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Sovereignty over Islands in the Pacific 1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2017

Beatrice Orent  and
Pauline Reinsch
Beatrice Orent
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York City
Pauline Reinsch
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York City
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Extract

Recently, certain small uninhabited islands in the central Pacific Ocean have assumedsudden importance for the British Empire and the United States. Their value as landing places for commercial aviation and as strategic bases for air and naval forces is being increasingly recognized. Acquired during the past century by Great Britain and the UnitedStates, many of these islands have been the object of conflicting claims to sovereignty by the two nations. To clarify their status, it has been found desirable to review the past practice of these states and to examine those factors which were considered adequateto create sovereign rights over uninhabited islands in the Pacific.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , July 1941 , pp. 443 - 461
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 1941

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Footnotes

1

The authors wish to express their gratitudeto Professors J. P. Chamberlain, C. C. Hyde, and P. C. Jessup for their invaluable aid.

References

2 The authors are using the term “discovery” in the sense of visual apprehension, with or without disembarkation.

3 For a discussion of this subject, see A. S. Keller, O. J. Lissitzyn, and F. J. Mann, Creation of Rights of Sovereignty Through Symbolic Acts, 1400-1800, New York, 1938.

4 The Reynolds Report contains a list of some 200 islands located near the equator, discovered by American whalers. (H. Ex. Doc. 105, 23d Cong., 2d Sess.) See also, A. Starbuck, History of American Whale Industry, Waltham, Mass., 1878; O. Macy, History of Nantucket, Boston, 1835, p. 225.

5 C. Wilkes, Narrative of United States Exploring Expedition, Philadelphia, 1849, 5 vols., passim.

6 Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Eames, Jan. 24,1855. (Sen. Ex. Doc. 25, 34th Cong., 3d Sess., p. 4.) This statement related to the Island of Aves. For purposes of elucidation, the authors have found it necessary to include within the scope of this paper certain guano islands in the Caribbean.

7 Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas in H.M.S. Endeavor, S. Parkinson, ed., London, 1784, p. 323.

8 Pacific Islands (Eastern Groups), III, Great Britain, Hydrographic Office, Admiralty, London, 1909, p. 111.

9 See infra.

10 Stewart’s Handbook of the Pacific Islands, P. S. Allen, ed., Sydney, 1923, p. 567.

11 See infra.

12 The term “lodgement” is used to designate temporary settlement or visitation at infrequent dates.

13 Sen. Ex. Doc. 79, 40th Cong., 2d Sess., pp. 4–7.

14 Ibid., p. 7. Mr. Hill, Asst. Sec. of State, in a letter of Feb. 27, 1900, to Mr. Page, an American citizen, stated that “the United States claim jurisdiction over . . . Brooks and Midway Islands . . . which were occupied by the U.S.S. Lackawanna on August 28, 1867, and have since been administered by the United States,” Records of the Department of State, MS. Domestic Letters, CCXLIII, p. 246. The terminology is unclear, but it would appear that Mr. Hill considered that the islands belonged to the United States as of the date of the act of possession.

15 Sen. Rep. 194, 40th Cong., 3d Sess., pp. 1, 14-15.

16 H. Ex. Doc. 1, 40th Cong., 3d Sess., p. XXII.

17 15 Statutes at Large, 279.

18 Reported Dangers to Navigation in the Pacific Ocean, I, U. S. Hydrographic Office, 1871, p. 36.

19 Midway Islands, circular of the Navy Department, 1940.

20 Mr. Hill, Act. Sec. of State, to Sec. of Navy, Jan. 10, 1901, MS. Dom. Let., CCL, p. 162.

21 Executive order of President T. Roosevelt, No. 199 (Jan. 20, 1903).

22 Midway Islands, ibid.

23 Votaw, H. C., “Wake Island”, United States Naval Institute Proceedings, LXVII, Jan. 1941, p. 52 Google Scholar.

24 Wilkes, op. cit., V, p. 267.

25 Votaw, op. cit., p. 53.

26 “. . . the United States claim jurisdiction over . . . Wake Island . . . possession of which was taken by the U.S.S. Bennington on January 17, 1899.” Mr. Hill, Asst. Sec. of State, to Mr. Page, Feb. 27, 1900, MS. Dom. Let., CCXLIII, p. 246.

27 Votaw, op. cit., pp. 53–54.

28 Wake Island, circular of the Navy Department, 1940.

29 Executive order of President F. D. Roosevelt, No. 6935.

30 Votaw, op. cit., pp. 54–55.

31 Stewart’s Handbook, 1921, ibid., p. 466.

32 Pacific Islands (Eastern Groups), III, p. 189.

33 Sailing Directions for Pacific Islands, II, U. S. Hydrographic Office, 1933, p. 488.

34 Statesman’s Yearbook, London, 1940, p. 470.

35 Pacific Islands (Eastern Groups), III, p. 189.

36 Stewart’s Handbook, 1921, ibid., p. 470.

37 Pacific Islands (Eastern Groups), III, p. 188.

38 Dominions Office and Colonial Office List, 1940, p. 149.

39 Colonial Office List, 1899, p. 322.

40 Pacific Islands (Eastern Groups), III, p. 194.

41 The Times (London), April 23, 1888; Dominions Office and Colonial Office List, 1940, p. 512.

42 British and Foreign State Papers, LXXIX, p. 1328.

43 Dominions Office and Colonial Office List, 1940, p. 505.

44 Biddle, C., “Some Pacific Ocean Islets Appertaining to the United States”, Bulletin of Geographic Society of Philadelphia, XVI, July 3, 1918, p. 99 Google Scholar.

45 Annual Report of Gilbert and Ellice Colony for 1937, London, 1939, p. 4.

46 Dominions Office and Colonial Office List, 1940, p. 512.

47 Capt. F. W. Beechey, Narrative of a Voyage to the Pacific Performed in H.M.S. Blossom, London, 1831, pp. 44, 47, 101.

48 Pacific Islands (Eastern Groups), III, p. 111.

49 Pacific Islands Yearbook, 1939, R. W. Robson, ed., Sydney, p. 42.

50 Pacific Islands (Eastern Groups), III, p. 179.

51 J. B. Moore, Digest of International Law, I, Washington, D. C, 1906, p. 578.

52 Western Pacific Order in Council, 1877, Hertslet’s Treaties, XIV, p. 871.

53 Among these were Western Pacific Order in Council, 1880, ibid., XV, p. 752; British Settlements Act, 1887, 50 & 51 Vict. c. 54; Pacific Islanders Protection Acts, 35 & 36 Vict, c. 19, 38 & 39 Vict. c. 51; Foreign Jurisdiction Act., 53 & 54 Vict. c. 57.

54 British and Foreign State Papers, LXXXV, p. 1053.

55 It would appear from British practice that Great Britain considered herself equally sovereign over these islands, whether claimed by act of protectorate or possession.

56 Colonial Office List, 1899, p. 322.

57 Statesman’s Yearbook, 1940, p. 298.

58 Pacific Islands (Central Groups), II, pp. 192–195.

59 Ibid., pp. 193–195.

60 Annual Report of Gilbert and Ellice Colony for 1937, p. 28.

61 Great Britain, Statutory Rules and Orders, London, 1937, p. 842.

62 Pacific Islands Yearbook, 1939, p. 169.

63 Statesman’s Yearbook, 1940, p. 298.

64 Colonial Office List, 1899, p. 322; C. Lucas, Historical Geography of British Dominions, VI, J. B. Rogers, “Australasia”, Oxford, 1925, pp. 307–308.

65 Pacific Islands (Eastern Groups), III, pp. 192, 198, 200. The islands were referred to as being “formally annexed”.

66 Ibid., p. 185.

67 Sailing Directions for Pacific Islands, II, ibid., p. 485; Supplement, 1940.

68 Parliamentary Debates, Official Report, Commons, CCCXII, 1936, p. 376.

69 Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Crampton, Nov. 18, 1854, Diplomatic Correspondence of United States, Inter-American Affairs, 1831-1860, VII, Washington, 1936, pp. 110–11; Sen. Ex. Doc. 25, 34th Cong., 3d Sess.; Sen. Ex. Doc. 10, 36th Cong. 2d Sess.

70 Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, to Mr. Delong, May 31, 1873, Foreign Relations, 1874, p. 636.

71 “British Possessions in Oceania”, Peace Handbooks, No. 144, Great Britain, Foreign Office, London, 1920, p. 28.

72 Wyatt Tilby, A., Australasia, “The English People Overseas, 1688-1911”, V, Boston and New York, 1912, p. 297 Google Scholar.

73 Hansard, Parliamentary Debates, 3d Ser., CCLXXX, 1883, p. 552; ibid., CCLXXXI, p. 55.

74 Colonial Office List, 1899, p. 322.

75 The Times (London), April 23, 1888.

76 Pacific Islands (Eastern Groups), III, p. 178.

77 > Smith, H. A., Great Britain and the Law of Nations, II, London, 1935, pp. 28–29 Google Scholar.

78 See Moore, op. cit., I, pp. 556-580, for documents relative to the Act of Aug. 18, 1856, and a list of guano islands bonded thereunder. See also Reeves, J. S., “Agreement over Canton and Enderbury Islands”, This Journal, Vol. 33 (1939), pp. 521–526 Google Scholar.

79 Revised Statutes, Sees. 5570-5578.

80 9 Op. Att. Gen. 30 (June 2, 1857).

81 Mr. Black, Sec. of State, to Mr. Marshall, Dec. 28, 1860, Moore, op. cit., I, p. 561.

82 See cases of Howland, Jarvis and Baker Islands discussed below.

83 Mr. Cass, Sec. of State, to Messrs. Wood and Grant, July 1, 1857, MS. Dom. Let., XLVII, p. 166.

84 Moore, op. cit, I, p. 563.

85 9 Op. Att. Gen. 30, 31 (June 2, 1857).

86 Mr. Uhl, Act. Sec. of State, to Sec. of Treasury, Dec. 20, 1894, Moore, op. cit., I, p. 565.

87 31 Op. Att. Gen. 216 (Feb. 8, 1918).

88 See infra.

89 Magoon, C. E., Reports on the Law of Civil Government in Territory Subject to Military Occupation by the Military Forces of the United States, 3d ed., Bureau of Insular Affairs, War Department, 1903, p. 52 Google Scholar; Moore, op. cit, I, pp. 566–567; Jones v. United States, 137 U. S. 202, 223.

90 Mr. Gresham, Sec. of State, to Sec. of Treasury, Nov. 17, 1894, Moore, op. cit, I, pp. 562-563.

91 Mr. Gresham, Sec. of State, to Sec. of Treasury, Jan. 14, 1895, MS. Dom. Let., CC.

92 Jones v. United States, supra.

93 34 Op. Att. Gen. 507 (June 24, 1925). Mr. Magoon, Law Officer, Bureau of Insular Affairs, War Department, stated that the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the United States attached to the territory embraced in the guano islands, as appeared from the list of bonded islands issued by the Treasury Department. Magoon, op. cit., p. 52.

94 Mr. Cass, Sec. of State, to Messrs. Wood and Grant, July 1, 1857, MS. Dom. Let., XLVII, p. 165.

95 Mr. Day, Sec. of State, to Mr. Cousins, July 13, 1898, MS. Dom. Let., CCXXX, p. 153.

96 Mr. Adee, Act. Sec. of State, to Mr. Lodge, Jan. 11, 1898, MS. Dom. Let., CCIV, p. 350; Mr. Hill, Asst. Sec. of State, to Mr. Page, Feb. 27, 1900, MS. Dom. Let., CCXLII, p. 246; Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, Report to President, Jan. 17, 1868, Sen. Ex. Doc. 38, 40th Cong., 2d Sess., p. 18.

97 Jones v. United States, supra; Presidential proclamation of Oct. 22, 1913, 38 Stat, at L., 224.

98 Mr. Moore, 3d Asst. Sec. of State, to Mr. Jennett, Nov. 19, 1889, Moore, op. cit., I, pp. 578–579; Presidential proclamation of June 5, 1919, 41 Stat, at L., 1751.

99 Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, to Mrs. Stevens, May 10, 1870, Moore, op. cit., I, p. 578; Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Mr. Russell, April 5, 1878, Moore, op. cit., I, p. 579; Presidential proclamation of Feb. 25, 1919, 40 Stat, at L., 1933.

100 Foreign Relations, 1894, pp. 197–198; ibid., 1919, I, pp. 799–800.

101 U. S. Treaty Series, No. 760½.

102 Executive order of President F. D. Roosevelt, No. 6935.

103 Ibid., No. 7368.

104 Act of June 25, 1910, 36 Stat, at L., 847; Act of Aug. 24, 1912, 37 ibid., 497.

105 Parkinson, op. cit., p. 3.

106 Mr. Evarts, Sec. of State, to Sir Edward Thornton, April 1, 1879, Foreign Relations, 1888, 1, pp. 713–714.

107 Mr. Hackworth, Legal Adviser, State Department, to authors, Sept. 16, 1938.

108 Smith, op. cit, II, p. 32.

109 Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Evarts, Jan. 29, 1879, Foreign Relations, 1888, I, pp. 712–713.

110 Hertslet’s memo, to Foreign Office, Dec. 31, 1878, F.O. O.83/1080, Smith, op. cit., pp. 32–33.

111 British Foreign State Papers, LXXIX, p. 1326.

112 Mr. Bayard, Sec. of State, to Mr. White, April 30, 1888, Foreign Relations, 1888, 1, p. 712.

113 Lord Salisbury to Mr. White, May 24, 1888, ibid., pp. 727–728.

114 British and Foreign State Papers, LXXXI, p. 225.

115 Pacific Islands (Eastern Groups), III, p. 192.

116 Dominions Office and Colonial Office List, 1940, p. 512.

117 Annual Report of Gilbert and Ellice Colony for 1937, p. 4.

118 Dominions Office and Colonial Office List, 1940, p. 512.

119 Statesman’s Yearbook, 1940, p. 298.

120 Reported Dangers to Navigation in Pacific Ocean. U. S. Hydrographic Office, 1866, p. 96; W. T. Brigham, Index to Islands of Pacific Ocean, Honolulu, 1900, p. 42; House Ex. Doc. 105, 23d Cong., 2d Sess.

121 Mr. Black, Sec. of State, to Mr. Marshall, Dec. 28, 1860, Moore, op. cit., I, pp. 572, 574; Sen. Misc. Doc. 60, 30th Cong., 1st Sess., pp. 8–10.

122 Wilkes, op. cit., V, p. 4.

123 Magoon, op. cit., p. 52.

124 Report of Sec. of Navy, 1857, Sen. Ex. Doc. 11, 35th Cong., 1st Sess., pp. 574–575. The orders of Commodore Mervine commanding the Pacific Squadron to Commander Davis were as follows, “A claim has been made by an association styled the ‘American Guano Company’ to the proprietorship of these islands, and it is the intention of our government to protect this claim if ascertained to be well-founded and to exercise sovereignty over the islands themselves. You will, therefore, in the event of no conflicting claims appearing, take formal possession of them in the name of our government.” Sen. Rep. 307, 35th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 3.

125 Hague, J. D., “On Phosphatic Guano Islands of the Pacific Ocean”, American Journal of Science, 1862, 2d ser., XXXIV, p. 235 Google Scholar.

126 Experiments with American Guano, American Guano Company, New York, 1860, p. 7. The occupation was apparently not continuous from 1858 to 1860, for when the ship Virginia was wrecked on Baker Island, May 16, 1859, the island was not inhabited. The Nautical Magazine, August 1860, XXIX, p. 446.

The Phoenix Guano Company was also reported to have placed men on Jarvis Island for the purpose of working the guano beds. A. G. Findlay, Directory for Navigation of South Pacific Ocean, 2d ed., London, 1863, p. 564.

127 Moore, op. cit., I, pp. 572, 574.

128 Reported Dangers to Navigation in Pacific Ocean, 1866, p. 90.

129 Mr. Appleton, Asst. Sec. of State, to Mr. Benson, Nov. 11, 1858; Mr. Cridler, 3d Asst. Sec. of State, to Miss Lewis, May 7, 1898, Moore, op. cit., I, p. 574.

130 Magoon, op. cit., p. 52.

131 Nautical Magazine (Aug. 1860), XXIX, pp. 444–445; Reported Dangers to Navigation in the Pacific Ocean, 1866, p. 90.

132 Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Marshall, Nov. 14, 1865, Moore, op. cit., I, p. 574.

133 Whittemore Boggs, S., “American Contributions to Geographical Knowledge of the Central Pacific,” Geographical Review, April 1938, XXVIII, p. 190 Google Scholar; Nautical Magazine, Sept., 1860, XIX, p. 504.

134 Report of Sec. of Navy, 1872, Sen. Ex. Doc. 42d Cong., 3d Sess., p. 9.

135 Pacific Islands (Eastern Groups), III, p. 192.

136 Pacific Islands (Central Groups), II, p. 196.

137 Pacific Islands Yearbook, 1939, p. 387.

138 Du Puy, W. A., “Our New Islands,” Current History, Feb., 1937, XLV, p. 62 Google Scholar; New York Times, July 26, 1935, Sept. 1, 1935, Oct. 13, 1935.

139 Executive order of President F. D. Roosevelt, No. 7368.

140 49 Stat, at L., 1896. Annual Report of Sec. of Interior, 1937, p. 315.

141 Ibid., p. 309.

142 Ibid.

143 Parliamentary Debates, Official Report, Commons, CCCXII, 1936, p. 1375.

144 H. Ex. Doc. 105, 23d Cong., 2d Sess.

145 Reported Dangers to Navigation in Pacific Ocean, 1866, p. 109.

146 Nautical Magazine, Sept. 1860, XIX, p. 504.

147 The island was bonded as Mary Island, Magoon, op. cit., p. 52.

148 Nautical Magazine, Sept. 1860, XIX, p. 504.

149 Mr. Hackworth, Legal Adviser, State Department, to authors, June 14, 1938. Canton, as Swallow, was marked as belonging to the United States in the Steiler Atlas of 1869, and as Mary, in the atlas of 1878.

150 Wilkes, op. cit, III, pp. 370–371.

151 Mr. Hackworth to authors, June 14, 1938.

152 Magoon, op. cit., p. 52.

153 Boggs, op. cit., p. 190.

154 British and Foreign State Papers, LXXXVIII, p. 325.

155 Sailing Directions for the Pacific Ocean, 1933, p. 471.

156 The Times (London), July 10, 1937; New York Times, July 11, 1937.

157 Annual Keport of Gilbert and Ellice Colony for 1937, p. 4.

158 Pacific Islands Yearbook, 1939, p. 169.

159 The Times (London), July 10, 1937; New York Times, July 11, 1937.

160 New York Times, July 1, 1937.

161 Hellweg, J. F., “Eclipse Adventure on a Desert Isle,” National Geographic Magazine, LXXII, Sept., 1937, pp. 388–389 Google Scholar.

162 S. A. Mitchell, “Nature’s Most Dramatic Spectacle,” ibid., p. 376.

163 The Times (London), July 20, 1937.

164 New York Times, Sept. 19, 24, 1937.

165 Gardner, I. C., “Crusoes of Canton Island,” National Geographic Magazine, LXXIII, June, 1938, p. 758 Google Scholar.

166 Executive order of President F. D. Roosevelt, No. 7528, Federal Register, III, p. 609.

167 New York Times, March 9, 1938.

168 General Information, Equatorial Islands, circular of U. S. Dept. of Interior, Division of Territories and Insular Possessions.

169 New York Times, April 2, 1938.

170 U. S. Ex. Agr. Series, No. 145, April 6, 1939.

171 This Journal, Vol. 26 (1932), p. 390.