TERRITORIAL WATERS AND A SUGGESTED EXTENSION 

 OF THE THREE MILE LIMIT. 



By Prof. E. E. Prince, M. A., LL. D., D. Sc. 

 Dominion Commissioner of Fisheries, Ottawa, Canada. 



On May 19, 1917, a German submarine seized the Norwegian 

 steamer "Thorum" about four miles off the coast of Norway, and 

 all who are interested in fisheries questions regarded this occurrence 

 with special attention. It is generally thought that a three-mile 

 limit is universally carried out, but in this case Norway protested 

 that her territorial waters had been invaded, and international law 

 violated, because she had always adhered to a limit of four miles. 

 No doubt many people who regard themselves as well informed 

 on the question of territorial rights on the sea coast, learned with 

 surprise that Norway had, for over seventy years, enforced a 

 limit greater than three miles, and in various national and munici- 

 pal agreements had consistently carried this out. As long ago 

 as June 18, 1745, Norway had enforced a four-mile limit. 



MANY COUNTRIES CLAIM MORE THAN THREE MILES. 



But Norway is not the only country that has enforced a more 

 extended territorial limit of three miles, although her course is 

 one of the few that has been recognized generally by other maritime 

 nations. Spain, as long ago as December 17, 1774, also claimed 

 six nautical miles along her coasts and the coasts of her colonies, and 

 re-asserted this in several royal decrees, in 1775, 1785 and 1867. 

 In 1869 it may be remembered that Spain re-asserted a claim to 

 a six-mile limit around Cuba and her West Indian possessions. 

 Spain's last decree, dated August 4, 1874, aroused, however, 

 serious objections on the part of Great Britain and the United 

 States. Italy has also enforced a limit of four or five miles ; although 

 in some special conventions with Austria, she adopted a three-mile 

 limit, but it is doubtful how far this latter limit has been adopted. 

 Indeed, when discussing this territorial question with the Western 

 Powers in 1891, the Italian Government refused to recognize 

 a three-mile limit, and certainly Genoa has never relinquished 

 her claim to complete territorial rights extending over the waters 



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