1662 . NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION. 



There is what would be called a servitude. That was in 1909. 

 But Colombia seems to have had rather better information about 

 what was passing through the minds of the United States than we 

 had, and so it wanted to know whether this was going, or how it 

 was going to affect its rights as to sovereignty. Mr. Urrutia, p. 207 

 of the British Counter-Case Appendix, who is writing the letter 

 translated on that page, draws attention to the article in the second 

 paragraph as follows: 



" Nevertheless, since some of the honourable Members of Parlia- 

 ment and other citizens of this country see in the slightly obscure 

 wording of this article an obstacle to the approval of the compact in 

 question, I take the liberty of begging your Excellency to be good 

 enough to ask the Department of State by telegraph for the authority 

 necessary to sign a protocol or a note explanatory of this said Article 

 VI, by which it may be clear that the enjoyment granted by Colombia 

 in the said article should be understood solely as a right of refuge 

 and as an innocent favor to ships in difficult circumstances (relache 

 forcee), such as International Law recognizes and that this enjoyment 

 remains subject to the conditions and practices established by the 

 same, without any diminution of the sovereignty of Colombia in her 

 ports. 



" In this manner then that innocent enjoyment stipulated for under 

 the name of harbourage in no way signifies right or servitude which 

 could limit the absolute exercise of the sovereignty which Colombia 

 possesses over her ports, roadsteads, bays," 



They put in bays 



" gulfs, and territorial seas, nor limits the unrestricted dominion over 

 them of her laws, nor does it give to the United States power to exer- 

 cise jurisdiction or to carry out any work such as piers, repairing 

 stations or other works of a similar nature." 



Then, Mr. Dawson replies to them from the American Legation in 

 a letter on the same page. I only read a short paragraph : 



" Except for such waiver of anchorage and tonnage dues, the said 

 Article is not intended to, and does not, involve anv breach of Co- 

 lombia's sovereignty over her ports, nor affect the unlimited jurisdic- 

 tion of Colombian Laws over them, nor give to the United States any 

 right to exercise jurisdiction in them," 



1005 In so far as I know, and I only say in so far as I know for 

 fear that I might be assumed to say that I have read the whole 

 of these papers, and I will make the confession without shame that I 

 have not, because I do not believe that anybody else has but cer- 

 tainly in so far as I know and I have read a great many of these 

 papers and have had still more read for me I do not know of any 

 other use of the word " servitude " than these three that I have men- 

 tioned. So that it does not seem to have been a very familiar thing. 

 The correspondence with regard to the Colombian question was 

 two months after this reference, and perhaps the apprehension of 

 Colombia may have been aroused by something that they had heard 



