282 DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 



to 3 marine miles from its slioie line. Commeutiiife' on these quotations 

 his lordsliii> says: 



A claim of jurisdiction over the open sea wliicli is not in accordance with the rec- 

 ognized principles of international law or usage may, of course, be asserted by force, 

 but can not be said to luive any legal validity as against the vessels of other coun- 

 tries, except in so far as it is positively admitted in conventional agreements with 

 those countries. 



The United States, having tlie most extended seacoast of all the 

 nations of the world, may be presnmed t^> have paid serious attention 

 to the laws and usiiges which deftne and limit maritime jurisdiction. 

 The course of this Government has been uniformly in favor of upln»ld- 

 ing the recognized law of nations on that subject. While Lord Salis- 

 bury's admonitions are received in good part by this Government, we 

 feel justified in asking his lordship if the Government of Great Britain 

 has uniformly illustrated these i^recepts by example, or whether she has 

 not established at least one notable precedent which would justify us 

 in making greater demands upon Her Majesty's Government touching 

 the Behring Sea than either our necessities or our desires have ever 

 suggested'? The precedent to which I refer is contained in the follow- 

 ing narrative: 



Napoleon Bonaf»arte fell into the power of Great Britain on the 15th 

 day of July, 1S1.5. The disposition of the illustrious pi-isoner Avas pri- 

 marily determined by a treaty negotiated at Paris on the 2d of the fol- 

 lowing August between Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria. 

 By that treaty "the custody of ISTapoleon is specially intrusted to the 

 British Government." The choice of the i)lace and of the measures 

 which could best secure the prisoner were especially reserved to His 

 Britannic Majesty. In pursuance of this power, Napoleon was promptly 

 sent by Great Britain to the island of St. Helena as a prisoner for life. 

 Six months after he reached St. Helena the British Parliament enacted 

 a si^ecial and extraordinary law for the i)urpose of making his deten- 

 tion more secure. It was altogether a memorable statute, and gave to 

 the British governor of the island of St. Helena remarkable powers over 

 the property and rights of other nations. The statute contains eight 

 long sections, and in the fourth section assumes the power to exclude 

 ships of any nationality, not only from landing on the island, but for- 

 bids them "to hover within 8 leagues of the coast of the island." The 

 l)eiialty for hovering within 8 leagues of the coast is the forfeiture of 

 the ship to His Majesty the King of Great Britain, on trial to be had in 

 London, and the otfense to be the same as if committed in the county 

 of Middlesex. This power was not assumed by a military commander, 

 ])]eading the silence of law amid the clash of arms; nor was it conferred 

 by the power of civil Government in a crisis of jniblic danger. It was 

 a Parliamentary enactment in a season of profound peace that was not 

 broken in Europe by war among the great Powers for eight and thirty 

 years thereafter. [See inclosure C.] 



The British Government thus assumed exclusive and absolute con- 

 trol over a considerable section of the South Atlantic Ocean, lying di- 

 rectly in the path of the world's commerce, near the capes which mark 

 the soutliernmost points of both hemispheres, over the waters which 

 for centuries had connected the shores of all continents, and afforded 

 tlie commercial highway from and to all the ])orts of the world. The 

 body of Avater thus controlled, in the form of a circle nearly 50 miles in 

 diameter, was scarcely less than 2,(>(»0 s(|uarc miles in extent; and 

 whatever ship dared to tarry or hover within this area might, regard- 



