Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-01-26

a. Tn ~ y 0tlns peTnleated With the deadly poi
"hs OF theSe Sttience breeding swaInps OFTEN
resulting In their death. To say nothing OF the
'ase OF our late President, the grcat-mnded lib
eral-he9rt'd, generous ouled Garfiela whose sur
erngS were greatly aggravated /. and hos death
was undoubtedly FASTENED by the malaria whi,h
surrounded him during long weeks OF snf1erfng.
the life OF one such man Julian Hartr1lyea
neinber al the Forts -ita Congress- lost hy reason
| oil maaft.l poisoning, was u more worth 90 his
toney IL viii cost 10 convert this swamp into
beautiful park worthy % the city which ID viii do
% much towards improving and adorning
The remaining sections OF the hsll furnish n
mode u quiet the title or the United NJ ates which
IN the opinion o. the committee are amply SUI
In order that the House may have n fun under
~ lnding OF the claims made by private persons TO
the AREA sought 90 b. reclaimed we pr,s mi al mis-
point synopsis OF the same, together with suoh
iaCts Ia reference thereto seem desirable
Piior TO the cession by Maryland OF a part
| OF the District OF Columbia 90 the United Sites
lMaTyhnd act, PASSED December ~ I.ss and
Maryland act Of ratification, passed 18TH Decem-
Der, l7e1 for both OF which see Burch's Digest
pages 2l3 and 2i1l there were laws IA Maryland
prescribing the methods OF securing title hy patent
those lands. tSee kelleyS laws OF Maryland index
10 vol 1, under head OF - Lands ami Land offcesr
ior reference 10 all these Maryland lawsl
All the Maryland laws then existing were con-
tnued In force IN the District of Columbia Fei-
ruars q, 1901, = United States Statutes al Larye
ioi, ana temporary laws OF Maryland OF above
class We're made permanent In the District or Co
inaoia, March 3, 1907 4 L. ;. stat. at Large,
M cist bii'tlS fflNlFtl DN the MarNlanl land
laws TO act dld not exist In the District, The said
laws were inoper tive until February IL. 1859
Az inst date Congress passed a joint resolution,
which was approved by the President (See 5X -
Stat, 3eo}, directing the manner IN which tao
Maryland laws for securing title 20 vacant land
should be executed The terms OF said resolu-
tons are as follows:
ReSotrTd, &c, That the acts OF the state OF
Mary land tor securing title TO vacant land when
were continued In force by the act OF Congress OF
the s7th OF FeDnry, 1901 i'm that part OF the Dis
IN I OF Columbia which was ceded 20 the United
Seases py lnat STATE. and which have heretofore
been imperative for TIE want OF appropriate
Officers or authority in the said District ior their
due execution, shall hereafter De executed, as rt-
CARDS lands IN the county OF Washington, and
without the limits OF the city OF WASH
ington, by the secretary OF the Treas
ugy, through the General Land once.
rants, which arrants shall be directed 20 the sur
'eyor Tor the county OF Washington, who shall
make return 10 the Commissioner OF the General
Land ONCE; and payment for said lands accord-
Ing TO the said laws OF Maryland, shall be made 20
the Treasurer OF the United States, whose cefti-
fcate OF such payment shall be presented 20 the
commissioner OF the General Land once, who
shall thereupon issue In the usua; form OF patents
lOr lands by the United States "A patent for such
land TO the person entitled thereto the Secre-
tau OF the Treasury shall make such regulations
as he may deem necessary, and shall designate
the officers who shall carry the said acts Into ef-
fect fhot9ded, That any land which NAV have
been coded 10, acquired by the nlied states for
pubic purposes, shall not be affected by said
acts
1t will he observed that the terms OF said resou.
on the territory ceded by Maryland to the tinted
states; but IL Is limited In its application 40
talos u ne co,nfg o. washington, and ,cithO'h The
tta'tS ~ the ctiy of Washington And the proy!sO
limits its application still further.
Now then What land was IL that Maryland
coded 10 the United states for public purposes and
tnat could not be patented? We answer: All land
covered by the waters OF the Potion &C and Apacosia
rivers, anu Blng between high and low water
marx That land was owned by the state OF Mary
land for public purposes only; and the right of
Maryland was ceded TO the United states Mary.
bia.
This resolution was then permission 10 patent
vacant lands 10 Washington county, outside OF tho
city, ana an absolute prohibition Ia enter lands be.
tween nigh and low water mark IN the Potomac
and Anacostla rivers.
That this was the contemporaneous construction
Is probable from tue fact that while every piece 0f
vacant land, between twelve and fifteen In NUN.
ber outside OF Washington city and in the Mary
laha part oil the District Was promptly entered, no
attempt was made for twenty EIGHT years 10 enter
and patent the Potomac river flats
On the 18th June, 1861, one John l.. Ktdwell hav.
Ing applied under the resolution or February
l6 1889 TO enter the Potomac river flats near Oh
N G Nh, maTran, OF survey was issued TO
MADE return OF a plat and certified that he bad
surveyed AZ 7l-l0O acres Iron actual measurement
by walking around the lines" 81. IL is claimed
by Mr.. kidwell that he ran a steamboat OF fifty
tons burden, the Enterprise" through the chan
de e, Of Esh .e SHORE ana the hats on the I'd
Treasury officers found that the surveyed flats
were above high tide. December 6, 1869, a patent
4t
acres. The land was afterwards called ssKdweIl
meadows" This name has more pleasant mean
the public for the simple reason that there never
mas been any meadow there, and n Mr. Carpenter
walked around the lines he was in mud and water
up 10 his knees, even at low tide. In the ENTER
prise" had not been able TO get through the water
near the shore, she could have gone, at high ude
right over the surveyed flats Hunters shoot reed
birds and ducks on the flats, and boys swim ana
fish there.
Surveys have been made by the Coast Sur.
".
and their reports have always found the hats be-
low high water mark. The so-called kidweI
meadows are not IN island, but an irregular flat
covered at all stages OF the ttde both low and
high.
In 1871 Kidwell renewed an application before
then made and refused, for the small fats above
Long bridge and made first application for all
the hats between the Washington shore and the
virginia channel. He and his associates now
claim that this application vested in him AN In
choate right to complete the entry, and tn he is
therefore, the de J.Te owner of all the flats be-
tween the Observatory hill and Giesboro' point
TLis patent is undoubtedly null, and, In law.
The law specially forbade its issue. The fats
are not above high tide, ana he has neither pos
session nor the right thereof.
Ag ain: It is limited that there exist other claims
tothe flats under the Maryland land laws acquired
before the cession. One or two have been particu-
larry named, but the claimants have never come
ably fictitious.
Thirdly. There were formerly one or two claims
under the Virginia land laws. But since the aban-
comment by virginia OF her former claims the
Potomac river IL follows that her patents for lands
covered by the waters OF that river are WORTHLESS.
Fourthly. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal CON-
pany claim, as we Informed, ali the accretion
ID their BERN bank from 18th street to Easbys
point, and all the OATS from the Washington shore,
between that street and point To the Virginia
channel This claim is made as riparian owner.
This claim is not tenabie for
Isl. riparian owners rights are bounded By
high water mark; and
"a. This canal company is not riparian owner.
Tor the United states OWNS continuous and mar Z
row strip OF land between the property OF that
company and the high water mark, and riparian
right, from It's nature, cannot jump a right OF
the same kind. riparian owner Il the one whose
property touches the high water MARI, andj Is.
In this case, the United States
Filthy. large number OF persons, one or two
above the Long Bridge the others between Long
Bridge and the Arsenal, have seized upon the
washington SHORE, and used IL for many years.
without paying rent to the United States. the true
owner. Some OF these set up no rights against the
United States: others, however, claim riparian
rights, owners or lots the north side OF Water
street Although the United States owns the street
between their lots and the river, these claimants
Insist that their rights overlap the lands OF the
United States, and extend from high water mark
to the channel
III the eases OF the Potomac Steamboat company
VS.. the Inland and Seaboard Coasting company,
and same Vi. the Upper Potomac Steamboat COM
pany, the Supreme Court OF the District OF Column
ba, without disSsn sustained the riparian rights