AEGUMENT OF SAMUEL, J. ELDER. 1581 



authority thereby given, British vessels and their cargoes shall be 

 admitted to an entry in the ports of the United States, from the 

 islands, provinces, or colonies of Great Britain, on or near the North 

 American continent, and north or east of the United States : 



"And whereas satisfactory evidence has been received by the Presi- 

 dent of the United States, that, whenever he shall give effect to the 

 provisions of the Act aforesaid, the Government of Great Britain 

 will open, for an indefinite period, the ports in its colonial posses- 

 sions in the West Indies," 



And so forth, reciting the places. 



" Now, therefore, I, Andrew Jackson, President of the United 

 States of America, do hereby declare and proclaim " 



the right of entry of the British ships. 



I call attention to these things in part to show that it is not 

 957 a moot question, and in part to show that the right given by 

 Great Britain and the right given by the United States is to 

 American ships on one hand and British ships and vessels on the 

 other, that it is not a gift, it is not a privilege granted by one or the 

 other to " trading-vessels." Because it is erroneously stated in the 

 British Case as being a fact, that these commercial privileges were 

 granted to trading-vessels, and that it so appears. It does not so 

 appear. And I ought to say right here with reference to the construc- 

 tion of the question itself, how absurd it would be for the United 

 States and Great Britain to come here and present to this Tribunal 

 the question of whether commercial privileges granted to trading- 

 vessels only could be exercised by fishing- vessels. And yet that is 

 one of the positions that is taken, and that exact language is used, 

 in the British Counter-Case " to trading vessels only." The words 

 of the question are : " to United States trading- vessels generally." 

 The word " generally " has no effect whatever if it meant " only " ; 

 and it would be an absurdity to have presented such a question as 

 that to this Tribunal to ask whether fishing-vessels could exercise 

 privileges granted only to trading-vessels. 



The commercial privileges granted in 1830 have been largely ex- 

 tended. To quote the language of Mr. Bayard (Appendix to the Case 

 of the United States, vol. ii, p. 764) : 



" This independent and yet concurrent action by the two Govern- 

 ments has effected a gradual extension, from time to time, of the 

 provisions of Article I of the convention of July 3, 1815, providing 

 for reciprocal liberty of commerce between the United States and 

 the territories of Great Britain in Europe, so as gradually to include 

 the colonial possessions of Great Britain in North America and the 

 West Indies within the results of that treaty. 



" President Jackson's proclamation of October 5, 1830, created a 

 reciprocal commercial intercourse, on terms of perfect equality of 

 flag, between this country and the British American dependencies, 

 by repealing the navigation acts of April 18, 1818, May 15, 1820, and 



