98 CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



or fur-seal, or other fur-bearinjjj niiini.il or nnimals, on the shores of 

 Alaska, or iu the Behriujjf Sea, east of the 193'^ of west longitude, the 

 jury should find the defendants guilty, and assess their punishment 

 separately, at a fine of not less than 200 dollars nor more than 1,000 

 dollars, or imprisonment not more than six months, or l)y both, such 

 fines within the limits herein set forth, and imprisonment." 



CASE OF THE "ANNA BECK " AND OTHER VESSELS — 15RIEF FOR UNITED 

 STATES GOVERNMENT. 



The Counsel appearing for the United States Government,, 

 to justify the seizure of the "Anna Beck" and other ves- 

 sels in 1887, filed a "brief," from which the follo^vinii• extracts 

 are taken : 



See Bhie Book, xhe information iu this case is based on section 1956 of chapter 3 of 

 No 2 asPoV^'^r *^® Revised Statutes of the United States, which provides that— 

 112. See Ap'peii- " No person shall kill any otter, mink, nnirten, sable, or fur-seal, or 

 dix, vol. iii. other fur-bearing animal within the limits of Alaska Territory or in 



the waters thereof.'' 



The otlense is charged to have been committed 130 miles north of 

 the Island of Ounalaska, and therefore in the main waters of that 

 part of the Hehring Sea ceded by Russia to the United States 

 128 by the Treaty of 1867. The defendants demur to the informa- 

 tion on the ground — 



1. That the Court has no jurisdiction over the defendants, the 

 alleged oifense having been committed beyond the limit of a marine 

 league from the shores of Alaska. 



2. That the Act under which the defendants were arrested is uncon- 

 stitutional in so far as it restricts the free navigation of the Behring 

 Sea for fishing and sealing purposes beyond the limits of a marine 

 league from shore. The issue thus raised by the demurrer presents 

 squarely the questions: 



(1.) The jurisdiction of the United States over Behring Sea. 

 (2.) The power of Congress to legislate concerning those waters. 



THE ARGUMENT, 



The fate of the second of these propositions depends largely upon 

 that of the first, for if the jurisdiction and dominion of the United 

 States as to these waters be not sustained tlie restrictive Acts of Con- 

 gress must fall, and if our jurisdiction shall be sustained small ([ues- 

 tion can be made as to the power of Congress to regulate fishing and 

 sealing within our own waters. The grave question, one important 

 to all the nations of the civilized world, as well as to the United 

 States and Great Britain, is "the dominion of Behring Sea." 



After conceding unreservedly the general doctrine of the 

 o-mile limit, he proceeds: 



It thus appears that from our earliest history, contemporaneously 

 with our acce])tan(e of the principle of the marine league belt and 

 supported by the same high authorities is the .assertion of the doc- 

 trine of our right to dominion over our inland waters under the Treaty 

 of 1867, and on this rule of international law we base our claim to 

 jurisdiction and dominion over the w.'itersof the Behring Sea. While 

 it is, no doubt, true th.at a nation can not l)y Treaty acquire dominion 

 in contravention of the law of nations, it is none the less true that, 

 whatever title or dominion our grantor, Russia, possessed under the 

 law of nations at the time of the Treaty of Cession in 1867, jiassed and 

 now rightfully belongs to the United States. Having determined the 

 law, we are next led to inquire as to whether Behring Sea is an inland 

 water or a jiart of the open ocean, and what was Russia's jurisdiction 

 over it. 



HKHKINO SEA SAID TO HE INLAND WATER. 



Hehring Sea is an inland water. Beginning on the eastern coast of 

 Asia, this body of water, formerly known as the Sea of Kamtchatka, 

 is hounded Itv the Peninsula of Ivamtchatka and Eastern Siberia to 



