446 OKAI. ARGUMENT OF SIR RICHARD WEBSTER, Q. C. M. P. 



stand either Pacific Oceau as excluding: Behring Sea, or ISTorMi West 

 Coast as limited to what was south of latitude OU, and will the Court 

 be good enough to take the volume I had yesterday, Appendix 2 to the 

 British Case, and let me put two letters which, in my submission, put 

 this matter beyond the slightest question, and to which 1 crave the 

 attention of my learned friend, Mr. Phelps, when he comes to reply. 

 You will remember, Mr. President, that I yesterday called attention to 

 page 63 where the words occur. "Along the whole extent of the Pacific 

 Ocean comprehending the sea within Behring Straits". It is put both 

 in French and Eoglish. 



Mr. Justice Harlan. — The value of that depends on what he meant 

 by the words " Pacific Ocean" in that first article. 



Sir KiCHARD Webster. — He must have meant Behring Sea. He 

 could not have meant anything else, for it is the right of free naviga- 

 tion along the whole extent of the Pacific Ocean cominehendiug the 

 sea within Behring Straits. 



Mr. Justice Harlan. — Need he have referred to it if, as both sides 

 admit, Russia had no jDurpose to exclude either the United States or 

 Great Britain from the open waters of Behring Sea. 



Sir KiCHARD Webster. — He must have referred to it for in any con- 

 tention the 100 miles from Asia and from Alaska and from Siberia 

 would have overlapped long below. 



Mr. Justice Harlan. — He si^ecifically refers to Behring Straits for 

 that reason. 



Sir KiCHARD Webster. — Everybody agrees that the 100 miles 

 would have excluded from the coast on the east side — and the coast on 

 the west side — ships coming within 200 miles of Behring Straits and 

 therefore from the point of view of this letter he is speaking of the nav- 

 igation of something which will take him up to Behring Straits. What 

 does he call that — the Pacific Ocean? If it can be suggested against 

 me, — if you could suggest that the 200 miles from Behring Straits 

 would have reached down south of the Aleutian Islands, there might 

 be something in the suggestion but the fact that the person who penned 

 this document is speaking of the Pacific Ocean as taking him up to 

 Behring Straits shows conclusively in his mind he was arguing about 

 the space of water which abutted so to speak upon Behring Straits, 

 the 100 miles having disappeared altogether. May I trouble you kindly 

 to refer to it. They actually speak in the same Article of two marine 

 leagues thus at p. 03, Ai)p. II, B. C. we read. 



It being weU understood that the said right of fishery shall not be exercised by 

 the subjects of either of the two Powers nearer than two marine leagues from the 

 respective possessions of the other. 



And, therefore, it contemplated going quite close up to the shore of 

 Behring Straits within two marine leagues. Again I may be met with 

 this: That is what Great Britain said; is it what Russia said and I 

 will ask Mr. Justice Harlan to look at page 69. I will translate (and 

 the President will correct me) the opening words of Article III at page 

 69 of the coiinterdraft of the Russian Plenipotentiaries, "that in the 

 possessions of the two Powers which are designated or described in the 

 preceding Articles, and particularly so far as 59° 30' of North latitude, 

 but not further, the respective vessels shall have the right of visiting 

 for ten years." Therefore Russia was asking not that Northwest Coast 

 should have a different meaning, but that there should be a special 

 limitation of the right of visit by Great Britain not above 59° 30' for 

 the ten years. They sought to limit the ten year period of visit to this 



