FOREIGN RELATIONS, 1950, VOLUME I


many, Great Britain (exceptions made as to "historic bays"), Indo-
nesia, and The Netherlands.
  "Many nations specifically define ports, harbors, and roadsteads,
and declare them .to be inland waters. Examples are Australia, Bul-
garia, Denmnark, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden,
and Uruguay..
  "Certain nations e:stablish the base line from which the marginal
sea is drawn not from every point on the coast but from selected
salient points. Examples are Ecuador, France, Great Britain, Norway,
and Spain.".
  The Department is particularly interested in paragraphs 1, 2 and 5.
Since the Department's files lare not complete ion this subject, and
some of these laws may be very recent, you are requested to furnish
a brief general statement on -this subject at the earliest possible date,
and to forward the more specific information and documents Ras you
receive them.
                                                         AcHESONT

700.022/6-2350
Mr. Donald- :Tebbit, Second Secretary, British Embassy, to 3ir. F.
  Garner Ranney of the Office of British Commonwealth and
  Northern European Affairs

,CONFIDENTIAL                        WASHINGTON, 23rd June 1950.
  DEAR GARNER: I am writing in response to your request for further
clarification of the nature of the proposal about territorial waters
which Mr. Fawcett and I recently put to you and Dr. Chapman.
  2. His Majesty's Government attach the greatest importance to the
maintenance of the three-mile limit, particularly in relation to neu-
trality in time of war, and with regard to fishing. While they are
continuing to protest against any claims to territorial waters outside
three-mile limits, they are concerned at the manner in which the prac-
tice of claiming greater limits is growing. The difficulties of arresting
the practice are all the greater since it is quite uncertain whether
the Hague Court would give a judgment in favour of the three-mile
limit if a case were brought before it.
  3. It was the hope of His Majesty's Government (and, we believe,
of the United States Government) that the Hague Codification Con-
ference of 1930 would end in a Convention being signed laying down
that the limit of territorial waters was three miles. The fact that the
Hague Conference broke up without producing any convention seems
to have encouraged a number of governments to claim by their do-
mestic laws territorial waters to a breadth greater than three miles.
These governments seem to have felt that the absence of agreement
at the Hague entitled them to take this action. Our feeling is that,


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