ORAL ARGUMENT OF SIR CHARLES RUSSELL, Q. C. M. P. ^5 



siou in 1867, passed and now rightfully belongs to the United States. Having deter- 

 mined the law, we are next led to inquire as to whether Bebring's Sea is an inland 

 water or a part of the open ocean, and what was Russia's jurisdiction over it. 



Bebring's Sea is an inland water. Beginning on the eastern coast of Asia, this 

 body of water, foruierly known as the Sea of Kamchatka, is bounded by the Penin- 

 sula of Kiimchatka and l*2:istern Siberia to the Behrinn's Strait. From the American 

 side of this strait the waters of the Beliriug's Sea wash the coast of the mainland of 

 Alaska as far south as the Peuiusula of ALaslca. From the extremity of this penin- 

 sula, in a long, sweeping curve, the Aleutian Islands stretch in a continuous chain 

 almost to the shores of Kamchatka, thus encasing the sea. 



Eussia'a Title and Dominion. 



It will not be denied that at the time the United States acquired the Territory of 

 Alaska by the Treaty of 1X07, tlie waters of the Bihring's Sea washed only the shores 

 of liussian territory. The territory on the Asiatic side slie had possessed "since the 

 memory of man runuethnot to the contrary." Her title to the other portions of those 

 shores and her dominion over the waters of the Bebring's Sea are based " on discovery 

 and settlement." 



Possession and Supremacy. 



The light of a nation to acquire newterritory by discovery and possession has been 

 so uuiv(!rsal]y recognized by the law of nations that a citation of authorities is scarcely 

 necessary. Upon this subject the most eminent as well as the most conservative of 

 authorities says : "All mankind have an equal right to things that have not yet fallen 

 into the possession of any one, and those things belong to the person who first takes 

 ])Ossession of them. When, therefore, a nation finds a country uninhabited and with- 

 out an owner, it may lawfully take possession of it, and after it has sufficiently made 

 known its will in this respect it cannot be deprived of it by another nation." 



" Thus navigators going on voyages of discovery, furnished with a commission from 

 their Sovereign, meeting islands or other lands in a desert state, have taken 

 834 possession of tliem in the name of their nation, and this title has been usually 

 respecteil , provided it was soon followed by a real possession. " " When a nation 

 takes possession of a country to which no prior owner can lay claim, it is considered 

 as. acquiring the empire or sovereignty of it at the same time with the domain." 

 "The whole space over which a nation extends its government becomes the seat of 

 its jurisdiction and is called its territory. " ( Vattel, p. 98.) 



Such being the law, we are led to inquire as to on what discoveries, possessions, 

 and occupation Russia's right to dominion in North America is based. 



Historical Sketch— 1725-1867. 



In 1725, under the commission of that wondrous combination of iron and energy, 

 Peter the Great, an expedition was organized, crossed the continent from St. Peters- 

 burg to Kamchatka, where a vessel was constructed, and in .July 1728 sailed for 

 explorations to the north and east. That vessel was the "Gabriel". Her master 

 was Vitus Bebring, a name destined to historical immortality. On the exjiedition 

 Behring crossed the waters of the Sea of Kamchatka, discovered and named the 

 Island St. Lawrence midway between which and the Asiatic mainland our boundary- 

 line is laid down by the Treaty, and after passing through the straits which bear 

 his name returned to St. Petersburg. 



In 1733 a second expedition was organized under the auspices of the Government 

 and the commission of Queen Anne, and with Behring, raised to the rank of Admiral, 

 at its head, repeated the long and dreary journey across Sil)eria, and in June, 1741, 

 sailed for new discoveries. In July of that year Behring sighted the American con- 

 tinent, some authorities claim at the 58th degree of north latitude, others at the 50th 

 degree. The latter is probably correct, as it rests on the authority of Stellar, who 

 accompanied the expedition, and Behring undoubtedly sailed as far south along the 

 American coast as the 45th parallel, in accordance with his instructions. But what 

 is more pertinent to this inquiry, he discovered several of the Aleutian Islands and 

 the Komamleroff group or couplet. On the larger of this couplet, which bears his 

 name, the hardy navigator^ after shipwreck, died on the 19th of December, 1741. 



Itussian Discovery. 



Bnt the spirit of Russian discovery survived him, and from the starting point he 

 began traders, hunters, and adventurers made their way from island to island until 

 the whole Aleutian Chain, and with it the mainland, was discovered. In 1743. 174.5, 

 1747, and 1749 a Cossack sergeant named Bossof made four Qoiigecutive voyages from 



