CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 105 



leaf^iie of the co.ast, wliicli bus becu designated as the extent of national 

 jurisdiction, reason seems to dictate a restriction, if, under pretext of 

 carrying on thi^ fishery, an evasion of the Revenue Laws of the coun- 

 try nuxy reasonably be apprehended, or any other serious injury to the 

 Sovereign of tlie coast, he has a right to prohibit it; but, as such pro- 

 hibition derogates from a natural right, tiie evil to be apprehended 

 ought to be a real, not an imaginary one. No such evil can be appre- 

 hended on a tlesei"t and uninhabited coast ; therefore, sucli coasts form 

 no exception to the common right of I'ishing in tiie seas adjoining 

 them. All the reasoning on this sul)jcct applies to the large bays of 

 the ocean, the entrance to which cannot be deiended; and this is the 

 doctrine of Vattel, chapter 23, section 291, who expressly cites the 

 Straits of Magellan, as an instance for the application of the rule. 



. . . The Treaty concluded between Great Britain and Spain, in British and 

 1790, already alluded to, is to be viewed, in reference to this subject, p"^'';^", ^|t"\® 

 because, both nations, by restricting themselves from forming Settle- gief 'vol.^xx*'ij. 

 ments, evidently intended that the fishery should be left open, both 351. 

 in the waters and on the shores of these islands, and perfectly free, so 

 that no individual claim for damage, for use of the shores, should ever 

 arise. That case, however, could scarcely occur, for whales are invari- 

 aldy taken at sea, and generally without the marine league — and 

 seals, on rocks and sandy beaches, incapable of cultivation. The 

 Stipulation in the Treaty of 1790 is, clearly, founded on the right to 

 use the unsettled shores for the purpose of fishery, and to secure its 

 continuance. 



Mr. Robert Greenliow, Avliose works liave already been 

 quoted, in a series of articles on the Falkland Islands, writ 

 ten for "Hunt's Mercliants' Magazine," in February, 1842, 

 refers to the claim set up by IJuenos Ayres respecting" the 

 jurisdiction of the liepublic and the application of its laws 

 and regulations, " especially those respecting the seal fish- 

 ery on the coast." 



Mr. Greenhow says: 



To proceed another step in admissions. Supposing the Argentine .^""'f""^^'''"' 

 Republic to have really and unnuestionablv inherited from Spain the !!;l''''ff t'„i i".^!!,". 

 sovereignty ot the territories adjoining it on the south, and the con- 1842_ p. 137. 

 tiguons islands, that Government would still want the right to extend 

 its "Regulations respecting the seal fishery" to the unsettled portions 

 of the coasts of those territories. That right was indeed assumed by 

 Spain, with many equally unjust, which were enforced so long as other 

 nations did not find it pnuhait to contest them. But as the Spanish 

 ])ower waned, other iiations claimed their imprescri])tible rights ; 

 138 they insisted on navigating every part of tlie open sea, and oi^ 

 its unoccupied straits and harbours, with such limitations only 

 as each might choose to admit by Treaty with another; and they 

 rosorted to the North Pacific coasts of America for trade and settle- 

 ment, and to the southernmost shores of the continent for the seal 

 fishery, without regard for the exclusive pretensions of Spain to the 

 sovereigntv of those regions. Of the hundreds of vessels, nearly all 

 American, which a luniallji frequented the coasts and seas above mentioned 

 after 17S9, not one was captured or detained by the Spanish authorities; 

 and long before the revolutions in Southern America began, the pro- 

 hibitory Decrees of the Court of Madrid and of its Governors, rela- 

 tive to those parts of the world, had become obsolete, and the warnings 

 of its officers were treated as jests. 



The common right of all nations to navigate and fish in the open 

 sea, and in its indefensible straits, and to use their unsettled shores 

 for temporary purposes, is now admitted among the principal Maritime 

 Powers; and the stii)ulations in Treaties on those subjects, are intended 

 to — prevent disputes as to what coasts are to be considered as unsettled, — 

 what straits are indefensible, — within what distance from a settled coast the 

 sea ceases to be open, i^-c. 



The Governments of Spanish American Republics have, however, 

 in naany instances exhibited a strong indis))osition to conform with 

 these and other such Regulations of national law, though clearly 

 founded on justice and re;ison, and intended clearly for the benefit of 

 the weak, to which class they ail belong. 



