Mallet-Prevost surmised from the private behavior of the judges that there had a political deal between Russia and Britain, and said that the Russian chair of the panel, Friedrich Martens, had visited Britain with the two British arbitrators in the summer of 1899, and subsequently had offered the two American judges a choice between accepting a unanimous award along the lines ultimately agreed, or a 3 to 2 majority opinion even more favourable to the British.
Mallet-Prevost formodede ud fra dommernes private adfærd, at der eksisterede en politisk studehandel mellem Rusland og Storbritannien, og sagde, at den russiske formand for panelet, Friedrich Martens, havde besøgt Storbritannien sammen med de to britiske tribunalmedlemmer i sommeren 1899 og efterfølgende havde givet de amerikanske medlemmer valget mellem at acceptere en enig afgørelse svarende til den grænse, der endte med at blive vedtaget, eller en 3:2 afgørelse, der var endnu mere favorabel for briterne.