I am desired by Lord Derby to state to you that Her Majesty’s government
would be glad to be made acquainted with the views of the United States
Government as to the extent of maritime jurisdiction that, in their opinion,
can properly be claimed by any power; and further, to be informed whether
the United States Government have ever recognized the claim of Spain to a
six-mile limit, or have ever protested against such a claim.
[Inclosure.]
Lord Derby to Mr.
Watson.
Foreign
Office, September 25,
1874.
No. 304.]Sir: For many years past questions have, from
time to time, arisen between the governments of Great Britain and Spain
with regard to the limit of the maritime j uris-diction of the
last-named power.
The Spanish government claim the right to exercise such jurisdiction at a
distance of two leagues, or six nautical miles, from the Spanish coast,
and they found this claim upon a royal “cedula” issued on December 17,
1780, confirmed by a royal decision of May 1, 1775, (sic,) and by article 15 of the royal decree of May 3, 1830,
the present Spanish minister for foreign affairs asserting, in a note
addressed to Her Majesty’s chargé d’affaires at Madrid, on the 4th
ultimo, that no protest or reclamation whatever has been presented
against those orders, all maritime powers having acquiesced therein.
As regards the government of Great Britain, this assertion of Señor Ulloa
is entirely contrary to fact, and Her Majesty’s government can only
suppose that it was made through inadvertence. The British government
have, always uniformly and strenuously resisted the pretensions of the
Spanish government to exercise jurisdiction at a greater distance than
one league, or three nautical miles, from the Spanish coast seawards or
within bays of the Spanish shore.
[Page 642]
This distance the British government have always held to be the proper
limit of maritime jurisdiction, and Her Majesty’s present government,
after consulting the law-officers of the Crown, entirely concur in that
view, which they are advised is supported by the authority of all
writers upon international law, and by the decisions of the tribunals of
various countries.
It appears to Her Majesty’s government to be manifest that some limit to
maritime jurisdiction must be fixed by general consent among the
different nations, and that no nation can have the right to assume, by a
decree of its own government, a jurisdiction more extended than that
sanctioned by such general assent; otherwise some nations might claim an
unlimited jurisdiction, and assume the right to stop and search vessels
sailing under a foreign flag on any part of the high seas.
In accordance with these views, Her Majesty’s government have recently
intimated to the Spanish government that their pretensions will not be
submitted to by Great Britain, and that any attempt to carry out those
pretensions will lead to very serious consequences. Her Majesty’s
government are, however, most anxious to avoid any risk of a collision
with Spain, and it has occurred to them that if the views which they
have expressed to the Spanish government were supported by the
concurrence of other maritime powers, the Spanish government might be
the more readily convinced of the untenability of the pretensions they
have hitherto put forward, and might see the necessity of withdrawing
them. I have, therefore, to instruct you to communicate a copy of this
dispatch to the United States minister of foreign affairs, and to state
to him that Her Majesty’s government would be glad to be made acquainted
with the views of the United States Government as to the extent of
maritime jurisdiction that, in their opinion, can properly be claimed by
any power; and, further, to be informed whether the United States
Government have ever recognized the claim of Spain to a six-mile limit,
or have ever protested against such claim.
I am, &c.,
