112 CASE OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



147 The Agent of the United States at Halifax, after 

 setting out the various authorities under this head, 



concluded as follows: 



AUTHORITIES QUOTED BY THE UNITED STATES IN HALI- 

 FAX FISHERIES COMMISSION. 



Proceeilinii.s of The jurisdiction of a Stato or country over its adjoiniug waters is 

 Halifax Pish- limited to 3 miles from low-water mark aloug its sea-coast, and the 

 erics Cj) in in i^s- g^^mg, ru]y applies equally to bays and gulfs whose width exceeds 6 

 siou, J8/7, 15. -. jijjjgy from headland to headland. Property in and dominion over 

 the sea can only exist as to those portions capable of permanent pos- 

 session; that is, of a possession from the land, which possession can 

 only be maintained by artillery. At one mile beyond the reach of 

 coast-guns there is no more possession than in mid-ocean. This is the 

 rule laid down by almost all the writers on international law. 



As to inland seas and seas over which empire may extend, 

 the following;- authorities were referred to by the Agent in 

 the same brief: 



A'ATTEL. 



Ibid., p. 162. At pre.sent, says Vattel, "Law of Nations," Book 1, ch. xxiii, (ji§ 

 289, 291, the whole space of the sea within cannon shot of the coast is 

 considered as making a part of the territory; and, for that reason, a 

 vessel taken under the guns of a neutral fortress is not a good prize. 



All we have said of tlie parts of the sea near the coast may be said 

 more particularly, and with much greater reason, of tlie roads, bays, 

 and straits, as still more capable of being occupied, and of greater 

 importance to the safety of the country. But I speak of the bays and 

 straits of small extent, and not of those great ])arts of the sea to 

 which these names are sometimes given — as Hudson's Bay and the 

 Straits of Magellan — over which the J^mpire cannot extend, and still 

 less a right of property. A bay whose entrance may be defended 

 may be possessed and rendered subject to the laws of the Sovereign; 

 and it is of importance that it should be so, since the country may be 

 much more easily insulted in such a place than on the coast, open to 

 the winds and the impetuosity of the waves. 



uluntschli. 



Ibid., p. 163. Professor Bluutschli, in his " Law of Nations," Book 

 4, §§ 302, 309, states the rule in the same way: 



When the frontier of a State is formed by the oi)cn sea, the part of 

 the sea over which the State can from the shore make its power 

 respected — i. e., a portion of the sea extending as far as a cannon-shot 

 from the coast — is considered as lielonging to tlie territory of that 

 State. Treaties or agreements can establish other and more precise 

 limits. 



Note. — The extent practised of this sovereignty has remaricably 



increased since the invention of far-shooting cannon. This is the 



consequence of tlie improvements made in the means of defence, of 



which the State makes use. The sovereignty of States over 



148 the sea extended originally only to a stone's-throw from the 

 coast; latei', to an arrow-shot; fire arms were invented, and by 



rapid progress we have arrived to tlu; far-shooting cannon of the 

 present age. But still we preserve the priuci))le: '' Terrw dominiitm 

 finitur, iibi fiitittir ormornm ris." 



Within certain limits, there are suluuitted to the sovereignty of the 

 bordering State: 



(a) The portion of thi^ sea ]>la.C(i(l within a cannon-shot of the shore. 



(b) Harbours. 

 {(■) Gulfs. 



(d) Roadsteads. 



Note. — Certain portions of the sea. are so nearly joined to the ferra 

 firma, that, in some measure at least, they ought to form a part of the 

 territory of the bordering State; they ar(» considered as accessories to 

 the terra firma. The safety of the State, and the ])ubli(' (|uiet, are m 



