86 



"what, as the chairman has mentioned, is known as the 1958 Convention 

 on the Continental Shelf, which, I believe, has been endorsed by some 

 30 nations. 



Briefly, this convention recognizes the exclusive right to exploit its 

 continental shelf by each coastal nation. It is not the purpose of this 

 proposal to disturb that rule of law in any way. 



I wish to stress very strongly here that there was no significant 

 legal precedent for President Truman's action nor did he rely upon 

 any. His action was a creative approach to a vacuum in the law. 



Now, if we could get back on our train, we had better prepare for a 

 hair-raising descent because, as we reach the edge of the continental 

 shelf, we plunge tliousands of feet down the side of a steep incline 

 known as the continental slope, which declines to the ocean bottom 

 anywhere from 2 to 3 miles, that is, 10,000 to 15,000 feet below the 

 surface of the water. 



You will observe that the heat goes on in our train because the 

 temperature now gets as low as 2 degrees, and the light gradually 

 changes from green to midnight blue, and finally all light is gone, and 

 we are surrounded by darkness. 



Now, as mysteriously wonderful as the continental shelf might be, 

 the area we are now approaching is even more intriguing. Here we 

 see large aqua-domed communities populated by workers whose oc- 

 cupations bring them to these areas and by large numbers of our 

 population seeking recreation and respite from the trials, turbulences, 

 and pollution of dry land. 



They hunt whales and squid and octopi, but we are amazed to 

 discover that in these hidden depths lie untold treasures which re- 

 dound to the benefit of every human being, for here in the bed of the sea 

 lie manganese fields extending for millions of acres yielding man- 

 ganese, copper, nickel, and cobalt. 



Here lies as well — according to John Mero, a well-known expert 

 m the field — here lies "iron, molybdenum, vanadium, diatomaceous 

 earth, limestone, and other metals." These minerals are likewise found 

 in gigantic quantity on the continental slope we have just discussed, 

 as well as oil and gas in tremendous quantity. 



There now arises in the world a question as to who shall own and 

 exploit the continental slope and the deep ocean floor. This is the crux 

 of the question. 



As to this, there is the same vacuum in the law that there was with 

 respect to the continental shelf before the Truman proclamation. As 

 to this, there is no law and the essential question is : To whom should 

 these resources belong? 



Should there be a wild scramble in which every person and every 

 nation seeks to get whatever it can, what I call "submarine colonial- 

 ism," and what would be the undersea equivalent to what happened 

 to Africa in the last quarter of the 19th century, or will this area be 

 the common heritage of all mankind ? 



Now, it is in this setting and with this background of knowledge 

 that the World Peace Through Law Conference on July 13 ado]~)ted 

 a resolution urging a proclamation declaring that the resources of the 

 high seas beyond the continental shelf appertain to the United Na- 

 tions or, briefly put, urging the international counterpart of the Tru- 



