 Survey, and Dr. George M. Dawson, of Canada, for the purpose 
 of discussing the boundary and elucidating, so far as the informa- 
 tion then in existence enabled them to do, the questions which 
 might be involved in it. The result of these conferences was 
 ccmmunicated to Congress. 
 
 A further step was taken in the convention between the 
 United States and Great Britain of July 22, 1892, by which it 
 was agreed that a coincident or joint survey should be made 
 "with a view to ascertainment of the facts and data necessary 
 to the permanent delimitation of the said boundary line in ac- 
 cordance with the spirit and intent of the existing treaties in re- 
 gard to it between Great Britain and Eussia and between the 
 United States and Russia." The time for the report of the com- 
 missioners under this stipulation was extended by the supple- 
 mental convention of February 3, 1894, to December 31, 1895. 
 Joint surveys and a joint report were made, but no recommenda- 
 tions as to the boundary. 
 
THE ALASKAN BOUNDARY. 603 
 
 By the protocol of May, 1898, it was agreed that the joint in- 
 ternational commission to be organized thereunder should en- 
 deavor to adopt "provisions for the delimitation and establish- 
 ment of the Alaska-Canadian boundary by legal and scientific ex- 
 perts if the commission shall so decide, or otherwise." Under 
 this clause, it is understood that the commission has failed to 
 reach an agreement, and the question still remains open. It is 
 our purpose to disclose, in general outlines, in what the dispute 
 consists. 
 
 By a ukase dated July 8, 1T99, the Emperor Paul I., of Eussia, 
 having in view the benefits resulting to his empire from the 
 hunting and trading carried on by Eussian subjects "in the north- 
 eastern seas and along the coasts of America," conceded to the 
 Eussian-American Company the right to "have the use of all 
 hunting grounds and establishments now [then] existing on the 
 northeastern (sic) coast of America, from the . . . fifty- 
 fifth degree [of north latitude] to Bering Strait," as well as the 
 right "to make new discoveries not only north of the fifty-fifth 
 degree," but farther to the south, and "to occupy the new lands 
 discovered, as Eussian possessions," if they were not previously 
 occupied by or dependent upon another nation. 
 
 Still further privileges were granted to the Eussian-American 
 Company by the famous ukase issued by the Emperor Alexander, 
 September 7, 1831, by which the pursuit of commerce, whaling 
 and fishing, and of all other industry, on all islands, ports and 
 gulfs, "including the whole of the northwest coast of America, be- 
 ginning from Bering Strait to the fifty-first degree of northern 
 latitude," was exclusively granted to Eussian subjects, and foreign 
 vessels, except in case of distress, were forbidden "not only to land 
 on the coasts and islands belonging to Eussia, as stated above, but 
 also to approach them within less than 100 Italian miles." 
 
 This extension by Eussia of her claim of dominion on the 
 northwest coast of America from the fifty-fifth parallel of 
 north latitude down to the fifty-first, coupled with the new 
 claim of exclusive marine jurisdiction of 100 Italian miles along 
 the coast, called forth protests both from the United States and 
 from Great Britain. Both these powers claimed territory north 
 of the fifty-first parallel, as well as the right freely to navigate 
 the ocean and to fish and trade with the natives on unoccupied 
 coasts. Eussia met their protests with an offer of negotiation. 
 
504 T^iE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 
 This offer was accepted. In the negotiations which ensued, Rus- 
 fia was represented hy Count Nesselrode, minister for foreign af- 
 fairs, and M. Poletica. Great Britain was represented fh-st by Sir 
 diaries Bagot, and then by Stratford Canning; the United 
 States, by Henry Middleton. The United States and Great Brit- 
 ain at one time entertained the intention of acting jointly, but. 
 finding that their territorial claims were to some extent conflict- 
 ing, they carried on their negotiations with Eussia separately. 
 
 The negotiations betw^een the United States and Eussia ended 
 in a convention, signed at St. Petersburg, April 17, 1824, which 
 will hereafter be referred to as the convention of 1824. As to 
 \ he territorial question, it was agreed that no establishment should 
 l)c formed by the United States on the northwest coast north of 
 fifty-four degrees, forty minutes north latitude, nor by Eussia 
 south of that parallel. As to na\agation, fishing, and trading, the 
 right of navigation and of fishing in the Pacific Ocean was 
 acknowledged unqualifiedly and in perpetuity; and it was agreed 
 that during a term of ten years the ships of both powers might 
 frequent "the interior seas, gulfs, harbors, and creeks upon the 
 coast" in question, for the purpose of fishing and trading with the 
 natives. No resort, however, was to be made by citizens of the 
 United States to any point where there was a Eussian establish- 
 ment, without the permission of the governor; and a reciprocal 
 rule was to be observed by Eussian subjects as to United States 
 establishments. From the commerce permitted by the conven- 
 tion, firearms and liquors were excluded. 
 
 So far as dominion was concerned, the practical effect of this 
 treaty was to leave it to Great Britain and Eussia to divide the 
 territory north of fifty-four degrees forty minutes, and to the 
 United States and Great Britain to divide that to the south. 
 
 Great Britain and Eussia settled their maritime and territorial 
 differences by a convention signed at St. Petersbm-g on February 
 28, 1825, which will hereafter be referred to as the convention of 
 1825. This convention defines, in Articles III. and IV., the 
 boundary between Alaska and the British possessions as it exists 
 to-day. The treaty of 1867, ceding Alaska to the United States, 
 describes the eastern limits of the cession by incorporating the 
 definition given in the conventioa of 1825. This convention was 
 signed only in French, which is therefore the official text; but 
 there accompanies it, in the British publications, an English 
 
THE ALASKAN BOUNDARY. 
 
 506 
 
 "translation," which in the main fairly reproduces the original. 
 These texts, so far as they relate to the boundary, are as follows: 
 
 "■III. La ligne dc demarcation 
 entrc les Possessions dcs Eautes 
 Parties Contractan tes s^ir la C6te du 
 Continent ct les lies de VAmerique 
 Nord Quest, sera tracee ainsi qu^ 
 il suit : — 
 
 " A partir du Point le plus merid ■ 
 ional de Vile dite Prince of Wales, 
 lequel Point se trouve sous la 
 paralUle du o4me degre 40 minutes 
 de latitude Nord, et entre le 131me 
 et le 133mc dcgrS de longitude Quest 
 {Meridien de Grecmvich), la dite 
 ligne rcmontera au Nord le long de 
 la passe dite Portland Chunnel, 
 jusqu 'aw Point de la terre ferme 
 oil elle atteint le 5Qme degre de 
 latitude Nord: de ce dernier point 
 la ligne de demai'cation suivra la 
 Crete dcs montagnes situees paral- 
 Ulement d la Cote, jusqu 'au point 
 d" intersection du lilme degre de 
 longitude Quest (T/i^me Meridien); 
 et, fijialcmcrat, du dit point d' inter- 
 section, la inSme ligne meridienne 
 du 141 me degre former a, dans so7i 
 prolongement jusqu^d la nier 
 Glaciate, la limite entre les Posses- 
 sions Busses et Britanniques sur le 
 Continent de V Amerique Nord 
 Quest. 
 
 " IV. H est entendu, par rapport 
 A la ligne de demarcation diter- 
 minee dans V Article priced ent: 
 
 "1. Que VRe dite Prince of 
 Wales appartiendra toute entiire 
 d La Bussie: 
 
 " 8. Que partout oil la crite des 
 montagnes qui s' itendent dans une 
 direction jyaralUle d la C6te depuis 
 le 56me degre de latitude Nord au 
 point d' intersection du lilme degre 
 de longitude Quest, se trouveroit d 
 
 "III. The line of demarcation 
 between the Possessions of the 
 High Contracting Parties upon 
 the Coast of the Continent and 
 the Islands of America to the 
 North-West, shall be drawn in 
 the following manner: 
 
 "Commencing from the south- 
 ernmost point of the Island 
 called Prince of Wales Island, 
 which point lies in the pai-allel of 
 54 degrees 40 minutes, North Lati- 
 tude, and between the 131st and 
 133d Degree of West Longitude 
 (Meridian of Greenwich), the said 
 line shall ascend to the North 
 along the Channel called Port- 
 land Channel, as far as the Point 
 of the Continent where it strikes 
 the 56th Degree of North Lati- 
 tude; from this last mentioned 
 Point the line of demarcation 
 shall follow the summit of the 
 mountains situated parallel to 
 the coast, as far as the point of 
 intersection of the 141st Degree of 
 West Longitude (of the same 
 Meridian); and, finally, from the 
 said point of intersection, the 
 said Meridian Line of the 141st 
 Degree, in its prolongation as far 
 as the Frozen Ocean, shall form 
 the limit between the Russian 
 and British Possessions on the 
 Continent of America to the 
 North West. 
 
 " IV. With reference to the liue 
 of demarcation laid down in the 
 preceding Article, it is under- 
 stood: 
 
 "Is*. That the Island called 
 Prince of Wales Island shall be- 
 long wholly to Russia. 
 
 "2d. That wherever the summit 
 of the mountains which extend in 
 a direction parallel to the Coast, 
 from the 56th degree of Nx>rth 
 Latitude to the point of intereec- 
 tion of the 141st degree of West 
 
506 "^^HE ^ORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 
 la distance de j)lus de dlx lieues 
 •marines de I! Ocian, la Umite entrc 
 les Possessions Brita)iniques ct la 
 lisiire de Cote mentionnec ci-dessus 
 comme devant appartenir d La 
 Russie, sera formee par une lUjne 
 paralUle aux sinuosites de la Cote, 
 et qui ne pourra jamais en etrc 
 Hoignee que de dlx Ueues marines." 
 
 Longitude, shall prove to be at 
 the distance of more than ten 
 marine leagues from the Ocean, 
 the limit between the British 
 Possessions and the line of Coast 
 which is to belong to Russia, as 
 above mentioned, shall be form- 
 ed by a line parallel to the wind- 
 ings of the Coast, and which 
 shall never exceed the distance of 
 ten marine leagues therefrom." 
 
 It was further provided (Art. Y.) that neither party should 
 form estabHshments within the limits thus assigned to the other, 
 and, specifically, that British subjects should not form any estab- 
 lishment, "either upon the coast, or upon the border of the conti- 
 nent (soit SUV la cote, soit sur la lisure de terre ferme) comprised 
 within the limits of the Eussian possessions." 
 
 As to navigating, fishing, and trading, the convention of 1825 
 included substantially the same provisions as that of 1824. The 
 right of navigation and of fishing in the Pacific Ocean was 
 acknowledged. For the space of ten years, the ships of the two 
 powers were to be at liberty to frequent "the inland Seas, the 
 Gulfs, Havens, and Creeks on the Coast " in question. Permis- 
 sion to land at points where there were establishments was to be 
 obtained from the governor. Trade with the natives in firearms 
 and liquors was prohibited. Besides these stipulations, it was 
 agreed (Art. VI.) that British subjects, whether arriving from the 
 ocean or from the interior of the continent, should "forever enjoy 
 the right of navigating freely ... all the rivers and streams 
 which, in their course towards the Pacific Ocean, may cross the 
 line of demarcation upon the line of coast described in Article III. 
 of the present convention;" and that, for the space of ten years, 
 the port of Sitka, or Novo Archangelsk, should be "open to the 
 Commerce and Vessels of British subjects." 
 
 An examination of the boundary defined in Articles III. and 
 IV. of the convention of 1825 shows that it is scientifically di- 
 visible into two distinct sections, first, the line from the southern- 
 most point of Prince of Wales Island, through Portland Channel 
 and along the summit of the mountains parallel to the coast, to 
 the point of intersection of the 141st meridian of longitude; and, 
 second, the line from this point to the Arctic Ocean. With the 
 latter section, which is merely a meridian line, and as to which 
 
THE A L ASK AN BO UNDARY. 5O7 
 
 the United States and Canadian surveys exhibit no considerable 
 difference, we are not now concerned. Tlie section as to which 
 material differences have arisen is the first. 
 
 The principal differences in this quarter are two in number, 
 first, as to what channel is meant by Portland Channel (sometimes 
 called Portland Canal); and, second, as to what is the extent of 
 the line or strip of coast {la lisi^re de cote) which was assigned 
 to Eussia. The latter difference, since it is the more complicated, 
 we will consider first. 
 
 As has been seen, the easterly limit of the lisiere, from the 
 point where the line strikes the fifty-sixth degree of north lati- 
 tude, was to follow "the summit of the mountains situated parallel 
 to the coast," except that, where this summit should prove to be 
 more than ten marine leagues, or thirty miles, from the ocean, 
 the limit was to be formed "by a line parallel to the windings of 
 the coast, and which shall never exceed the distance of ten marine 
 leagues therefrom." On the part of Canada two theories as to 
 this line have been advanced, (1.) that it should follow, not the 
 actual windings {sinuosites) but the general trend, of the coast, 
 so as to intersect or cross the headlands of some of the bays and 
 inlets, especially in the Lynn Canal, and give Great Britain one or 
 more ports on tide water; and (2.) that the coast whose windings 
 are to be followed is not the shore of the mainland, but that of the 
 adjacent islands, bordering on the ocean.* The United States, on 
 the other hand, has maintained that the coast whose windings 
 were to be followed was the coast of the mainland, the design of 
 the convention being to give to Russia the control of the whole of 
 the shore of the mainland, and of the islands, bays, gulfs, and in- 
 lets, adjacent thereto. In other words, Russia was to have exclu- 
 sive dominion of tide water and of a continuous strip of territory 
 bordering upon it, while Great Britain was to have the interior 
 country, with a right of free navigation of streams crossing the 
 Russian territory on their way to the sea. 
 
 That this was the design of the convention may be shown, 
 first, by the record of its negotiation. 
 
 The principal object on the part of Great Britain was to ob- 
 tain the withdrawal by Russia of the claim made in the ukase of 
 
 • On the sketch map accompanyingr this article, the Canadian claim is given as 
 shown on the " Map of the Province of British Columbia, compiled by direction of 
 Hon. G. B. Martin, Chief Commissioner of Lands and Works, Victoi'ia, B. C, 
 1895." This claim would give Dyea. Skaguay, Pyramid Harbor, and various other 
 points, and a long stretch of tidewater, to Canada. 
 
508 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 
 3831 to exclusive jurisdiction over the Pacific Ocean, a claim 
 vhich involved the right to navigate a vast extent of ocean and, 
 incidentally, the right of passage from the Pacific to the Arctic 
 Ocean through Bering Straits. "It is not on our part," declared 
 George Canning, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, 
 "essentially a negotiation of limits. It is a demand of the repeal 
 of an offensive and unjustifiable arrogation of exclusive jurisdic- 
 iwon over an ocean of unmeasured extent." With a view to facili- 
 tate the withdrawal of this .pretension, Great Britain proposed a 
 settlement of limits.* The actual geographical features of the 
 territory were, to a great extent, ujiknown. Vancouver had 
 navigated and charted the coast, but the interior was unex- 
 plored. Back from the shore high mountains were visible, and, 
 after the manner of the early geographers, he drew artistic ranges 
 which follow the windings of the coast, making a continuous bar- 
 rier between the coast of the mainland and the interior country. 
 It was well known, however, to the negotiators of the convention 
 of 1835, that the mountain ranges might be broken, or that, in- 
 stead of following closely the windings of the coast, they might 
 extend far inland. Instead, therefore, of attending to geographi- 
 cal details, they adopted general rules, which should be applied 
 whenever the line came to be actually marked. 
 
 In settling the limits along the coast, the two governments 
 were largely guided by the interests and the representations of 
 certain commercial companies — on the part of Russia, the Kus- 
 sian-American Company, and, on the part of Great Britain, the 
 Xorthwest and Hudson's Bay companies — which hunted and 
 traded with natives for furs. The fur trade was then the prin- 
 cipal object of value in the estimation of the worth of the regions 
 in question. The British companies, however, had no estab- 
 lishment on the coast now under consideration. Their operations 
 in that quarter were conducted in the interior, and their furs were 
 sent to England through their own territories, and not across the 
 coast involved in the negotiation. 
 
 The first definite proposition as to limits was made by Great 
 Britain to Russia in the autumn of 1823. Sir Charles Bagot, then 
 British Ambassador at St. Petersburg, was instructed to propose 
 a line drawn east and west along the fifty-seventh parallel of north 
 latitude. He went somewhat further, and suggested that Great 
 
 *G. Canning to Stratford Canning, December 8, 1824. 
 
THE ALASKAN BOUNDARY. ,009 
 
 Britain would "be satisfied to take Cross Sound, lying about the 
 latitude of fifty-seven degrees thirty minutes, as tiie boundary be- 
 tween the two powers on the coast; and a meridian line drawn 
 from the head of Lynn Canal, as it is laid down in Arrowsmith's 
 last map, ... as the boundary in the interior of the continent." 
 This suggestion was not accepted, and subsequently, acting under 
 instructions, he proposed "a line drawn through Chatham Straits 
 t(; the head of Lynn Canal, thence northwest to the 140th degree 
 of longitude west of Greenwich, and thence along that degree of 
 longitude to the Polar Sea." 
 
 The Eussian plenipotentiaries rejected this proposal and sub- 
 mitted a counter-project. By the ukase of 1799, the Eussian 
 dominion was assumed to extend to the southward as far as the 
 fifty-fifth degree of north latitude. The Eussian plenipotentiaries 
 therefore offered to adhere to this limit, with a deflection at the 
 southern extremity of Prince of Wales Island so as to avoid a 
 division of territory, and, for the rest, proposed that the line 
 should "follow Portland Channel up to the mountains which bor- 
 der the coast," thence "ascend along those mountains, parallel 
 to the sinuosities of the coast, as far as the 139th degree of longi- 
 tude (meridian of London)," and then pursue that meridian in- 
 definitely to the north. 
 
 The reasons of the two governments for their respective pro- 
 posals were fully explained by them. In the early stages of the 
 negotiation the Eussian plenipotentiaries intimated that they 
 would require the fifty-fifth degree of latitude as their southern 
 boundary. In his instructions to Sir C. Bagot, of January 15, 
 1S24, Mr. George Canning, adverting to the fact that no limit 
 V as suggested by the Eussian plenipotentiaries to the eastern ex- 
 tension of the parallel, declared that it was essential to guard 
 against the "unfounded pretensions" of Eussia in that direction, 
 and for that purpose, whatever the degree of latitude assumed, 
 to assign a definite meridian of longitude as a limit. The 135th 
 meridian northward from the head of "Lynn's Harbor" might 
 sufiice. As to 'Hhe mainland southward of that point," it would 
 be expedient to assign "a limit, say of 50 or 100 miles from the 
 coast, beyond which the Eussian posts should not be extended 
 to the eastward. We must not," he continued, "on any account 
 admit the Eussian territory to extend at any point to the Eocky 
 Mountains. By sucli an admission we should establish a direct 
 
f)10 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 
 and complete interruption between our territory to the south- 
 ward of that point and tliat of which we are in possession to the 
 eastward of longitude 135 degrees along the course of the Macken- 
 zie River." 
 
 The Russian plenipotentiaries explained their object with 
 equal clearness. In a memorandum accompanying their counter- 
 proposal they said: "The principal motive which constrains Russia 
 to insist upon sovereignty over the above-indicated strip of terri- 
 tory {lisiere) upon the mainland {terre fermc) from the Portland 
 Channel to the point of intersection of the sixtieth degree [lati- 
 tude] with the 139th degree of longitude, is that, deprived of this 
 territory, the Russian- American Company would have no means of 
 sustaining its establishments, which would then be without any 
 support {point cfappui) and could have no solidity." If Great 
 Britain would accept the line proposed by them, the Russian 
 plenipotentiaries declared that their government would grant to 
 British subjects "the free navigation of all the rivers which empty 
 into the ocean through the said lisitre," and open the port of 
 Novo Archangelsk to their trade and vessels. 
 
 To this counter-proposal Sir C. Bagot objected that it "would 
 deprive His Britannic Majesty of sovereignty over all the inlets 
 and small bays lying between latitudes fifty-six degrees and fifty- 
 four degrees forty-five minutes, whereof several (as there is every 
 reason to believe) communicate directly with the establishments of 
 the Hudson's Bay Company and are consequently of essential im- 
 portance to its commerce." He offered, however, to accept a line 
 traced from the west toward the east "along the middle of the 
 channel which separates Prince of Wales and Duke of York 
 islands from all the islands situated to the north of the said isl- 
 ands until it touches the mainland." Subsequently he modified 
 this offer by proposing that the line be drawn "from the southern 
 extremity of the strait called 'Duke of Clarence's Sound,' through 
 the middle of this strait to the middle of the strait which sepa- 
 rates Prince of Wales and Duke of York islands" from the islands 
 to the north, and thence east"wardly to the mainland, thus giving 
 Prince of Wales Island to Russia. 
 
 These proposals the Russian plenipotentiaries declined. They 
 declared that "the possession of Prince of Wales Island without a 
 slice {porlion) of territory upon the coast situated in front of that 
 island could be of no utility whatever to Russia," since any estab- 
 
THE ALASKAN BOUNDARY. 511 
 
 lishment founded iiiDon it would then ''iind itself, as it were, 
 flanked by the English establishments on the mainland and com- 
 pletely at the mercy of the latter." They adhered to Portland 
 Channel; but, as to the eastern boundary of the lisiere, they of- 
 fered to extend it "along the mountains which follow the sinuosi- 
 ties of the coast as far as Mount Elias/' and then to run the line 
 along the 140th meridian of longitude instead of the 139th. Said 
 Count Nesselrode, in an instruction to Count Lieven, Eussian Am- 
 bassador at London, April 17, 1824: 
 
 "This proposal will assure to us merely a narrow strip of territory 
 {lUUre) upon the coast itself, and will leave the English establish- 
 ments all needful room for increase and extension. . . . We limit our 
 demands to a mere strip of the continent, and . . . we guarantee 
 the free navigation of the rivers and announce the opening of the 
 port of Novo Archangelsk. Russia cannot stretch her concessions 
 further. She will make no others. ... It cannot be reiterated with 
 sufficient positiveness that, according to the most recent charts, Eng- 
 land possesses no establishment either up to the latitude of Port- 
 land Channel or on the shore of the ocean itself; and Russia, when 
 she insists on preserving a moderate expanse of the mainland {terre 
 ferme) only insists in reality upon the means of utilizing — we might 
 better say of not losing — the surrounding islands." 
 
 The British cabinet, with the concurrence of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company, decided to accept the Eussian proposal, with a limi- 
 tation of the distance from the coast at which the line along the 
 mountains should run, and the selection of a meridian of longi- 
 tude north of Mount St. Elias farther to the west than the 140th. 
 In this way Eussia would secure her strip of territory on the main- 
 land and Great Britain prevent the intersection of her interior 
 possessions and communications. Great Britain accordingly pro- 
 posed that the line should ascend northerly along Portland Chan- 
 nel "till it strikes the coast of the continent lying in the fifty-sixth 
 degree of north latitude," and that it should thence be carried 
 '•along the coast, in a direction parallel to its windings, and at or 
 within the seaward base of the mountains by which it is bounded," 
 provided that it should not extend more than a certain number 
 of marine leagues inland, whatever the distance of the mountains 
 might be. Experience had shown, said the British Government, 
 that mountains which were assumed as lines of boundary were 
 sometimes incorrectly laid down, and that it was "therefore neces- 
 sary that some other security should be taken that the line of de- 
 marcation to be drawn parallel with the coast, as far as Mount St. 
 
512 THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 
 Elias, is not carried too far inland." It might be limited to ten 
 leagues or less.* 
 
 The Russian Government, in response to the last British propo- 
 sition, proposed that the lisih'e, instead of being bounded by the 
 summit of the mountains, except where it exceeded a certain dis- 
 tance from the coast, should "not be wider on the continent than 
 ten marine leagues from the shore of the sea.'" In other words, 
 Eussia wanted either the crest of the mountains, or else a line ten 
 leagues from the coast, as the boundary all the way. Great Brit- 
 ain objected to this as a withdrawal of the limit of the lisi^re 
 which the Eussians were themselves the first to propose, viz., "the 
 summit of the mountains which run parallel to the coast, and 
 which appear, according to the map, to follow all its sinuosities, 
 and to substitute generally that which we only suggested as a con- 
 nection of their first proposition."! Accordingly, Mr. Strat- 
 ford Canning, who had lately been appointed a plenipotenti- 
 ary to conclude the convention, proposed that the line 
 should follow "the crest of the mountains, in a direction parallel 
 to the coast," but that, if the crest should be found anywhere to 
 bo more than ten leagues from the sea, the boundary should there 
 be "a line parallel to the sinuosities of the coast, so that the line 
 of demarcation shall not be anywhere more than ten leagues from 
 the coast." 
 
 This proposal was accepted as a compromise, and the treaty was 
 drawn up and signed in conformity with it. Until a recent period 
 the line, as it was then understood by both governments, remained 
 unquestioned. It appeared on all the maps, including those pub- 
 lished in England, as the United States now maintains it, follow- 
 ing the sinuosities of the coast and running around the heads 
 of the inlets, including the Lynn Canal, and giving to Eussia an 
 unbroken strip of the mainland up to Mount St. Elias. 
 
 But more significant, perhaps, than any map, is the fact that 
 the greater part of the strip of mainland in question was for many 
 years after 1839 leased, at an annual rental, by the Hudson's Bay 
 
 *G. Canning to Sir C. Bagot, July 12, 1824. Were there room for doubt 
 as to what these proposals and counter-proposals meant, it might be worth 
 while specially to note the phase, "seaward base of the mountains," as 
 well as the suggestion made by the British Government that no forts 
 should be established or fortifications erected by either party "on the 
 summit or in the passes of the mountains," in case the boundary should 
 follow their summit and not their seaward base. (G. Canning to Sir C. 
 Bagot, July 21, lb24.) Both these phrases obviously referred to mountains 
 on the mainland. 
 
 f a. Canning to S. Canning, December 8, 1824. \ 
 
THE ALASKAN BOUNDARY. 513 
 
 Company. The lease .embraced the coast (exclusive of islands) 
 and the interior country belonging to Russia, situated between 
 Cape Spencer, on Cross Sound, and latitude fifty-four degrees 
 forty minutes or thereabout, including "the whole mainland coast 
 and interior country belonging to Eussia," eastward and south- 
 ward of an imaginary line drawn from Cape Spencer to Mount 
 Fairweather. By an agreement between the Hudson's Bay and 
 Eussian- American companies, which received the sanction of both 
 governments, this strip of territory was exempted from molesta- 
 tion during the Crimean War.* 
 
 As to the southern limit of the strip in question, a line through 
 Portland Channel, as now maintained by the United States, con- 
 tinued to be the uncontested boundary till about 1873, when 
 Canadian writers began to suggest that the line should run through 
 Behm Canal, or by some other way than Portland Channel, (1.) be- 
 cause, while the line is required by the treaty to "ascend to the 
 north" from the southernmost point of Prince of Wales Island, it 
 must first run to the east in order to enter Portland Channel, and 
 (2.) because the head of Portland Channel does not reach the fifty- 
 sixth degree of north latitude. These suggestions, besides disre- 
 garding the historical and geographical evidence, including that 
 of the British Admiralty charts, presuppose a minuteness and 
 accuracy of description which the negotiators did not essay. 
 When the line, commencing at the southernmost point of Prince 
 of Wales Island, was required to "ascend to the north" till it 
 should strike the fifty-sixth degree on the continent, the general 
 direction and objective of the boundary obviously was intended to 
 be given. This has not been uncommon in descriptions of boun- 
 dary. An actual due north line from the point in question would 
 Lave cut the island. Nor is the argument from a hiatus between 
 the head of Portland Channel and the fifty-sixth degree any 
 stronger. The "line," after ascending "Portland Channel, as 
 far as the point of the continent where it strikes the fifty-sixth 
 degree of north latitude," is required from "this last-mentioned 
 point" to follow "the summit of the mountains." If this was in- 
 
 *SIr George Simpson, Governor of Hudson's Bay Territory and a direc- 
 tor of Hudson's Bav Company, in his account of a trip around the world 
 (Lea & Blanchard, Philadelphia, 1847, Part 1, p. 124), referring to the lease 
 said: "Russia, as the reader is of course aware, possesses on the mainland 
 between latitude flfty-four degrees forty minutes and latitude sixty decrees 
 only a strip, never exceeding thirty miles in depth; and this strip, in Jbko ab- 
 sent of such an arrangement as has just been mentioned , (the aforesaid 
 lease), renders the interior comparatively useless to tingiana. . 
 VOL. CLXIX. — NO. 515. 33 
 
514 ^^^ NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. 
 
 tended as a complete description, covering every foot or mile of 
 the boundary, and if the "if' of the treaty was intended to refer 
 to the channel and not to the line, then Portland Channel evident- 
 ly was supposed to have performed the remarkable feat of climb- 
 ing to the summit of the mountains. But, obviously, it was the 
 *'line'' which was to "strike" the fifty-sixth parallel and reach the 
 summit of the mountains. 
 
 The drawing of the line through Portland Channel, whose out- 
 let into the sea appeared on the map in the same latitude as the 
 southernmost point of Prince of Wales Island, was part of the plan 
 of allowing to Eussia, in return for her abandonment of abnormal 
 jurisdictional claims and her concessions in respect of trade, a 
 strip of territory on the mainland as a barrier between her islands 
 and the British possessions in the interior. We have seen how 
 the representatives of Great Britain successively proposed as the 
 southern boundary the line of fifty-seven degrees thirty minutes, 
 then a line through "Chatham Straits to the head of Lynn Canal," 
 then a line drawn from west to east "through the middle of the 
 channel which separates the islands of Prince of Wales and Duke of 
 York from all the islands to the north" till it should touch the 
 mainland, and then a line drawn northward through Clarence 
 Strait and thence eastward to the mainland through the strait sep- 
 arating Prince of Wales and Duke of York islands from the islands 
 to the north; and how they finally accepted the line through Port- 
 land Channel, on which Russia, for the purpose of preserving for 
 her islands a protective barrier on the coast of the mainland, had 
 firmly and finally insisted. 
 
 But, while we have shown how the general principles of the 
 boundary were settled, it yet remains to adjust the line and mark 
 it. For this purpose it is conceded that something more than 
 the general descriptions of the treaty is requisite. To meet this 
 defect, various plans have been suggested, and there may be room 
 for the adjustment of common interests. The discovery of gold 
 in the Klondike region has intensified the desire of Canada for 
 ail outlet on Lynn Canal. This desire, if considered upon grounds 
 of mutual interest and convenience, rather than of treaty right, 
 is worthy of attention, since the coast must profit by the develop- 
 ment of the interior. It has been suggested that a lease be granted 
 of a narrow strip of land in that quarter, as an outlet on the sea. 
 The same object might, perhaps, be attained by assimilating one 
 
THE ALASKAN BOUNDARY. 515 
 
 or more of the portages, for instance, that by way of the Chilkoot 
 pass, the principal Klondike route, to a stream of water and treat- 
 ing it as an international highwa)^ By xirtiele II. of the Webster- 
 Ashburton treaty, it was stipulated that "all the water communica- 
 tions and all the usual portages along the line [of boundary] from 
 Lake Superior to the Lake of the Woods, and also Grand Portage, 
 from the shore of Lake Superior to the Pigeon Kiver, as now actu- 
 ally used, shall be free and open to the use of the citizens and sub- 
 jects of both countries." But, whatever the plan that may be 
 adopted, it is obvious that, if the end can be attained without the 
 sacrifice of clear national rights, the boundary should not be left 
 unsettled, but should, in the interest of trade and industry, of 
 the administration of justice, and of international amity, be 
 finally adjusted and marked. 
 
 J. B. MOOEE. 
 
SOME SOCIAL TENDENCIES IN AMERICA. 
 
 BY THE RIGHT REVEREND H. C. POTTER, D D., BISHOP OF 
 KEW YORK. 
 
 The historian of the future will find an interesting task in 
 tracing, within what has practically been a single century, the 
 rise and growth of two great republics, the French and our own. 
 The former may be said to have been born in 1789, and the lat- 
 ter in 1783; and, though the history of the former was obscured 
 and apparently terminated by the recurrence of periods of im- 
 perialism, yet with the year 1848 the republican form of govern- 
 ment re-established itself, and with a brief interval, represented 
 by the pyrotechnics of Napoleon the Third, has persisted until 
 this hour. 
 
 Such a study would become naturally, first of all, a study 
 of origins; and, from this point of view, its contrasts would be 
 both interesting and dramatic. When one takes the French 
 Declaration des Droits de I'Homme, and puts it beside our own 
 Declaration of Independence, it is, indeed, first of all, the re- 
 semblances rather than the contrasts that impress us. The char- 
 ter of the French Eevolution affirmed: 
 
 (1.) That all men are born and continue free and equal in 
 flights; 
 
 (2.) That Society is an association of men to preserve the 
 natural rights of men; 
 
 (3.) That sovereignty resides in the nation, and that all au- 
 thority, whether vested in an individual or in a body of men, 
 comes expressly from the nation; 
 
 (4.) That liberty is the power of doing what we will, so long 
 as it does not injure another; the only limits of each man's nat- 
 ural rights being such as secure the same rights to others; these 
 
JBlebtjr-flftta Year. Tro» Tyrlusque mlhl nullo dlscrimlne agotur. Vol. 160: No. 4, 
 
 THE 
 
 NORTH AMERICAN 
 R EVIEW 
 
 EDITED BY GEORGE B. M. HARVEY. 
 
 October, 1899. 
 
 The Peace Conference and the Moral Aspect of War, 
 
 Captain A. T. MAHAN, U. S. N., 
 United States Delegate to the Hague Conference. 
 
 In the Clutch of the Harpy Powers R. M. JOHNSTON 
 
 The Picture Gallery of the Hermitage.— I. . CLAUDE PHILLIPS 
 A Transvaal View of the South African Question, 
 
 Dr. F. V. ENGeLeNBURG, 
 Editor of the *' Pretorip. Volksstetn.'' 
 
 The Present Literary Situation i» France . . . HEBCRY JAMES 
 
 The Alaskan Boundary Professor j. B. MOORE, 
 
 • Eormerly Assistant Secretai^ of Statr.. 
 
 Some Social Tendencies in America, <^ 
 
 . The i^t. Rev. H. C. POTTER, D.D., 
 
 Bishop of Neiv York. 
 
 A Trained Colonial Civil Service . . o . . . E. G. BOURNE, 
 
 Professor of History in Yale University. 
 
 THE ANGLO-SAXON RIVALS: 
 
 Five Years of American Progress. . M. G. MULHALL, F.S.S. 
 The Decline of British Commerce .... A. MAURICE LOW 
 America and England in the East, 
 
 The Rt. Hon. Sir CHARLES W. DILKE, Bt., M.P. 
 The Restless Energy of the American People . IAN MACLAREN 
 
 The French Press and the Dreyfus Case . . . . M. de BLOWITZ, 
 
 Paris Corresponc^n^ /sj^/fhe iJon4(?i>*'i5:tT?its^.'^j.'i ', 
 
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 Sntered at the^Post-Omcti at New York, and admitted for iransmission through the maUs, as second-cUt.33 matter 
 
HAVE YOU READ THIS GREAT LOVE STORY 7 
 
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