Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-09-09
BY PHIL YEAGER
and JOHN STARK

An international hassle with an
explosive potential has developed
with virtually no public attention.
1t is the rapidly snowballing dis
pute over how far national terri
torial limits extend into the sea.
The fight is scheduled to come
to a head with the meeting Of the
United Nations in November. 1t is
one which finds the United States
now definitely on the minority side.
Immediately at issue is the
abandoning Of the traditional
3-mile limit which international
law has generally recognized for
hundreds of years. But the ultimate
issue at stake at least in the. eyes
OF many. is the very basic concept
Of the freedom Of the seas"
Here is what seems to be hap
pcning:
. More and more nations are
pushing their territorial limits out
beyond the traditional lone marine
league"--or three miles-from their
shores. In other words, they are
claiming absolute national SOW
ereignty beyond this limit.
. The basic, practical reason for
Jnese extensions is an apparent
present ability to control the seas
out beyond the traditional limits
and to the limits claimed.
. Nobody knows where the trend
will stop, but since modern scien-
tific weapons and equipment make
control of great distances possible,
1t could go on almost indefinitely.
Obviously, any control Of the
ocean is--to the extent Of that con-
trojan abridgment Of our old
freedom" areas.
This is primarily what is worry
ing international lawyers in our
Defense and State Departments, as
we'll as others who are cognizant OF
what is going on. If the limit were
finally fixed for all time at what
seems to be the current popular
limit-12 miles-the abridgment
might not be too serious. Most
countries, including the United
States, assert jurisdiction this far
for customs purposes) But where
is the guarantee that it will end
there?
Half a dozen countries are al
ready claiming beyond this limit,
some of those in Central and South
America out as far as 200 miles.
What is to prevent eventual claims
of 500 miles, or even 1000?
Move Toword Junking
Probably the greatest single spur
toward large-scale junking Of the
3-mile limit developed at &C.
neva a few weeks ago during the
eighth annual session of the U. Ms
international Law Commission.
Ever since 1919 the commission
has been working on q new model
code on the law Of the sea in peace
time. The product Of its labor, re-
ported and adopted in July Of this
year for transmission to the U. NJ,
contained number Of highly con-
troversial provisions. But none are
more controversial than Article 8
Of its Regime of the Territorial
Seas" which reads as follows:
II. The Commission recognizes that
international proetiee is not uniform o.
RECORDS the delimitotion Of the terri
toriol SEQ.
u. The Commission consider that
international Low does not permit en-
extension Of the Territorial seq beyond
" miles.
3. The Commission, without taking
any decision as to the breadth Of the
Territorial SEQ up to thot limit, notes,
on the one hand, thot many stotes hove
fixed q breadth greater thon three miles
and. on the other hond, th0t meny
Stotes do not recognize such breadth
when thot OF their own tenitonol SEQ
is less.
q. The Commission eonsideFs that
the breadth Of the Territorial SEQ should
be fixed by on international confer
ence"
AS the New York Times reported
In its dispatches from Geneva, I'm
plicitly. at least, the article &C
cepted the 12-mile limit" This
seems to be the consensus of those
vino have studied the problem.
So what happens now and where
does the United States stand?
The commissions model code has
been transmitted formally to the
U. MS General Assembly. 1t will be
submitted to the Assembly's sixth,
or legal, committee when the U. N.
convenes Immediately after the