Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 May 1889 — WASHINGTON NOTES. [ARTICLE]

WASHINGTON NOTES.

A Washington special to the Herald says. The sending es the English flag ship Bwifture and the Amphion to Sitka, with orders to cruise in Behring tea, has caused quite a stir in official circles here. The Treasury Department has time and again called the attention of the Government to the fact that wbipn flying she English flag are engaged in illicit sealing in Behring Sea. in most cases these vessels are well armed, and our revenue cutters, which carry only howitzers, are no match for them. The Government has decided that its interests in. Alaska shall be protected. The United States steamer Adams, which was under sailing orders for Honolulu, expected to leave on Tuesday, but a telegram has been sent to the commandant of the Mare Island Naw Yard to detain her. She will go north in company with the Iroquois, and both vessels will leave early in the week for Sitka. The State Department has decided that Behring Sea is a Mare Clausum, and intends tor assert dominion over the whole North Pacific within the limit defined by our treaty with Russia. What constitutes the waters of Alaska has long been a complicated question, and if, as appears, the English Government is sending war ships to protect Canadian vessels engaged in taking seal north of the Aleutian Jslands, our Government will be confronted with an international question of the gravest importance. The revenue cutters Rush ana Bear and the war ships Thetis, Adams and Iroquois will be at hand to enforce the law of the country as defined by the Treasury Department, so far as depredation of the seal fishing is concerned. Our Government takes the ground that when we acquired Alaska by purchase in 1867 we also acquired all of its vested rights, one of which was Behring Sea. This question was settled jn 1829, when England attempted the same tactics she is now engaged in. Russia showed fight and sent a large fleet to these waters to uphold her position. The question was finally settled by arbitration against England. Secretary Blaine is determined in this matter. He maintains that we have exclusive dominion over all that portion of the Pacific Ocean known as Behring Sea, excepting such as lies east of the treaty line, bordering on the Siberian cqast. The matter has been discussed in Cabinet, and the determination of the administration is to enforce all our rights in the matter. If England persists in sending ships of war to protect the Canadian vessels in taking these young seal, this government will take vigorous measures to, stop it, The firstTonflict of authority within this immense area of water, claimed and owned by the United States, may mean war. It is believed that England, seeing that this government is determined to enforce its rights, even if recourse to force is necessary, will withdraw and submit the question to arbitration, as was done with Russia in 1829.

The pension appropriation act for the current fiscal year appropriated $80,460,0(10 for the payment of pensions, and $8,000,000 was alsc appropriatedjor the same purpose to meet a threatened deficiency, making the total appropriations $88,400,000. This whole amount will be necessary to meet the demands of pensioners, and it may be that there will be a deficiency. Hon. Samuel J. Randall, in a conversation, Wednesday, expressed the opinion that the outlook for the Democracy in ’92 is the brightest, and he feels sure of the next House and President. “We fellows,” he declares, “have all got to get together, and lam certain we will, and we will whip them out of their boots,” Commissioner of Pensions Tanner, while alighting from a carriage in front of the pension office Thursday morning, slipped and fell, severely injuring himself. Having lost both of his legs, he is almost helpless when he loses his balance. It is not thought that his injuries will prove serious. The marriage of ex-Secretary Bayard to Miss Mary Walling Clymer is announced to take place June 12, in St. John’s Episcopal Church, at Washington. There will be no more changes in the office of the Altorney General for some months. The President will not talk politics on Sunday. .. -