434 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



rine miles of any of the Coasts, Bays, Creeks or Harbours 

 of His Britannic Majesty's Dominions in America not in- 

 cluded within the above mentioned limits. ' ' This language 

 does not lend itself to different constructions. If the bays 

 in which the liberty has been renounced are those "of His 

 Britannic Majesty's Dominions in America," they must 

 necessarily be territorial bays, because in so far as they are 

 not so considered they should belong to the fyigh seas and 

 consequently form no part of His Britannic Majesty's Do- 

 minions, which, by definition, do not extend to the high 

 seas. It cannot be said, as has been suggested, that the 

 use of the word "dominions," in the plural, implies a 

 different meaning than would be conveyed by the same 

 term as used in the singular, so that in the present case, 

 "the British dominions in America" ought to be consid- 

 ered as a mere geographical expression, without reference 

 to any right of sovereignty or "dominion." It seems to 

 me, on the contrary, that "dominions," or "possessions," 

 or "estates," or such other equivalent terms, simply desig- 

 nate the places over which the "dominion" or property 

 rights are exercised. Where there is no possibility of ap- 

 propriation or dominion, as on the high seas, we cannot 

 speak of dominions. The "dominions" extend exactly to 

 the point which the "dominion" reaches; they are simply 

 the actual or physical thing over which the abstract power 

 or authority, the right, as given to the proprietor or the 

 ruler, applies. The interpretation as to the territoriality 

 of the bays as mentioned in the renunciatory clause of the 

 treaty appears stronger when considering that the United 

 States specifically renounced the "liberty," not the 

 "right" to fish or to cure and dry fish. "The United 

 States renounce, forever, any liberty heretofore en- 

 joyed or claimed, to take, cure or dry fish on, or within 

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

 harbours of His Britannic Majesty's Dominions in Amer- 



