ARGUMENT OF MR. ROOT • 303 



Now, will you go back to the treaty of 1818 and read the renun- 

 dation clause in the light of this letter of Lord Bathurst to Mr. 

 Baker: 



"The United States hereby renounce, forever, any liberty heretofore 

 enjoyed or claimed by the inhabitants thereof to take, dry, or cure fish on 

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

 of His Britannic Majesty's dominions in America '' 



and apply to that the declaration of the letter to Mr. Baker that 

 bays, creeks, and harbors are bays, creeks, and harbors within 3 

 marine miles of the coast, are within the jurisdiction of the maritime 

 league from the coasts, and are not without the jurisdiction of the 

 maritime league from the coasts ? If we had had that authoritative 

 clause in the language of the renunciation clause, would there have 

 been any question to discuss here ? Is there any room left, with 

 this letter, which my honorable friends have proved here within a 

 few days was read to the President of the United States by Mr. 

 Baker, for the contention that the negotiators of the treaty of 1818 

 considered, or for a moment supposed, that the maritime jurisdiction 

 of Great Britain, from which they proposed to exclude American 

 fishermen, extended beyond 3 marine miles from the coast; or is 

 there any room left for the supposition that in the renunciation, 

 which appKed only to matters in controversy and only to the waters 

 within the maritime jurisdiction of Great Britain, the word "bays" 

 meant anything except the bays that were within that maritime 

 jurisdiction and were a part of the subject-matter of controversy ? 



The President: In this supposition, have the words "bays, 

 creeks, and harbors" any distinct meaning, or are they superfluous? 



Senator Root: They have the same meaning that they had in 

 the treaty. 



The President: Yes, I mean in the treaty. Have the words 

 "bays, creeks, or harbors" in the renunciatory clause any distinct 

 meaning within this supposition, or are they superfluous ? If the 

 words had been left out, would the sense have been different ? 



Senator Root: They are an enumeration of the different ele- 

 ments of the total coast — the coasts, the bays, the creeks, the 

 harbors. There are two principles under which these words can 



