ry between British and
Russian America on the Pacific. That treaty gave Russia a panhandle
strip of coast half-way down what is now British Columbia; and, when
the United States bought Alaska in 1867, the purchase of course
included this strip of coast. As British Columbia grew, the
disadvantage of this barrier became seriously felt, and repeated
attempts were made to have the boundary defined and, if possible, a
port awarded to Canada. The discovery of gold {211} in the Klondike in
1896 made this all the more urgent. The treaty of 1825 provided that
north of Portland Channel the boundary should follow the summit of the
mountains parallel to the coast, and where these mountains proved to be
more than ten marine leagues from the coast, the line was to be drawn
parallel to the windings of the coast at ten leagues' distance. Canada
contended for an interpretation of this wording which would give her a
harbour at the head of one of the fiords which ran far inland, while
the United States, following the usual international doctrine that a
disadvantage to your neighbour must be an advantage to yourself,
insisted that its spite fence should be as high and as gateless as
possible.

The main point of difference between the two countries was as to the
way of settling the dispute. The United States proposed a commission
of three representatives from each side. Given a desire for fair
dealing, such a commission is perhaps most satisfactory, at least for a
permanent body, as the experience of the Waterways Commission has since
shown. But for a temporary purpose, and in the spirit which then
existed, the Canadian negotiators knew too well that such a board {212}
could reach a decision only by the weakening of one of the British
members. They urged, therefore, that a board of three arbitrators
should be appointed, one of them an international jurist of repute who
should act as umpire. This was the course which the United States had
insisted upon in the case of Venezuela, but what was sauce for the
Venezuelan goose was not sauce for the Alaskan gander. The United
States asserted that the Canadian case had been trumped up in view of
the Klondike discoveries, and would not accept any medium of settlement
which did not make it certain beforehand that, right or wrong, the
claim of Canada would be rejected.

The deadlock in this issue proved hopeless, and the Commission's
labours ended without definite result upon any point for