1896 NORTH ATLANTIC COAST FISHERIES ARBITRATION. 



Here is another important reason 



" the ability of the nation to exercise sufficient force to defend an 

 exclusive use." 



That is a rule rather hard upon the smaller States. Apparently 

 if they have a bay which comes into their territory, but they have 

 not got an immense navy, that is a reason why they should not be 

 allowed to keep their bay, according to Mr. Warren. According to 

 my humble submission, instead of being a reason against their keep- 

 ing the bay, it is a very strong reason in favour of their 

 1147 keeping the bay. A weak nation and a small nation needs to 

 guard its means of defence far more than a great nation with 

 a huge navy. But still, if that test is going to be applied to bays, 

 it ought to give Great Britain a reasonable quantity. If it comes to 

 ability to defend maritime waters as territorial, I think Great Brit- 

 ain may say that it is not in a worse position than any other nation 

 in the world. 



This is how Mr. Warren winds up : 



<k and that the grounds thus alleged must commend themselves to the 

 nations of the world so as to lead to acquiescence in the claim." 



Does he mean to say that if he got a judgment in this case, which 

 affirmed that bays above the extent of the 3-mile zone were all open 

 sea, thereupon he would calmly acquiesce in the opinion of the 

 nations of the world about Chesapeake and Delaware? Because they 

 would all say to him : " Now, Mr. Warren, the International Tri- 

 bunal has decided in your favour. No longer is any nation to claim 

 jurisdiction or exclusive rights of fishing over bays which are greater 

 than 6 miles between the headlands. So that the acquiescence which 

 hitherto States have given in your occupancy of Delaware Bay goes. 

 It was mistaken. It was founded on a misapprehension of the inter- 

 national right." Does he pretend that the United States would 

 instantly acquiesce? Why, there is not a man in Europe or the 

 United States who does not know that the United States would 

 defend those bays as much as it would defend any county in any one 

 of its States. He knows that perfectly well. And why would it 

 defend them? Because it says: "We consider they are in our terri- 

 tory, and that is our business. We have asserted it, and we mean 

 to keep them." That would be the answer of the United States. 

 And the same answer applies to these other bays which we have been 

 asserting are our own. We have acquiescence from the United States 

 in our occupation of these bays, far more explicit and far more 

 frequent than he has any acquiescence in Delaware Bay. As I 

 pointed out yesterday, the very first important international act that 

 the United States did as a nation was, by the treaty of 1778, to affirm 

 as between itself and France the territoriality of every bay. The 



