The Kinsley graphic. [volume] (Kinsley, Kan.) 1890-1940, 1892-03-18
STATE BOUNDARIES.
Not TnErsguentIy -DEmsuItlsa Arise Con-
GGFuiug Them.

Not InErsguentIy DEfncuItIsa Arise Con-
ccrning Them.
After one Of the Emperor Napoleon's
great victories the English prime min
lister, looking at a map OF Europe, said
mournfally, Roll up the map; it viii
not be wanted these ten years"
What he meant was that it would be
ten years before the fighting over the
boundaries OF the European states came
30 an END. And in fact these boundaries
have been fought over since then for
nearly eight times ten years, and are
likely to be stil further and radically
altered in the coming decades
This fact makes It interesting to ask
how the states OF our own Union came
to fix their boundaries, and how claims
which often cOnhicted were peaceably
adjusted
When territories are admitted nova
days as states, like Washington, or
North and South Dakota, the answer is
easy. The United States government
controls the land originally, and con-
yress fixes the limits both of the terri
tory and Of the state or states created
from it
But the situation of the eastern states
at the start was very different When
their boundaries were first defined, they
were colonies uncounected with and
often hostile to one another Nearly
all Of them based their claims to terri
tory on vague grants from English
kings to explorers, colonial companies.
or royal favOrites- AS the interior land
was almost without value aud little
sought after, and as the sea coast was
the only important district, the grants
were drawn with great carelessuess.
For instance, the original grant for
the colony of Connecticut included a
strip Of land from Kong Island Sound
to the Pacific ocean. Subsequently d
part of the same land, together with
territory given long before to Massa-
ehusetts and New Hampshire, were in
Guided in the grant to New York.
Examples OF rival claims 90 territory
might be given almost by the score
What is now Vermont was claimed by
New York ard New Hampshire; Ohio
was claimed by Connecticut and Vir-
glnia, and there were other disputes as
to territory in the south.
The wholesale Connecticut grant
made trouble as far west as Ohio, where
until the year 1900 the New England
state owned all the land along Lake
Erie. The name of the Western Re
serve" OF Ohio is a reminder OF a claim
that was not merely made but partially
allowed
Massachusetts,, too, owned the state
of Maine for two hundred years, after
which it generously surrendered its
claim. Virginia for years owned sec
lions of other states, and in fact at one
time fairly divided with Connecticut the
ownership of Ohio
Even when the general ownership of
land was settled, the question as to
where the exact boundaries of states
ran made trouble. Pennsylvania and
Maryland quarreIed so bitterly over
~
claimaats on the border was of constant
occurrence. but the dispute was settled
finally in 1867 by the running of Mason
and DiEOn's line, famous a century later
as the boundary between freedom and
slavery.
In some states the discovery of mis-
takes in generally accepted boundary
lines has transferred important towns
from one state to another. For in
stance, the citizens of Pawtuclret were
counted in Bristol county, AIassachu-
sets, until 1851, when a new survey
transferred Pawtucltet to Rhode Island,
while a part of the now great manu-
featuring city Of Fall River, until then
| supposed 20 be in Rhode Island, was
handed over to Massachusetts
Even with the accurate surveys OF
| to-day, disputes arise on the same per
| picking question. Ohio and Indiana
claims Even where river runs along
l the state borders, trouble is not nsccs-
sarily avertedi for the question then
I arises, Who owns the right to the river?
/ And If this ownership is important as
| in the case of the Oyster-beds in the
/ Potomac, between Maryland and Vir-
| ginia, fierce quarrels follow, even in
| these days
{ Yet when we consider the warliSe eX-
| periences of Europe in these very ques-
/ tons, with far less completely of grants
and titles than in our own states, it IS
/ greatly to the honor of our country
that results have been so peaceably
attained-YOuth's Companion.