. ABGUMENT OF SIB WTT.T.TAM EOBSON. 1813 



world. They could rest there with comfort; and the only persons 

 that could not rest with comfort, while they were there, would be all 

 the people here (indicating on map) and the rest of the world. It- 

 would be impossible; and therefore I lay stress on this question of 

 probability, before we come to treaties, before we come to documents 

 and correspondence; just look at the broad phase of the thing; look 

 at the way in which men are likely to operate. We have not here 

 on this map the coast of America, or else I could point out Chesapeake 

 Bay, which is a bay according to the United States ; and Chesapeake 

 Bay is every bit as much open sea as Chaleur Bay is. So far as that 



is concerned nobody can distinguish between Chesapeake Bay 

 1096 and Chaleur or Miramichi Bay or these bays (indicating on 



map). Take, for instance, St. George's Bay. That looks a 

 fairly open bay. In the map which was before the negotiators in 1783 

 and afterwards, that is, the Mitchell map, St. George's Bay has a much 

 narrower entrance, but I am quite content to take it as it is there. 

 Imagine vessels being allowed to come within the 3-mile limit and 

 able to command these two coasts. You may or may not have your 

 forts on such coasts. Of course if you had forts on shore you would 

 command the vessel to the vessel's detriment But a vessel may come 

 in here in time of peace and occupy a position which may enable it to 

 command all the unfortified towns which might spring up there, 

 and yet lie in shelter. That is the materiality of the point. It is not, 

 when we are discussing questions of territorially, merely a question 

 of property who is to have the right to catch the herring here. 

 That is an incident of jurisdiction; but it is not the whole purpose of 

 the jurisdiction. A far more vital purpose of jurisdiction is defence, 

 and when these nations were claiming these bays they were not 

 thinking about cod-fish. I believe, as Sir James Winter says, there 

 were none there. He offered very nobly to give the United States an 

 unrestricted right of entry to all the bays, and some of us thought: 

 " This is Napoleonic in its magnanimity ; this is tremendous in its 

 generosity." But Mr. Justice Gray unfortunately disposed of that 

 aspect of the case by asking Sir James : " Are there any fish there ? " 

 " None," said Sir James so that was the extent of his magnanimity. 

 But it was not the fish they were thinking about; it was defensi- 

 bility, when they laid down this question of bays. No mere cannon 

 shots. Jurists talk about cannon shots because they like some easy 

 measurement; but the statesmen and diplomatists were thinking of 

 something different to that. They did not tie themselves to cannon 

 shots ; they meant : " Can I by ships of war or by any other organisa- 

 tion (in modern times it would be by mines), can I defend that bit 

 of my coast so as to keep them well out? I will not have them in 

 here to command my undefended towns here and my undefended 

 towns there. I will keep them well out, 3 miles from there, until war 



