Canada under British Rule 1760-1900Bourinot, John George
History
Canada under British Rule 1760-1900
Bourinot, John George
Canada -- History
[10: The following is the article in full: "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 southernmost point of
the island called Prince of Wales Island, which point lies in the
parallel of fifty-four degrees forty minutes north latitude, and between
the one hundred and thirty-first and the one hundred and thirty-third
degree of west longitude, the said line shall ascend to the north along
the channel called Portland Channel as far as the point of the continent
where it strikes the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude. 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 one hundred and forty-first degree of west longitude
(of the same meridian), and finally from the said point of intersection
of the one hundred and forty-first 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"]
[Illustration: MAP OF BRITISH COLUMBIA AND YUKON DISTRICT SHOWING
DISPUTED BOUNDARY BETWEEN]
The Canadian commissioners first offered as a compromise to leave Dyea
and Skagway in the possession of the United States if the commissioners
of that country would agree that Canada should retain Pyramid Harbour,
which would give to Canadians a highway into the Yukon district. The
acceptance of this compromise would have made a common water of the Lynn
Canal, and at the same time left to the United States the greater
portion of the territory in dispute. When the commissioners of the
United States refused this fair compromise, the Canadians offered to
refer the whole question to arbitration in order to ascertain the true
boundary under the Anglo-Russian treaty. They proposed that the
arbitrators should be three jurists of repute: one chosen for Great
Britain by the judicial committee of the privy council, one appointed by
the president of the United States, and the third a high international
authority to act as an umpire. The commissioners of the United States
positively refused to agree to this proposition and suggested the
appointment of six jurists, three to be appointed by Great Britain, and
the others by the United States. The Canadian representatives were
unable to agree to the amendment suggested by their American colleagues,
on the ground that it did not "provide a tribunal which would
necessarily, and in the possible event of differences of opinion,
finally dispose of the question," They also refused to agree to other
propositions of the United States as "a marked and important departure
from the rules of the Venezuelan boundary reference." The commissioners
of the United States were not only unwilling to agree to the selection
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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