268 FISHERIES ARBITRATION AT THE HAGUE 



Therefore, it is agreed, first, that the inhabitants of the United 

 States shall have the liberty to take, dry, and cure fish within 

 certain limits; and next, the United States, for its inhabitants, 

 renounces all the Uberty that it has had or claimed upon all coasts 

 not included within the limits. It is a clear-cut, compact settle- 

 ment of the matter in controversy between the parties by one of 

 the parties keeping one part and giving up the other part. We 

 are confined in our construction of the meaning of the words to 

 such meaning as applies to the matter in controversy, and does 

 not carry them outside to other matters. If there are two possible 

 meanings, one which is within and one which is without, we must 

 reject the one which is without and take the meaning that is within 

 the subject-matter. 



The second proposition upon which we are fortunately removed 

 from the necessity of long discussion is that the matter in contro- 

 versy was Umited to those waters which were within the territorial 

 jurisdiction, the maritime jurisdiction, the maritime limits, the 

 limits of British sovereignty, using a variety of expressions which 

 we find in these negotiations and correspondence, all referring to 

 the same thing. The subject-matter in controversy is limited to 

 the exercise of the liberties within the territorial waters of Great 

 Britain. That follows necessarily from a great number of expres- 

 sions which were used in the negotiations, and which were authori- 

 tative statements of the position of Great Britain which the United 

 States had to meet, and which were statements of the subject- 

 matter which was to be settled. An expression of this is to be found 

 in Lord Bathurst's letter of instructions to the commissioners at 

 Ghent, which appears in this pamphlet, p. g. He says to the 

 commissioners, at the foot of the first paragraph: 



"You are instructed to state, that the three material points which remian 

 for consideration are the following." 



Then, at the foot of the page: 



"Secondly, the fisheries. You are to state that Great Britain admits 

 the right of the United States to fish on the high seas without the maritime 

 jurisdiction of the territorial possessions of Great Britain in North America." 



Then he goes on. to say something, which I shall refer to here- 

 after, regarding the extent of that, and continues: 



