ORAL ARGUMENT OF SIR RICHARD WEBSTER, Q. C. M. P. 423 



Sir, as time is of great importance, I will merely mention — it is not 

 necessary to read it — tlie rest of the document at page 14. I am quoting 

 from the United States translation at page 14 of Appendix I. It will 

 appear tliat in tlie end the only prohibition was against holding land or 

 entering the trade guilds; and more than that, that they might be in Beli- 

 ring Sea is obvious because they could not very well enter the ports of 

 eastern Siberia except in case of distress, unless they were up there 

 somewhere in the sea. 1 need not pause to argue that, because the 

 facts are conclusive. If you, Mr. President, and tlie other members of 

 the Court, will kindly look at page 19 of this correspondence produced 

 to us upon notice to Mr. Foster, you will find a letter that shows that 

 Pigott was trading on the coast of Behring Sea, and had gone up as 

 far as Kotzebue Sound, the place I quoted when Mr. Justice Hailan was 

 good enough to put the question to me, and a letter of January 21, 

 1821, puts it beyond all doubt what the fact was : 



On the 29th September, 1820, the American brig "Pedlar" arrived at this port. 

 Her captain is Meek, a brother of Meek who is well kuown to you. Slie had on 

 board Mr. Pigott, with whom you are well acquainted. He was the supercargo or 

 owner; for the cargo was under his control, and he directed the movements of the 

 ship. He had come from Kamtchatka in eigliteen days. 



There were at that time- two men-of-war ou the roadstead, and this fact afforried 

 me frequent opportunities of meeting Pigott, for he was acquainted with the otticers 

 of both of them. They had met beyond Behring iiti-aits in Kotzebue Sound, and bad 

 been anchored there together. He said, in a hesitating way, that he had been trading 

 there. 



1 must confess that I was wrong when I said, in a letter to Michael Michailovitch 

 that a single man-of-war tvould be sufficient to put an end to this traffic. 



It is not necessary, of course, to point out that if this were not some- 

 thing serious, it would not have been spoken of in this way. 



To tell the truth, I did not believe it at the time; but I was afraid that a whole 

 squadron, or at least a couple of frigates, would come down upon us. This prospect 

 frightened me, both as Manager of the American Colonies and as a Russian. They 

 would have eaten up all our provisions, and cost the Emperor a lot of money, without 

 doing much good. 



What hope is there that a single frigate will be able to stop this traffic on our 

 shores, abounding in straits and excellent harbours, and so well known to these Amer- 

 icans that they may be called the pilots of these coasts? They will always be on good 

 terms with the natives. . . 



Is it not a little strong, Mr. President, for my learned friends, in the 

 face of the facts that their own documents disclose, to adhere, as I 

 understand them to adhere, in their Counter Case, to the view that 

 prior to 1821 there had been a prevention of trade and an exclusion of 

 foreigners from taking part in the trade within the prohibited region? 



Lord Hannen. — Was there not, Sir Richard — I am not dealing with 

 its effect — a prohibition of trade with the natives on the shores by the 

 Russians? 



Sir Richard Webster. — At what date, my Lord? 



Lord Hannen.— Well, from the date of 1799. 



Sir Richard Webster. — I think there was. The important point 

 is that it was in order to prevent, if they could, access to the shores, 

 and that it is wholly untrue to suggest, as the original Case did, that 

 the object of the Ukase of 1799 was to prevent the vessels from navi- 

 gating the waters of Behring Sea or from exercising rights upon the 

 high sea. I think what my Lord Hannen was good enough to refer to 

 is section 10, (on page 13 of the British Counter Case), of the Ukase 

 of 1799: 



10. In granting to the Company for a period of twenty years, throughout the entire 

 extent of the lands and islands described above, the exclusive right to ail acquisitions, 

 indnstries, trade, establishments, and discoveries of new countries, etc. 



