12 ARGUMENT OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



Finally, the broad contentions of the respective Govern- 

 ments, stated in popnlar langnage, are these: 



1. The United States claim dominion, and the right to 

 legislate against foreigners, in two-thirds of that part of 

 the waters of the Pacilic Ocean called Behring Sea. 



2. They claim a right of property in wild animals which 

 resort for a certain season of tbe year only to their terri- 

 tory, derive no sustenance therefrom, and, during the 

 greater i)artof the year, live many hundreds of miles away 

 from that territory in the ocean. 



3. They claim the right to j^rotect that alleged right of 

 property by search, seizure, and condemnation of the ships 

 of other nations. 



4. Failing the establishment of the right of property, 

 they claim a right to protect the fur-seals in the ocean, and 

 to apply, in assertion of that right, the like sanctions of 

 search, seizure, and condemnation. 



5. And lastly, failing these assertions of right, they claim 

 that Rules shall be framed in the interests of the United 

 States alone which shall exclude other nations from the 

 pursuit of fur-seals. 



On the other hand, Her Majesty's Government claim — 



1. Freedom of the seas for the benefit of all the world. 



2. That rights of proi)erty, and rights in relation to proji- 

 erty, be confined within the limits consecrated by practice, 

 and founded on general expediency in the interests of 

 mankind. 



3. That, apart from agreement, no nation has the right to 

 seize the vessels of another nation on the high seas in time 

 of peace for offences against property excepting ]>iracy. 



4. That any Regulations to be established should have 

 just and equitable regard to all interests affected. 



In support of the views of Her Majesty's Govern- 

 11 ment thus generally stated, the following Argument 

 is respectfully submitted for the consideration of this 

 Tribunal of Arbitration. 



STATEMENT OF QUESTIONS RAISED IN ARTICLE VI OF 

 THE ARBITRATION TREATY. 



Article VI. (1.) What exclusive jurisdiction in Behring 

 Sea, and what exclusive rights in the sea fisheries therein, 

 did Russia assert and exercise prior and up to 1867? 



(2.) How far did Great Britain recognize and concede 

 " these claims of jurisdiction as to the seal fisheries"'? 



(3.) Was Behring Sea included in "Pacific Ocean" in 

 the Treaty of 1825? 



What rights, if any, in Behring Sea did Russia hold and 

 exclusively exercise after this Treaty? 



(4.) Did not all Russia's right: {a) to jurisdiction, (h) as 

 to the seal fisheries in Behring Sea, east of the water 

 boundary, pass to the United States unimpaired under the 

 Treaty of 1867? 



(5.) Has the United States any, and, if so, what, right 

 (a) of protection (h) or property in the seals fre(iuenting 

 the islands of the United States in Behring Sea when they 

 are found outside the ordinary 3-mile limit? 



