JURISDICTIONAL EIGHTS IN BERING SEA. 231 



The fourth article of the treaty uecessaiily grew out of the claims of 

 Eussia to a share of the Northwest Coast iu disijute between the United 

 States and Great liritain. Mi-. Adams, in the instruction to Mr. Mid- 

 dleton so often referred to, says : 



By the third article of the convertioii between the United States and Great Britain, 

 of the 20th of OctobtT, 1818, it was agreed that any country that n\ioht he claiioed 

 by eitLer party on the Northwest Coast of America, westward of the Stony Mountains, 

 should, togetlier with its harbors, bays, and creehs, and the uaA-igation of all rivers 

 within the same, be free and open for the term of ten years from that date, to the 

 vessels, citizens, and subjects of the two powers, without prejudice to the claims of 

 either partj' or of any other state. 



You are authorized to propose an article of the same import for a term of ten years 

 from the signature of a joint convention between the United States, Great Britain, 

 and Russia. 



It will be observed that the fourth article relates solely to the "North- 

 west Coast of Auierica" so well understood as the Coast of the Pacific 

 Ocean, between the fiftieth and the sixtieth degrees north latitude, and 

 therefore does not in the remotest degree touch the Behring* Sea or the 

 land bordering u])on it. 



The several articles in the treaty between Great Britain and Eussia, 

 February 16, 1825, that could have any bearing on the pending conten- 

 tion are as follows: 



Articles I and II. (Substantially the same as in the treaty between 

 Eussia and the United States.) 



Akticle III. The line of demarcation between the possessions of the high contract- 

 ing parties, upon the coast of the continent, and the islands of America to the nt)rth- 

 west shall be drawn in the manner following: 



Cdmmcncing from the soiithernmost point of the island called Prince of Wales 

 Island, which point lies in the parallel of 54 degrees 40 minutes north latitude, 

 and between the one hundred and thirty-first and the one hundred and thirty-third 

 degree of west longitude (meridian of Greenwich), the said line shall ascend to the 

 north along the channel called Portland Channel, as far as the point of the continent 

 where it strikes the fifty-sixth degree of north latitude; from this last-mentioned 

 point the line of demarcation shall follow the summit of the mountains situated 

 parallel to the coast as far as the point of intersection of the one hundred and forty- 

 first degree of west longitude (of the same meridian) ; and, finally, from the said 

 point of intersection the said meridian line of the one hundred and fortv-first degree 

 iu its prolongation as far as the Frozen Ocean shall form the limit between the Rus- 

 sian and British possessions on the continent of America to the northwest. 



Article V. (Substantially the same as Article III of the treaty between 

 Eussia and the United States.) 



Article VI. It is understood that the subjects of His Britannic Majesty, from 

 whatever qmirter they may arrive, whether iiom the ocean or from the interior of 

 the continent, shall forever enjoy the right of navigating freely and without any 

 hindrance whatever all the rivers and streams whicli, in their course towards the 

 Pacific Ocean, may cross the lino of demarcation upon the line of coast described in 

 Article III of the present convention. 



Article VII. It is also understood that, for the space often years from the signa- 

 ture of the present convention, the vessels of the two poAvers, or those belonging to 

 their respective subjects, shall mutually be at liberty to frequent without any hin- 

 drance whatever all the inland seas, the gulfs, havens, and creeks on the coast men- 

 tioned in Article III, for the purposes of fishing and of trading with the natives. 



After the analysis of the articles in the American treaty there is 

 little in the English treaty that requires explanation. The two treaties 

 were drafted under circumstances and fitted to conditions quite simi- 

 lar. Tliere were some differences because of Great Britain's ownership 

 of British America. But these very differences corroborate the position 

 of the United States. This is most plainly seen in Article VI. By that 

 article the subjects of Her Britannic Majesty were guaranteed the right 

 of navigating freely the rivers emptying into the Pacific Ocean and 

 crossing the line of demarcation upon the line of coast described in 



