94 ORAL ARGUMENT OF JAMES C. CARTER, ESQ. 



Tlieii follows an elaborate series of rules desic^ned to operate upon 

 foreign vessels, and to ai)ply to cases where there are any infractions 

 of these prohibitions, an<l, wliere seizures and confiscations shall follow, 

 providing' how the confiscations shall be made. 



[Quoting again at the request of Sir Charles Russell]: 



Sec. 14. — It is likewise interdicted to foreign ships to carry on any traffic or barter 

 with the natives of the ishiiuls, and of the noi'tl)\vest coast of Auierica, in the whole 

 extent hereal)ove mentioned. A shiii convicted of this trade sliall be confiscated. 



ISTow here was an assertion of sovereignty over the whole shore on 

 the Asiatic Coast, from Bering Straits down to the Island of Urup, 

 which is about where the ])ointer now is [indicating the position on the 

 nnip], and near the 47th degree of north latitude, and it extended on 

 the American Coast of Bering Straits down to the 51st degree of north 

 latitude, thus carrying the liussians further south on tlie American 

 coast than they were carried by the Charter of 1709, which limited them 

 to 55°. The character, therefore, of that public Act of Russia, so far 

 as the shores were concerned, was unmistakable. It assumed absolute 

 and entire sovereignty over them, and, as I have already jjointed out, 

 it was perfectly well supported by her title, which had been acquired 

 and established over those regions, a title just in itself and entirely 

 acceded to in that age of discovery. What was the character of that 

 assertion in respect to the sea, for that is the imi)ortant question before 

 lis? Was it an assuinption of dominion on the ])art of Russia over the 

 whole of Bering Sea, and to that part of the Pacific Ocean embraced 

 within those boundaries ! Did it assume, did it purport, to be an assump- 

 tion of dominion on the part of Russia over the whole of Bering Sea 

 and of the North racific Ocean along these lines? I do not think that 

 there is any evidence whatever tliat that was the nature or intention 

 of the Ukase — n(me at all. An assumption of that kind would have 

 been tantamount to saying that that vast extent of sea was Russia's 

 ])roperty and inclnded within her territory, and therefore subject to her 

 dominion and laws as such. But tliere is nothing in this Ukase of 1821 

 importing that the intention of Russia was to make any such pretension 

 as that in the way of authority over the sea. She said this: 



Sec. 1. — The pursuits of commerce, whaling, and fishery, and of all other industry 

 on all islands, ports, and gulfs, including the whole of the northwest coast of America, 

 beginning Irom Bering's Straits to the 51° of northern latitude, also from the Aleu- 

 tian Islands to the eastern coast of Siberia, as well as along the Kuiile Islands from 

 Bering's Straits to the South Cape of the Island of Urup, viz, to the 45° 50' northern 

 latitude, is exclusively granted to Russian subjects. 



That was a grant of colonial trade, and of colonial trade alone; that 

 is all. . And that is what Russia, according to the doctrines of that age, 

 had a i)erfect right to do. I^othing was more clearly admitted at that 

 time, than that every nation had a right to arrogate to itself the exclu- 

 sive benefits of trade with its colonies, and to prohibit every other 

 nation from engaging in such trade, and to take such measures as 

 might be necessary to enforce the exclusion of other mitions. What 

 did Ixussia next do ? Bid she assert anything of the nature of sovereign 

 dominion over the sea? Kothing of the kind. 



Sec. 2. — It is therefore prohibited to all foreign vessels not only to land on the 

 coasts and islands ludonging to Russia as stated above, but also to ap]>roach them 

 within less than a hnndred Italian miles. The transgressor's vessel is subject to 

 confiscation along witli the whole cargo. 



Mr. Justice Harlan. That is not an absolute doctrine now. 

 Mr. Carter. It is an admitted doctrine now. Every nation has a 

 riffht to claim for itself the benefits of its colonial trade. Now all that 



