ORAL ARGUMENT OF CHRISTOPHER ROBINSON, Q. C. 287 



The President. — i must say, as there has been an objection raised, 

 that I cannot allow you to proceed without a consultation with my col- 

 leagues in a matter which I, for myself, should have conceived was open 

 to every body; but, perhaps, that is because I am more accustomed to 

 the French procedure which enables you to bring- before the judges any 

 new fact that luay arise, with the object of haviug before them every 

 thing that has taken place. As the history of the world goes on, every 

 day brings forth new facts, and we do not shut our eyes to what goes 

 on, but then the rules of English Common Law, such as are enforced 

 both in England and America, are more severe, as concerns evidence, 

 than anything I have been accustomed to even in theory. 



Mr. Carter. — Which rules have been adopted in the Treaty and the 

 prei)aration of these Cases. 



Sir Richard Webster. — I may be allowed to say, Mr. President, 

 that I should not have kept faith with the Tribunal had I not brought 

 these documents before them, because in re])ly to the statement made 

 by yourself, with the concurrence, as I understood, of the other mem- 

 bers of the Court, that the public documents passing between the 

 countries can be referred to, I said recognizing that if the pai)ers were 

 made public and were presented to Parliament, they should be laid 

 before the Tribunal; and therefore I should not have kept faith if I had 

 not presented them. 



The President. — We thank you for your intention. Sir Richard, 

 which is very loyal indeed, but we must consult between ourselves 

 before we allow you to go any further. 



Sir Richard Webster. — Might I point out tliat the United States 

 cannot be allowed to f(mnd an argument that Russia has taken this 

 action, without our being in a position to put the true facts before you. 



The President. — Of course, that is a thing we shall consider. 



The Tribunal then consulted for a short time. 



The President. — I wish jiersonally to explain what I meant when I 

 spoke of newspai)ers. I meant to say, of course, it is not the reading 

 of a newspaper which might be the embodying of an argument, but I 

 want to say, as men are naturally brought to take heed of all public 

 events which take place and such public events, we considered, are in 

 the reach of everybody, aiul that we might take heed of them. Of 

 course, if we were to hear by some commotion of nature that all the 

 seals had disappeared oft the face of the globe, it would be strange if 

 we could not take heed of it. 



Mr. Carter. — Our own law contemplates a certain amount of infor- 

 mation which the Court might take note of, but not so far as you go. 



The President. — It was only with reference to such an observation 

 of that kind, and I should not like to be misunderstood with regard 

 to it. So far as regards this particular case, after consideration, we do 

 not deem that it would be tit, at the present moment, to stop the pro- 

 ceedings of this Tribunal, and we therefore will raise no objection to 

 hearing the docuuient; but we will reserve to ourselves to consider 

 whether we will take it as evidence or reject it, when we have more 

 leisure to deliberate about the matter. It is only under that reserve 

 wow that we Avill ask Sir Richard Webster to proceed with his reading. 



Sir Richard Webster. — I quite understand, Mr. President, that it 

 was subject to all reserves of that kind. I will read nothing but official 

 documents. On the 29th May (10th June) 1893, Mons, Chichkine writes 

 from St. Petersbourg — and my learned friends have copies of this: 



