ORAI. ARGUMENT OF SIR CHARLES RUSSELL, Q. C. M. P. 373 



I have already dealt with the other view in which this ques- 

 11G7 tiou is put, and, as I have said, I must recur to it, namely, the 

 so-called self-pveservative or self-defensive regulations. There- 

 fore I claim that the answer to the fifth question ought to be, as given 

 on page 03 of our Argument, namely: 



That the United States have no right (a) of protection, or (b) of property, in the 

 seals frequenting the islands of the United States in Behring Sea when they are 

 found outside the ordinary 3-mile limit. 



There is one other case, to which I must make an allusion. That is 

 the exceptional case of the St. Helena Act of 1815, the history of which, 

 no doubt. Sir, is in your mind. I think I may content myself with 

 reading what is said in the Argument upon it. Mr. Blaine, you will 

 recollect in one of his earliest dispatches, which is set out in the first 

 volume of the United States Appendix, at page 283, refers to this Act, 

 and says : — Here is an island in mid ocean, and the Government of Great 

 Britain assumed an authority and power to exclude the commerce of 

 nations from the api>roach to that island for its own political ends, an 

 assumption of Jurisdiction and of authority much greater than they allege 

 we are claiming in this case. 



The facts are shortly and correctly set out at page 61 of our argu- 

 ment; and I have got before me, in order to suj)plement that statement, 

 a copy of the Articles of the Treaty upon the subject, signed in Paris, 

 on the 2nd of August, 1815, authorizing this exceptional Act. The 

 statement in the Argument is this: 



At the peace of 1815 it was determined by Great Britain in conjunction with the 

 allied Powers, that St. Helena should be the place allotted for the residence of the 

 Emperor Napoleon Buonaparte, under such regulations as might be necessary for the 

 perfect security of his person; and it was resolved that, for this purpose, all ships 

 whatever. — 



Mr. Justice Harlan. — It was resolved by whom; by the parties to 

 that Treaty? 



Sir Charles Russell. — The parties to this Treaty; yes. You will 

 see in a moment, sir. I have got before me a copy of the Articles of 

 1815. 



And it was resolved that for this purpose, all ships whatever, British and foreign, 

 excepting only the East Indian Company's ships, should be excluded from all approach 

 to the island. Notice was accordingly given by the British Charg6 d'Atiaires at 

 Washington to the United States Government on the 24th November, 1815, that a 

 Treaty of Commerce between Great Britain and the United States, dated the 3rd 

 July, 1815, under Article III of which liberty of touching for refreshment at the island 

 was given to United States vessels, could not be carried out in this respect; and 

 that the ratifications of the Ti'eaty would be exchanged under the explicit declara- 

 tion that United States vessels could not be allowed to touch at, or hold any com- 

 munication whatever with, the island, so long as it should continue to be the resi- 

 dence of the Emperor. The Treaty was ratified on this understanding. 



So that, so far as the United States was concerned, although not a 

 party to the Treaty itself, it assented to that, and ratified a Treaty of 

 Commerce with Great Britain on the express stipulation that that 

 1168 Treaty should be subject to the efi'ect of the arrangement which 

 I am now about to explain. So far, therefore, as the United 

 States is concerned, that is the position of things. Now, how do the 

 matters stand as regards the other Powers "? The Articles of the Treaty 

 which bear upon this matter are in these terms: 



Art. 1. Napoleon Buonaparte is considered by the Powers wlio have signed the 

 Treaty of the 25th of March as their prisoner. 



Art. 2. His custody is espcciallj^ entrusted to the British Government. The choice 

 of the place and of the measures which may best secure the object of the present 

 stipulation are reserved to his Britannic Majesty. 



