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



The next subject that is dealt with as to self-preservation in time of 

 peace is the law of Quarantine, which is referred to on page 159: 



" Upon tills principle also", he says, " was based the British act pnttint;; restric- 

 tions upon the jiansage of a vessel on the high sea, a])proacliing Great Britain from 

 a port where infectious disease was raging. Quarantine and health regulations 

 are usually enforced within the jurisdictional limit, and so confined, are in ordi- 

 nary cases sufficient for their purpose. But when in a particular case they are 



1105 insufficient, and the necessity of protecting the country from incursion of 

 dangerous disease re()nire8 it. no right of freedom of the sea stands in the way 



of putting proper restrictions on the ajiproach of vessels, at any distance from the 

 shore that may be found reciuisite. 



I need not say that this is a subject as to which there would be a 

 ready concurrence of all civilized nations to i)revent the spread of dis- 

 The Quarantine easc, and any measures that required to be adopted are 

 analogy. not mcasures that would be likely to be called in ques- 



tion by any nation, or as to whicli it would be necessary to resort to the 

 enforcement of any international principle at all. My learned friend 

 has misconceived the effect and character of these laws. The British 

 statute is the 6th of George the Fourth, cha])ter 78, passed in 1825, 

 which I have before me, and I will furnish my learned friend with it, if 

 he desires. For brevity, I will read a carefully prepared and correct 

 summary of that statute. First of all, the Act deals with vessels 

 coming to the shores of a particular nation in the same way as the 

 Hovering Acts. It deals therefore solely with vessels coming to British 

 ports. It does not profess to deal in any other way with vessels beyond 

 the three-mile limit coming from infected places. The following only 

 are subject to quarantine: — first, vessels coming to the United King- 

 dom from infected places; secondly, boats receiving persons and goods 

 from vessels which have come from or touched at infected places; and, 

 thirdly, persons or goods on board of such vessels coming from or 

 having touched at infected places, or on board such receiving boats, in 

 order to meet the case of trans-shipment from infected vessels. 



What are the enacting provisions in relation to those classes of ves- 

 sels or goods coming from vessels or boats which have come from infected 

 places? Vessels liable to quarantine, that is, vessels or receiving boats 

 coming to TJnited Kingdom ports, because, of course, the quarantine is 

 to be performed with reference to the port to which it is destined and 

 in the port of the territory, — vessels liable to quarantine are to hoist 

 quarantine signals on meeting any other vessel at sea or when they are 

 within two leagues of the United Kingdom coast. Signals are to be 

 continued so long as the meeting vessel continues in sight, or the ves- 

 sel itself remains within two leagues of the coast of the United King- 

 dom, and until the vessel shall have arrived in a United Kingdom port; 

 and, if it fails to do that, there is a penalty of £100 fixed for it; and 

 that applies to all ships. How is this jjenalty to be recovered? It 

 never can touch any vessel that does not come to the port, because, 

 under section 35, the only remedy for the recovery of the penalty is by 

 proceeding in a local Court against the Captain of the vessel; and, 

 therefore, although it sjieaks of the penalty being incurred if the 

 quarantine signal is not hoisted when it approaches within two leagues, 

 it cannot be operative until the ship herself, with the Captain on board 

 of her, has come within the territorial jurisdiction of the port. 



Further, vessels having infectious disease on board are required 



1106 to hoist a signal when they meet any other vessel at sea or are 

 within two leagues of the United Kingdom coast; and the signal 



is to remain hoisted so long as the meeting vessel remains in sight, or 

 the vessel itself remains within two leagues of the United Kingdom 



