Regelung der Alaska-Grenzfrage zwischen Kanada und den Vereinigten Staaten.
Nr. 13213. GROSSBRITANNIEN.
Der Minister des Ausw. an
den Botschafter der Vereinigten Staaten in London. Schlägt die Entscheidung der Alaskafrage durch ein Schiedsgericht vor.
Foreign Office, July 1, 1899.
Your Excellency, || The correspondence which has passed between the United States' Government and that of Her Majesty, as well as the negotiations and other diplomatic intercourse which have taken place both here and at Washington, have left on the minds of Her Majesty's Ministers a strong impression that no effective progress will be made in coming to an agreement upon the subjects which divide the two countries without the assistance of arbitration. This appears to be especially the case with respect to the Alaska boundary. The different signification which the two Governments attach to the language of the Treaty of 1825 is not of a character which appears likely to be adjusted by the method of explanation or argument on the two sides. Some of the ablest men belonging to both nations have now for several months devoted the utmost erudition and acumen to this discussion, but the attainment of an agreement seems to be no nearer than when the communications began. Her Majesty's Government feel that no satisfactory agreement between the two countries can be arrived at until the difference with respect to the Alaska boundary has been adjusted, and that this adjustment can only be attained by the process of arbitration. || Much, of course, will depend upon the manner in which the subject of controversy is presented to the Tribunal selected for arbitration, and upon the conditions by which the Arbitrator's decisions are shaped and limited. Upon this matter some
*) Blaubuch Cd. 1877. Red. Staatsarchiv LXX.