32 THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEA 



not uncommonly used that inasmuch as Great Britain is the 

 predominant maritime Power, it is to her advantage that the 

 territorial waters of all countries should be as narrow as 

 possible. The wider the theatre the better chance for our 

 navy, either in engaging the battle fleets of the enemy or in 

 capturing his shipping. The importance of the change in the 

 conditions referred to above is overlooked. There has been no 

 great maritime war in Europe since the three-mile limit was 

 adopted as the equivalent of the range of guns. If and when 

 another maritime war unfortunately breaks out, it would be 

 absurd to suppose that the neutral Powers within the sphere of 

 possible operations would be content with a three-mile limit to 

 safeguard the security of their coasts. As provided for in the 

 rules drawn up by the Institute of International Law, their 

 duty would be to prohibit all hostilities within such distance 

 of their coasts as would render them secure, and this in turn 

 would involve the immunity from capture within the same 

 space of the merchant vessels of one of the belligerents by the 

 vessels of the other. And thus if this country were engaged in 

 a great maritime war, such as occurred a century or so ago, a 

 very considerable belt of sea on neutral coasts would be closed 

 to the operations of the fleet, and the conditions of naval 

 warfare would be profoundly changed. 



With regard to the other questions of sovereignty or ex- 

 clusive rights in the seas washing the coasts of a country, it 

 is becoming more and more recognised that there is no reason 

 in nature why the boundary for one purpose should be the 

 boundary for all purposes. Just as the three-mile limit is now 

 obsolete in respect to belligerents and neutrals in time of war, 

 so is it inadequate in all cases with regard to the protection and 

 preservation of the sea fisheries. In the concluding chapters of 

 this book it is shown that all recent inquiries by Parliament 

 into the condition of the fisheries, especially of the North Sea, 

 have resulted in proving the inadequacy of the present limit 

 for fishery regulations, and in recommendations that the subject 

 should be dealt with internationally by the various countries 

 concerned. 



