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



their citizens or subjects, respectively, may reciprocally frequent, without any hin- 

 drance whatever, the interior seas, gulfs, harbours, and creeks upon the coast men- 

 tioned in the preceding Article, for the purpose of fishing and trading with the 

 natives of the country. 



That was independent, so to speak, of what I may call the general 

 right of trading' with natives on unoccupied coasts. It was something 

 which would apply to what may be called interior seas and waters of 

 the territory in future to be recognized as Russian as distinguished from 

 the United States. 



Now, I desire, to the best of my power, to avoid repetition; but with 

 reference to what you have been good enough to put to me, showing 

 you were kindly appreciating my argument yesterday, what reason can 

 be given for saying that that privilege stopped at latitude 60° — there is 

 not a vestige of a trace of a suggestion of the kind in the correspond- 

 ence between Russia and America, but for the purpose of this case to 

 supi)ort an arguinent of Mr. Blaine which had better, when examined, 

 have been abandoned, with all respect to my learned friend, Mr. Carter, — 

 he puts it in his written argument, and says that the Northwest Coast 

 is, because he says it, to be construed as being from 60° to latitude 54°, 

 and so on, further south. May I ask to read one document which shows 

 how Russia, at any rate, would never have attemi)ted to put that con- 

 struction on the language! It is not a diplomatic document, but still it 

 is of equal importance because it emanated from Count Nesselrode. I 

 mention it for the purpose of showing that our contention is no after- 

 thought ; but this coast is referred to by Russia with the meaning we put 

 upon it and not the meaning that the United States put upon it. If you 

 turn to page 30 of that same book, the 1st Appendix to the Counter 

 Case, which you were good enough to refer to when I was speaking of 

 Baron de Tuylls memoradum, you will find Count Nesselrode's letter of 

 the 11th of April, 1823, which is written seven days after the Treaty 

 was agreed and signed in the terms I read, — not ratitied, but signed. 

 It was done at St. Petersburgh on the 5th of April, 1824. 



Now the letter of the 11th of April, 1824 (and I read from the revised 

 translation), at page 30 of Vol. I Appendix to British Counter Case, 

 about a dozen lines below the break which begins " having thus denoted", 

 with reference to Article III of the American Treaty it is said : 



In Article III the United States recognize the sovereign power of Russia over the 

 western coast of America, from the Polar Seas to 54^^ 40' of north latitude. 



Sir, would you glance once more at the language of Article 3? "Any 

 Establishment upon the Northwest Coast of America"; my learned 

 friend, Mr. Carter, is driven from the necessities of his position to say 

 that in Article III the ''Northwest coast of America" means from 00° 

 to 54° 40'; and Count Nesselrode speaking of it a few days afterwards 

 says that it went to the Polar Seas. It is not too much to say that this 

 contention could not have been made by Russia, — could not have been 

 made by anyone who was not driven to the stress of supporting an 

 untenable position taken up by Mr. Blaine in order to support a proposi- 

 tion, — the meaning of which the words do not permit of. You will not 

 find any dispute about the northern boundary of the Russian posses- 

 sions; and it is the key to the whole of this correspondence and this 

 construction, that the United States were only anxious about the south- 

 ern boundary and cared not a bit about the northern. Therefore, you 

 find in this Treaty no trace of 59°, or 60°, or anything that corresponds 

 to it. 



The President. — Except for reserving the right of free navigation 

 and trade on unoccupied points, which I would call rather a conven- 

 tional arrangement than international law. 



