94 CASE OF GEEAT BRITAIN. 



arbitration, it being the intention of the parties that their respective 

 views or contentions on either subject shall be in no wise prejudiced 

 by anything in the present arbitration. 



CONCEPTION BAY. 



The second decision related to Conception Bay on the coast of New- 

 foundland, and the argument in the case involved the consideration 

 of the very question now before this tribunal. It was a decision of 

 Her Majesty's Privy Council composed of Lord Blackburn, Sir 

 J. A. Colville, Sir Barnes Peacock, Sir Montagu Smith, and Sir "Rob- 

 ert Collier. On the general question of the meaning of the term 

 " bays " they held that it was impossible to doubt that the convention 

 of 1818 applied to all bays whether large or small. 



The opinion of these eminent jurists is an exact authority in 

 favour of the contention which His Majesty's Government submits to 

 this tribunal. 



LINE TO BE MEASURED FROM HEADLANDS. 



Assuming that the term " bays " is construed to include all bays, 

 then it is clear that the 3-mile limit must start from a line drawn be- 

 tween the headlands of all those bays. 



The reference to the discussions which have taken place and which 

 have already been summarised in this case, show that Great Britain 

 has from the first put forward the contention which is urged before 

 this tribunal to-day; she has from the first contended that all bays 

 on the coasts affected by article one are within that article, and to 

 that contention she adheres. They also show that the United States 

 have more than once accepted this construction of the language of the 

 convention. 



UNITED STATES CONTENTION. 



The contention of the United States, so far as it is aUpresent known 

 to His Majesty's Government, is to be found in its " answer " laid 

 before the Halifax Commission in 1877. It is as follows (App., p. 

 256) : 



107 For the purposes of fishing, the territorial waters of every 

 country along the sea-coast extend three miles from low-water 

 mark ; and beyond is the open ocean, free to all. In the case of bays 

 and gulfs, such only are territorial waters as do not exceed six miles in 

 width at the mouth, upon a straight line measured from headland to 

 headland. All larger bodies of water, connected with the open sea, 

 form a part of it. And wherever the mouth of a bay, gulf, or inlet 

 exceeds the maximum width of six miles at its mouth, and so loses the 

 character of territorial or inland waters, the juridictional or proprie- 



The Direct United States Cable Co. v. The Anglo- American Telegraph Co. 

 L.R., 2 App., Cas. 394. 



