150 OKAL ARGUMENT OF SIR CHARLES RUSSELL, Q. C. M. P. 



now call attention to the position which Lord Londonderry, represent- 

 ing Great Britain, took up; and I say, as I said in reference to the 

 other assertion of the United States, that Great Britain never departed 

 from that position. 



Now on the next page, page 15, is a communication dated 19th Feb- 

 ruary, 1822, from Mr. Stratford Canning who was then in Washington. 

 Eefeiring to an interview with Mr. Adams, he says: 



Mr. Adams gave me to understand that it was not the intention of the American 

 Cabinet to admit the claim thus notified on the part of Russia. His objection 

 appears to lie more particularly against the exclusion of foreign vessels to bo great a 

 distance from the shore. 



I have to point out that so far the southern boundary of Eussian 

 possessions is concerned, it had only the indirect interest for the United 



States that I have mentioned. 

 899 Then the attention of the Foreign Office is further drawn to 



the matter by the Hudson's Bay Company, on page 15. I need 

 not read that. 



On page 17 is an impostant memorandum by the Duke of Wellington, 

 in these terms: 



In the course of a conversation which I had yesterday with Count Lieven, he 

 informed me that he had been directed to give verbal explanations of the Ukase 

 respecting — 



I ask the attention of the Tribunal to the language used — 

 the north-west coast of America. 



Where is there any limitation to be found that the withdrawal of the 

 Ukase was confined to the Ocean south of the Aleutians? 



These explanations went, he said, to this, that the Emperor did not propose to 

 carry into execution the Ukase in its extended sense. That His Imperial Majesty's 

 ships had been directed to cruize at the shortest possible distance from the sliore 

 in order to supply the natives with arms and ammunition, and in order to warn all 

 vessels that that was His Imperial Majesty's dominion; and that His Imperial 

 Majesty had besides given directions to his Minister in the United States to agree 

 upon a Treaty of Limits with the United States. 



You see, Mr. President, this is very like the echo of the communica- 

 tion which Mr. Middleton records, not with Count Lieven, but with 

 another Eussian Minister, when he is informed that Eussia cannot 

 withdraw what has been done in the way of giving orders, but that he 

 may rest assured that those orders will not be acted upon, and that the 

 orders sent out will be only to exercise control within the limits recog- 

 nized by international law. 



The Duke of Wellington proceeds to say: 



It appears here that this explanation when given will be very little satisfactory; 

 and that at best it is oulj'^ a verbal explanation of a written and published Ukase, 

 the terms of which, however contrary to the law of Nations and protested against 

 by us, must be the rule for our merchants and traders till we can obtain some docu- 

 ment in writing which will alter it. This is the sense in which I propose to act at 

 Vienna upon this part of the instructions, and it is desirable that I should be 

 informed whether we have any claim to territory on the north-west coast of America, 

 and what are the opinions and reasonings of the civilians upon the question of 

 dominion on the sea. 



This letter is clear and businesslike as one would have expected from 

 the Duke of Wellington; and I need not remind the Tribunal that at 

 this time, although the marine league limit had been pretty generally 

 recognized, it certainly had not been so universally fixed and recognized 

 as in later years. 



