CASE OF GREAT BEITAIN. 63 



by the law of nations as by the stipulations of the 1st Article of the 

 Convention of 1824, to fish'iu those seas, and to resort to the coast, for 

 the prosecution of their lawful commerce upon points not already 

 occupied. As such, it is the President's wish that you should remon- 

 strate, in an earnest but respectful tone, against this groundless 

 assumption of the Russian Fur Company, and claim from His Imperial 

 Majesty's Government for the owners of the brig "Loriot," for their 

 losses and for the damages they have sustained, such indemnitication 

 as may, on an investigation of the case, be found to be justly due to 

 theiii. 



Mr. Dallas subsequently wrote that he was led to believe g5ot|»^o°|- 2nd 

 that Eussian Establishments had been made at the places ex. doc. No. loe, 

 mentioned. Nevertheless, the United States contended P|g^-^pj,gmjjx_ 

 that at the expiration of the IVth Article, the law of vol. ii. Part ii! 

 nations practically gave United States ships the privileges ■''^fbM., p. -'36. 

 therein mentioned. vo!®*"]!^ p'arTHi' 



Mr. Dallas (16th August, 1837) wrote to the Secretary of xo.'s."' 

 State: 



The 1st Article asserts for both countries general and permanent g^^ Appendix, 

 rights of navigation, fishing, and trading with the natives, tipon vol. ii, Part II, 

 points not occupied by either, north or south of the agreed parallel of No. 7. 

 latitude. 



Mr. Forsyth, Secretary of State for the United States, |*^i*^iP-,^^j|^-i^, 

 writing to Mr. Dallas on the 3rd November, 1837, and voi ii, Part li,' 



81 referring to the 1st Article of the Convention of^"'^' 

 April, 1824, between the United States and Kussia, 



said: 



The 1st Article of that instrument is only declaratory of a right 

 which the parties to it possessed under the law of nations without 

 conventional stipulations, to wit, to navigate and fish in the ocean 

 upon an unoccupied coast, and to resort to such coast for the purpose 

 of trading with the natives. 



The United States, in agreeing not to form new establishments to 

 the north of latitude 54° 40' N., made no acknowledgment of the right 

 of Russia to the territory above that line. 



And again : 



It can not follow that the United States ever intended to abandon 

 the just right acknowledged by the 1st Article to belong to them under 

 the law of nations — to frequent any part of the unoccupied coast of 

 North America for the purpose of fishing or trading with the natives. 

 All that the Convention admits is an inference of the right of Russia 

 to acquire possession by settlement iu)rth of 54° 40' N. Until that 

 actual possession is taken, the Ist Article of the Convention acknowl- 

 edges the right of the United States to fish and trade as prior to its 

 negotiation. 



In his desi)atch of the 23rd February, 1838, Count Nes- sc^s'^s^.N^eZteix^ 

 selrode, the Russian Foreign Minister, wrote to Mr. Dallas: doc.'no. loe, p! 



' 238. SeeAppen- 



It is true, indeed, the Ist Article of the Con\-eutiou of 1824, to which dix, vol. ii, Part 

 the proprietors of the "Loriot" appeal, secures to the citizens of the ^^' •^°' ^^• 

 United States entire liberty of navigation in the Pacific Ocean, as 

 well as the right of landing without disturliance upon all points on 

 the north-west coast of America, not already occupied, and to trade 

 with the natives. 



Again, Mr. Dallas, in a despatch to Count Nesselrode, 

 dated the 5th (17th) March, 1838, interpreted Article I of 

 the Convention as being applicable to any part of the 

 Pacific Ocean. He wrote: 



. . . The right of the citizens of the United states to navigate Q^'^X^'e^H' 

 the Pacific Ocean, and their right to trade with the aboriginal natives vol.'^fi, Par? n' 

 of the north-west coast of America, without the jurisdiction of other No. 11. 



