378 



ehnro. Sill' wns in iniiiici'iit ii-i nf luitli flmrcs. Slic m:is not u tiTspassor, licrausp slip tackod williin 

 thriHi l\iilc' (if tlic Hiitish slimv — ' nil this I imiimi'iIcmI.' !l wih ii iirccssily, so Imij,' iis tlml cliani'id 

 was oji"!! i.i I'liiiiiiuTiM'. Tlic c|ih I '(111 whii'li avnsc was lliis, A criiiic iLiiviiii; Ikm'ii cnininittnl (in lidard 

 of that sliin w liilr slic was wil! in iIiiim' mill's i>\' the I'a'ilisli ruasl, was it ciiinniittcil within the hiiily 

 of tho I'ouni;. . Was il ciiuiiniltt'd within llic roalm, so ihal an Kii','lisli slicviir i'dmM aire,-.! Ihi' ninii, 

 iin Mn^'li.-li uraial Jury indicl luni. an I'.njilish Jury tunviil idin, iindiT l'.n;;lisl ' ' ■ ln'inj,' a Imvinni'l' 

 i)U liuaiii a Iniri^ii vi'sscl, liianul I'luni niir |iiici;;n \ir,vl in an.i;lii'i, wjiilc jii 

 country was cnliirly ditli'i-iiil .' ^\^ll, il was cxtranrdinary In -I'l' hnw llii 

 ]nit to their wit's end tn make anylliin.i;' imt nl' that statement. Tli' 

 lawyers wi're the men wh" did not understand il, il was others, who i- 

 stood it lietler." 



• law ol' his own 



,daw lawyers wufu 



i-lired <'ommim-lii\v 



heneli, who uiulur- 



i'l 



^ il 



I I 



Now, 1 nieaii to say. tiiat wlicn my Icainofl iVitmd dtliviTou iiimsplf after this ninnncr, 

 I think tiiat he fovaot who e(ini|i(is(>(l the I5eiich om tiii:* oc'easion. Tiiat Hencli was wholly 

 composeil ot'Coiiiinoii-law lawyers, with the solitary exception of Sir Robert I'iiilliniore. 

 Tlte only Civil-law .Jiulire who then sat on the Beiicii, out of (lie wlioie thirteen, or what- 

 ever was the numher, was Sir Kohcrt I'liilliinui".' ; and the jndj;inent of (he majority of the 

 Court "as (leterniiiied hy a eastiii'j iudiiiiR'nt,* whieh was delivered by the Lord Chief 

 .lustier against the jinisdicti:;!! oftiu' ( lowii; ;ind of eourse this is ,i decision ol' which I 

 understand that Mr. Dana a|)|n()ves. So t'.ir, however, troni the Common-law Itiwyers having 

 had nothing to do with this finding, the fact is, that if it liad not been for the Common- 

 law lawyers no sueh decision would have been i^iven at all. 



.V;-. D'liiii. — I do not include the l".(iuity and Chuneery lawyers among tiie others. 

 Mr. Thnin.son. — No L(juity or Ciiaiicery lawyers sat on the Bench, not one ; all the 

 Judircs who sat on that lieiuh were Comnion-law .Judires, except Sir Itobcrt I'hillimorc, 

 who was a .liidee of tlic llinh Court of Admiralty; and, tis 1 iiave stated, the casting 

 deci'^ion was given by I^ord Chief .luslice Cocklimn, himself a great Common-law lawyer. 



I low was the Parliament of I'Inglaiid to exercise or give jmisdiction o\er these waters, 

 unless tliey were within the territorial jurisdiction of the nation, for neither the Parliament 

 of England nor the Parliament of any other country can possibly make laws for the 

 governm lit of the high seas .' Tiie moiiu'iit yon get within the three mile line of coastal 

 sea, yon are within the juristliction of the country whose coast is washed by those waters. 

 The Lord C'hief .histii'c decided on a technical ground against the authority of the Crown, 

 hut furtluT stated his conviction — and so also cxpressh held all the other Judges who 

 agreed with him — that it was within the province ami the power of tiie British Parliament to 

 jKiss an Act by wdiicli its own jurisdiction and the jurisdiction of the Coiu"ts (over these 

 territorial waters which washed the coast) could be established and maintained ; therefore, 

 so far from this jud^tnent being aiiainst the doctrine that there are such territorial waters, 

 it is the very best authority which could possibly be given for saying that sueh jurisdiction 

 docs exist. If it were not lor the law of nations, the very moment that you got beyond 

 the realm — that is to siiy, on the coast just below low-water mark, the nation would have 

 no jurisdiction over you, and Parliament could not touch you at all, as you would then be 

 on the high seas; Init. by the law of nations, all civili/ed countries have this jurisdiction 

 within the three mile line, and hence the Parliament or other legislative body existing 

 within the country can jiass laws governing (his territory ; and it was only the absence of 

 these laws that induced the Lord Chief .Justice nn<l the other .Judges to arrive at the 

 decision to which they came. 1 therefore think, may it jilcasc your Excellency and your 

 Honours, that I have reluted this proposition of Air. Dana's, and refuted it by the autho- 

 rities of his own country, as well as by British authorities. 



Mr. Dana. — Which proposition do you mean - the one that I put, or the one which 

 you put ? 



Mr. Tliftni.toii. — 1 refer to tlu' one which you put, viz., that tliere is no exe'usi\e 

 jurisdiction enjoyed by any nation over its Icrritori:;! waters. 



'I'licre is now another thini; to he mentioned. What is the practice of the United 

 States hersdf'.' Why, the United Stales has never permitted any vessel of any foreign 

 country to approach her coasts within the three mile limit to fish there. They have 

 uniformly excluded such vessels ; and not only have they uniformly excluded them from 

 within the thice mile limit, but further, they have also rigidly excluded them from the largo 

 bays, such as the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, and hays of a similar description — not 

 hays which are merely six miles in width tit the mouth, but many miles beyond. The 

 whole practice of the United States is entirely against Mr. Dana's theory ; and what is the 

 practice as recognized by this very Treaty, under which your Excellency and your Honours 

 are now sitting — this Treaty of 1871 ? Wiiat do you find is here given by Great Britain 

 to, and accepted by, the United States ? It is the right to enter our territorial waters ; 

 and tiic United States gives to Great Britain, and Great Britain accepts from tlie United 



