Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1869-10-07

,istration lists the list o. dctauiicrs to the
State and other legal notices Will leave Us
little room for several weeks to me to
devote to reading matter.
Ju2GE BRRNT's OrISEoY IL TIE Ors-
TER CAgE-We promised N err last is
rne to give synopsis Of the interesting
opinion delivered by Mr.. Chief Justice
Brent at the September term Of our Cir
cult Court in case of tie State vs Certain
Citigcns of Ck-crt Comfy who had been
sSfh'ETa>sor ,idiion Of the Oyster
law.t We pretend only TO give skeleton
of this opinion, lut our sketch will he
found we hope, sufficiently full to convey
an intelligent idea Of all the important
points decided in the case. Accuracy IN
regard to the language Of the opinion Is
not claimed for our report.
The first question, His Honor said,
arising under the law 1868, Olnown as
the Oyster Law was orc Of boundary
1t was coutcndcd by tie counsel for the
traversera that Calvert County included
the whole Of Pa'uXcut river. No county
possesses land by right Of eminent DO
main Counties are merely creatures OF
the Legislature and have no sovereignty.
Tie Legislature establishes the bounda-
r;o. of ,bc cor1tios
There is y difference in ibis respect as
regards rivers fcraratng two sovereign
rowers as. for example, he Potomac
which divides MARYLAND and Virginia =
Howard county was carved out of other
counties. and the Legislature fixed the
boundary.
Calvert County was formerly known as
P.tuxent county. The division was made
IN 1898 The line extended from Point
Iookout TO Buds creek. ST. Nlry's coun-
~ ;ncludrd all that land between this line
and tho Potomac
The Act Of 1894 Oh. %. rec;teg in its
srd scc,ion-" whereas there are
ssver,l COMMITTEES that nre divided by nav
;os}ls r;vers and no rule vet made how
f,r rho Jurisdiction Of each county shall
a ~ ,ha r;vor be i enacted ctc
A.. .t oorr,r ,r;r, on any 1oriaoI1e
r;ror :, th;s rrovcuce. shall extend its iu
,;sd;o,;,, from tho shore, to the channel
ofss;d r;vor and te divided from, the 9TH
er county by the channel OF the said riv-
rt;. !, has therefore extended
A.. H.. of 6. Marv,. comfy 70 the
.,.,o, 81 po,rxont river The act Of
,s.g 80. 100 .st,hTsbes the same doc.
wv IS = St,to co,not
,tl;, .;oh. &c ssborv and
v;c,,;or Tits \ common law right
or deniea IN ENGLAND. and in this
s,te cannot be prohibited. There is,
, a;f.rsnce between these riobts
.na Tho mode Of regulating these rights.
p.cr,,t;or j not rrohbitiou. MARYLAND
h,s ,owsr THROUGH her LEGISLATURE to
-~ov1,ts these rights. and the act of 1865
should be regarded as 50 doing. His
Honor now referred to the 1th section of
the act of 1868, and styled its language
very imperf,ct but also stated that when
il ;scompared with other similar acts of
tho Legislature, its meaning becomes
,,a;p
It is contcndcd BIZ the representative of
tie State that \ license obtained under
sh is section conlers the right to oyster
euly to the channel of the Patuxent river.
Now, SO far as the channel is concerned,
hotl counties have concurrent Jurisdiction.
IN 9th criminal and civil eases. utject
to II is cxception-if the boat is monred
toths South side ofthe channel. St. Mary's
county has jurisdiction, but if moored to
the North side, then Calvert County ju-
.:,+o,L,s I-,,3,r,ba C,r,,,,o,
raw III ere Is . s'''e % .o"N'
tiers any where IN tHe state out our Leg
nlaturc having limited that right, said
6,r;,,t;on. according to a wen-cstablished