that the theoretically absolute right of neutral ships,
whether public or private, to pursue their ordinary routes over the high
sea in time of war, is limited by the right of the belligerents to fight
on those seas a naval battle, the scene of which can be approached by
such ships only at their proper risk and peril. In such a case the
neutral has ample warning of the danger to which he would be exposed did
he not alter his intended course. It would, however, be an entirely
different affair if he should find himself implicated in belligerent war
risks, of the existence of which it was impossible for him to be
informed, while pursuing his lawful business in waters over which no
nation pretends to exercise jurisdiction.

It is certain that no international usage sanctions the employment by
one belligerent against the other of mines, or other secret
contrivances, which would, without notice, render dangerous the
navigation of the high seas. No belligerent has ever asserted a right to
do anything of the kind; and it may be in the recollection of your
readers that strong disapproval was expressed of a design, erroneously
attributed to the United States a few years since, of effecting the
blockade of certain Cuban ports by torpedoes, instead of by a cruising
squadron. These, it was pointed out, would superadd to the risk of
capture and confiscation, to which a blockade-runner is admittedly
liable, the novel penalty of total destruction of the ship and all on
board.

It may be worth while to add, as bearing upon the question under
discussion, that there is a tendency in expert opinion towards allowing
the line between "territorial waters" and the "high seas" to be drawn at
a considerably greater distance than the old measurement of three miles
from the shore.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
T. E. HOLLAND.
Oxford, May 23 (1904).

TERRITORIAL WATERS

Sir,--Most authorities would, I think, agree with Admiral de Horsey that
the line between "territorial waters" and "the high sea" is drawn by
international law, if drawn by it anywhere, at a distance of three miles
from low-water mark. In the first place, the ridiculously wide claims
made, on behalf of certain States, by mediaeval jurists were cut down by
Grotius to so much water as can be controlled from the land. The Grotian
formula was then worked out by Bynkershoek with reference to the range
of cannon; and, finally, this somewhat variable test was before the end