Arbitration seems to be a difficult mode of settling inter-
national disputes. The "British and American Joint High Commission" for settling everything in dispute between the United States and Canada has adjourned its sittings to August 2od, on account of the difficulty of coming to an agree- ment. The question at issue is the Alaskan boundary, and our own Foreign Office in a communiqué states that the main difficulty arose over arbitration, the British Commis- sioners wishing to follow the Venezuelan precedent, and ap- point six arbitrators, with power of referring to an umpire, while the Americans thought that finality conld be secured by a majority vote. The Americans, moreover, objected to a European nmkire, while the British disliked the notion of an American one. The respective Governments are, therefore, to consider further the subjects in dispute. The Canadians are always a little obstinate, thinking, as colonists are apt to do, rather of their own rights than of the broader interests of the Empire; but there is every reason to hope that in August contentious feelings will have been soothed away. The pro- fessional diplomatists will, however, have a right to chuckle a little. They were superseded by the Commissioners, and may fairly say that they could have failed as well as anybody else. Certainly the new method does not greatly increase speed.
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