1320 NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION. 



torial bay. I have now to pass to the question of International Law. 

 Upon that I hope to be not very long. 



Before doing that, however, I wish to say this, that when consider- 

 ing the question of what the word " bays " means in the treaty, I 

 think there are only two possible significations that can be attached 

 to it. There is the geographical or topographical, and there is the 

 juristic meaning. We have been arguing for the geographical mean- 

 ing, and I propose now to make that more secure by eliminating the 

 juristic meaning. 



If there were two meanings to the word " bays " one geographical 

 and the other juristic there might be a question as to which one we 

 should adopt; but if there was no juristic meaning of the word 

 " bays " in those years 1783 and 1818, then of necessity we must dis- 

 card the idea of the negotiators having used the word in a juristic 

 sense, and we are driven back to the adoption of the only other 

 alternative, namely, the geographical. 



Mr. Warren objects to the indefiniteness of " geographical bays." 

 My objection to his alternative is not to the indefiniteness of Inter- 

 national Law in 1783 and 1818. My objection is that there was no 

 International Law as to " bays " in 1818. 



And, I think, Sirs, in discussing this question of International 

 Law, it is essentially necessary to make a distinction that did not 

 seem to appeal very strongly to Mr. Warren's mind, and that is, the 

 difference between unindented coasts and bays. Most nations prob- 

 ably now have agreed more or less definitely that on unindented 

 coasts, a distance of 3 marine miles is the limit of territorial 

 jurisdiction. 



SIR CHARLES FITZPATRICK : Have the nations agreed to it, or have 

 the text writers laid down the rule ? 



MR. EWART: The text writers have laid it down fairly unanimously, 

 and some of the nations, at all events, I think, must be taken to have 

 agreed to it. It has been referred to in the Alaska Treaty or the 

 Alaska Reference. It is referred to as the " limit " in other places. 

 The English decisions go back as far as 1801, and in other ways, 

 although there has never been anything absolutely definite, yet I 

 think I would have a difficult task if I had to contend now that 

 Great Britain had not assented to a limit of 3 miles on unindented 

 coasts. 



What I can assert, and what, I think, I can prove very conclusively 

 is that no nation had accepted that rule prior to 1783. I do not 

 know the name of any nation that can be suggested that had accepted 

 that rule prior to 1783, and that is the period we are most interested 

 in. As to 1818, I can say the same thing, subject to this that the 

 English decisions (which, of course, did not bind English political 



