75 



Tlie use liere of the word "jurisdiction" creates some doubt as to 

 the in-ecise object of the questiou. But it must be assumed that the 

 purpose was to ascertain whether, iu the judgment of this Tribunal, 

 Great Biitain recognized and conceded any claim of jurisdiction, upou 

 the part of Russia, over the waters of Bering Sea, or over any fish- 

 eries in that sea, outside of the ordinary limit of territorial waters. 

 So interpreting- the question, I have no doubt of the answer which 

 must be made to it. The ofiflcial correspondeiiee between the gov- 

 ernments of Great Britain and Russia shows that throughout the 

 whole of the negotiations following the Ukase of 1821, and result- 

 ing ixi the treaty of 1825, Great Britain stood firmly by the iwsi- 

 tion, not only that the territorial jurisdiction asserted by Russia 

 on the northwest coast was in excess of what it was entitled to 

 claim, but that the prohibition by that Ukase of the approach of 

 foreign vessels nearer than 100 Italian miles to those coasts was 

 an assertion of sovereignty over the open waters of the Sea, which 

 was forbidden by the established principles of international law. 



Let us see what was recognized and conceded by Great Britain dur- 

 ing her negotiations with Russia. 



In his conununication of January 18, 1822, addressed to Count Lieven, 

 the Russian Ambassador at London, in reply to the letter of Baron Nico- 

 lay, covering a copy of the Ukase of 1821, the Marquis of Londonderry, 

 then at the head of the British Foreign Office, said: "Uijon the subject 

 of this Ukase generally, and especially ujjon the two main principles of 

 claim laid down therein, viz, an exclusive sovereignty alleged to belong 

 to Russia over the territories therein described, as also the exclusive 

 right of navigating and trading within the maritime limits therein set 

 forth, His Britannic Majesty must be understood as hereby reserving 

 all his rights, not being prepared to admit that the intercourse which is 

 allowed on the face of this instrument to have hitherto subsisted on 

 those coasts, and in those seas, can be deemed to be illicit, or that the 

 ships of friendly powers, even supposing an unqualified sovereignty was 

 proved to appertain to the Imperial Crown in the vast and very imper- 

 fectly occupied territories, could, by the acknowledged laws of nations, 

 be excluded from navigating within the distance of 100 Italian miles as 

 therein laid down, from the coast, the exclusive dominion of which is 

 assumed (but, as His Majesty's Government conceive, in error) to belong 

 to His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of all the Russias." British 

 Case, Vol.2 Ap^., 14. 



