196 



ity for tbe broad statoiTient that a nation may not use, npon tlie higb 

 seas, in time of peace, sucli force as is necessary to prevent the com- 

 mission of acts which liave no sanction in the hiws of nations, are in 

 Themselves wrong, and, if committed, will inevitably destroy imjiortant 

 industries established and maintained by that nation within its territory 

 for purposes of revenue and commerce. The nation thus employing 

 force for the protection of its lawful industries does not thereby appropri- 

 ate to itself any part of the ocean, or extends its dominion, or inter- 

 fere with an innocent use of the sea for purposes ot navigation or 

 fisliing. It only prevents the doing of what can not be rightfully 

 done, and thereby i^reserves what no one has a right to dcotroy. The 

 doctrine of the freedom of tlie seas does not authorize or sanction tlie 

 destruction of the material interests of a nation by means of acts done 

 on the high seas which are in themselves unjust and wrong, l)ecause 

 hostile to the interests of mankind, and contrary to those rules of mor- 

 ality, justice, and right reason which govern the conduct of individuals 

 and nations witli each other. Mr. Blaine well said: "The law of the 

 sea is not lawlessness. Nor can the law of the sea and the liberty 

 which it confers and which it jirotects be perverted to justify acts 

 which are immoral in themselves, which inevitably tend to results 

 against the interests and against the welfare of mankind." 



As declared by Mr. Justice Story, speaking for the Supreme Conrt of 

 the United States, in the case of the Marianna Flora [11 Wlieatoii, 1, 42) : 

 " Upon the ocean, then, in time of peace, all possess an entire equality. 

 It is the common highway of all, appropriated to the use of all 5 and no 

 one can vindicate to himself a sn^ierior or exclusive prerogative tliere. 

 Every ship sails there with the unquestionable right of pursuing her 

 own lawful business without interruption; but, whatever be that busi- 

 ness, she is bound to pursue it in such a manner as not to violate the 

 rights of others. The general maxim in such cases is sic utero tuo, ut 

 non alienum Iceclas." Observe, that the business upon the high seas, the 

 uninterrapted prosecution of which is protected by the doctrine that 

 the free use of the ocean for navigation and fishing is common to all 

 mankind, is that which is " lawful." This doctrine can not be invoked 

 to support the use of the high seas for the perpetration of wrongs or 

 injuries. On the contrary, the principal ground on which that doctrine 

 rests is that the sea is so vast in extent, and so inexhaustible in its pro- 

 ducts, that its free use for purposes of navigation and fishing can do no 

 harm to any one. 



Twiss, in his work upon the Law of iTations, after observing that 



