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is more pertinent to inquire wlietber this claim of i^roperty is sup- 

 ported by ])riuciples of morality, reason, e(inity, and justice every 

 wliere recognized as vital in orj;ani/cd society. It is still more j^er- 

 tiueut to inquire whether the law of nations furnishes anj'^ i)i'ecedent 

 opposed or hostile to the claim made by the United States of property in 

 these animals, which are conceived, and, if the race is to exist at all, 

 must be born and reaied, on land, and which, altliough passing- much 

 time on the high seas, periodically return to, and, for a time, abide upon 

 the terretory of the United States. And they return to and abide up- 

 on that territory, under such circumstances, that the United States, 

 the sovereign and owner of the land, and it alone, of all other nations, 

 can, by the exercise of care, industry, and self-denial take the increase 

 for the benefit of the world, without, in any degree, diminishing or 

 impairing the stock. If there is no recorded ])recedent based upon 

 actual dis])ute between nations, which would determine such a case, 

 we may properly inquire whether there is such an agreement among 

 civilized nations, in respect to the institution of property and the 

 rules goverr.ing the acquisition of property, as will justify us in 

 adjudging that the present claim of the United States rests upon 

 principles universally recognized. If the rules embodied in the con- 

 curring municipal law of the different countries of theearth, audfounded 

 in reason, justice, and the necessities of organized society, will sustain 

 this claim, our judgment to that effect will be in accordance with the 

 law of nations; for nothing to the contrary appearing in positive enact- 

 ments, binding upon this Tribunal, it must be assumed when dealing 

 with a question of property, that the nations assent to such rules in 

 the law of property as are common to the jurisprudence of civilized 

 countries. It has been well observed by Sir James Mackintosh, in his 

 famous Discourse on the Law of Nature and Nations, that the two in- 

 stitutions of property and marriage constitute, preserve and improve 

 society; that upon their gradual development depends the progressive 

 civilization of mankind; that on them rests the whole order of civil life; 

 that the duties of men, subjects, princes, lawgivers, and States are all parts 

 of one system of universal morality; and that " the principle of justice, 

 deeply rooted in the nature and interest of man, pervades the whole 

 system, and is discoverable in every part of it, even to its minutest 

 ramification in a legal formality, or in the construction of an article in 

 a treaty." When, therefore, a Tribunal, adnunistering the Law of 

 Nations, is required to consider a question of property, it may not dis- 

 regard what the principles of justice, right reason, and the necessities 



