ARGUMENT OF CHARLES B. WARREN. 1175 



miles fixed as the general limit for the exclusive right of fishery upon 

 the coasts of the two countries shall, with respect to bays, the mouths 

 of which do not exceed ten miles in width, be measured from a 

 straight line drawn from headland to headland.' 



"The Bay of Fundy is from 65 to 75 miles wide, and 130 to 140 

 miles long, it has several bays on its coasts; thus the word bay, as 

 applied to this great body of water, has the same meaning as that 

 applied to the Bay of Biscay, the Bay of Bengal, over which no 

 nation can have the right to assume the sovereignty. One of the 

 headlands of the Bay of Fundy is in the United States, and ships 

 bound to Passamaquoddy must sail through a large space of it. The 

 island of Grand Menan (British) and Little Menan (American) are 

 situated nearly on a line from headland to headland. These islands, 

 as represented in all Geographies, are situate in the Atlantic Ocean. 

 The conclusion, is, therefore, in my mind irresistible, that the Bay 

 of Fundy is not a British bay, nor a bay within the meaning of the 

 word, as used in the treaties of 1783 and 1818. 



" The owners of the Washington, or their legal representatives, are 

 therefore entitled to compensation, and are hereby awarded, not the 

 amount of their claim, which is excessive, but the sum of three thou- 

 sand dollars, due on the 15th January, 1855." 



The decision in the "Argus" case, the decision of Joshua Bates, 

 Umpire, is as follows: 



"The Umpire appointed agreeably to the provisions of the Con- 

 vention entered into between Great Britain and the United States 

 on the 8th of February 1853 for the Adjustment of Claims by a 

 Mixed Commission having been duly notified by the Commissioners 

 under the said Convention that they had been unable to agree upon 

 the decision to be' given with reference to the Claim of the Owners 

 of the Schooner 'Argus,' of Portland, United States Doughty master 

 against the British Government; And having carefully examined and 

 considered the papers and Evidence produced on the Hearing of the 

 said Claim and having conferred with the said Commissioners thereon 

 hereby reports that the Schooner 'Argus' 55 tons burthen was cap- 

 tured on the 4th August 1844 while Fishing on St. Ann's Bank by the 

 Revenue Cruiser Sylph of Lunenburg Nova Scotia commanded by 

 William Carr Phillip Dod seizing Master carried to Sidney where 

 she was stripped and everything belonging to her sold at Auction. 

 At the time of the Capture the Argus ' was stated on Oath to have 

 been 28 Miles from the nearest land Cape Smoke there was therefore 

 in this case no violation of the Treaty of 1818. I therefore Award 

 to the Owners of the Argus or their legal Representatives for the 

 loss of their vessel outfits stores and fish the sum of Two thousand 

 Dollars on the 15th January, 1855. 



" JOSHUA BATES, Umpire. 



" London, 23d December, 1854." 



709 I am not going to delay to discuss the effect of these deci- 

 sions; but the fact is that in the decision in the case of the 

 "Washington," which was seized within the waters of the Bay of 

 Fundy, beyond 3 miles from shore, the Umpire decided that the Bay 



