504 AMERICAN DIPLOMATIC QUESTIONS 



other words, to learn whether the doctrine of " Headlands " 

 applied to these great bodies of water. The reply of the 

 queen's counsel assured them of their undoubted right to 

 exclude all foreign vessels from fishing in any of the larger 

 bays of British America. " Except," they wrote, " within 

 certain defined limits, to which the query put to us does not 

 apply, we are of opinion that, by the terms of the treaty, 

 American citizens are excluded from the right of fishing 

 within three miles of the coast of British America ; and 

 that the prescribed distance of three miles is to be measured 

 from the headlands or extreme points of land next the sea 

 of the coasts, or of the entrance of the bays, and not from 

 the interior of such bays or inlets of the coast ; and conse- 

 quently that no right exists on the part of American citizens 

 to enter the bays of Nova Scotia, there to take fish, although 

 the fishing, being within the bay, may be at a greater dis- 

 tance than three miles from the shore of the bay, as we are 

 of opinion that the term * headland ' is used in the treaty to 

 express the part of the land we have before mentioned, ex- 

 cluding the interior of the bays and inlets of the coasts." 



Although the term "headland" does not appear in the 

 instrument referred to, the British interpretation of the 

 " three-mile limit," as applied to all harbors, bays, or inden- 

 tations of the coast, was made clear by this decision of the 

 royal counsel. 



It was held in the United States that the phrase " within 

 three marine miles of any of the coasts, bays, creeks, or har- 

 bors," indicated an imaginary line three miles distant from 

 and following the sinuosities of the shore. Thus all bays 

 over six miles wide at their entrances would be free to their 

 fishermen, except, of course, within three miles of shore. 

 This question became a pressing one about 1840, and pre- 

 cipitated a lengthy discussion between Washington and Lon- 

 don. Theoretically, the question of "headlands" has never 

 been definitely settled, and the many authorities in interna- 

 tional law furnish as yet no fixed rule for guidance. In gen- 

 eral it may be said that the tendency of the law of nations is 

 to restrict the extent of marine jurisdiction. In the matter 



