Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 20, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 September 1898 — QUESTIONS AT ISSUE. [ARTICLE]

QUESTIONS AT ISSUE.

American-Canadian Disputes Discussed at Quebec. Since the assembling of the joint high commission at Quebec, several topics not originally submitted for consideration have been suggested. Some relate to disputes that have afflicted and irritated the two countries ft# the greater part of the century. The. remainder have arisen of recent years in the rivalry of interest! and the development of the frontier. Upon most of them the commissioners can easily reach an understanding. That is evident from the conciliatory and liberal spirit shown by all concerned. Matters of detail only will have to be adjusted. The dispositions of both the Canadians and the Americans are to yield to each other wherever it is possible, nnd not dwell upon unimportant issues. Both are anxious to remove forever all causes of irritation, and both are willing to make sacrifices to accomplish that end. The lake fisheries offer a perplexing problem for which no solution has yet been suggested. The boundary line between Alaska and the Northwest territory will be determined by a corps of experts. A treaty will be made for a reciprocal law relating to wrecks and salvage upon the great lakes and the St. Lawrence liver. In the question of mining rights the commissioners of Canada express their willingness to adopt any reasonable suggestions that the United States commissioners may offer. It is proposed to settle permanently the long-standing dispute over the seals of the north Pacific by having the Congress of the United States appropriate money to buy the ships and outfits of the Canadian sealers. It is probable that the long-standing controversy over the enjoyment of the bonded privilege by Canadian railways will be hung up, because there is such a difference of opinion in the United States upon this subject. The labor troubles will bo settled by the passage of a law by the Canadian parliament similar to the immigration law of the United States, shutting out paupers, lunatics, contract laborers and all other undesirable foreigners. It is impossible to forecast what the commission will do with the fisheries dispute, which has been pending since the beginning of the century; and its satisfactory settlement is vital to the future harmony of the two countries. The free use of Canadian canals by American ships, which has been demanded by the Chicago Board of Trade and other commercial organizations uppn the lakes, cannot be granted by the Dominion Government for reasons of economy. The extradition treaty now existing will be amended so that officers of the. law may convey prisoners from one point of the United States to another through Canadian territory or from one point to another in Canada through the territory of the United States.