The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1893-05-18
An Unse ti1d Boundary Dispute with
NJ CT Ntrcyfaia

consequent loss Of territory which
Garrett county would suffer if that
scheme is carried out has revived
the discussion over the disputed
boundary line bttween MARYLAND
ami West Virginia. The question
which is being asked is how much
territory will Garrett county gain if
the derIson of the Supreme Court
of the United States should be ia
vorable to the CLAIMS of Maryland?
This question is not easily answered.
The decision may be favorable to
Maryland and still she may gain
very large or very small amount of
territory. The gain will depend
upon whether the head of the South
Branch or the head of the North
Branch shall be declared 1.-THE me-
rdian of the fountain of the Poto-
mac" called for in the grant by
Charles the FIRST to Lord Balti-
more. What is known as the dis
puted territory between Garrett
county ana Preston county, WA,
is a wedge-shaped piece of land
lying between the old or Deakins
line, run about the year 1888, and
the new or Michler line run in 1889
by Lieutenant Michler, ofsthe I'm.
tied States coast survey. BoA
these lines begin at the head of the
North Branch, but the Michler line
intersects the Pennsylvania line
threc-fourths of mile east of the
Deakins line. The line is about
thirty eight miles long. The dis
puted territory, therefore, which IS
taken from West Virginia by TIE
Michler line embraces about fohr-
teen square miles or nine thousand
acres.
When the Michler line was run
great deal of the land which it
added to Maryland was settled and
being farmed by the owners. Other
portions of it include fine timber
lands which in later years became
very valuable. After the new line
was run Maryland granted patents
to the disputed land which up to
that time had been held under Vir-
ginia titles. These conflicting
claims give the people in that sec
ton no end Of trouble, and greatly
retard their prosperity. These peo-
pie are anxious for settlement of
the difficulty between the two States
and care very little which way it is
decided so it is ended. If, however,
tins territory should be added to
Maryland it would materially he p
the prospects of the new county adj
vocates who find themselves little
short of territory.
The territory embraced in this
dispute, however, is Insignificant as
compared with that involved in the
claim of Maryland that the South
Branch is the head of the Potomac.
If the court should fix the begin
ming point of the boundary line at
the head of the South Brrnch, West
Virginia will lose and Maryland will
gain vast territory, including the
whole of,Minerala and Grant counties
and a part of each Of the counties
Of Hardy and Pendleton, Randolph,
Tucker and Preston. This tern
tory would be sufficient for four or
five large counties, and would add
greatly to the wealth and import
ance of Western Maryland. The
fine grazing and agricultural South
Branch region would be transferred
to Maryland, as would also the
thriving manufacturing towns along
the West Virginia Central Railroad.
The vast timber and coal interests
of Tucker and Randolph would
come to us also. The wealth which
would be added to Maryland's tax
able busis would be enormous. 1t
is extremely doubtful whether the
people living IN this region would
be pleased with the transfer, and it
would take some considerable time
to get the new territory organized
and IN working order under Mary
land law. Time, however, would
set all this straight.
Such decision would make many
political changes. 1t will give
MARYLAND another Congressman,
add some twenty members to the
Maryland Legislature and provide
for another judicial circuit.
Some of the West Virginians who
reside near the Maryland line are
ANXIOUS to be transferred to Mary
land, but they are doubtless in the
minority. West Virginians as
rule are proud of their State, and
are unwilling to lose an inch Of It's
territory. These matters, which
excite very little interest in the
eastern part of the State, are mat
tiers of grave concern to the people
in this locality. If the interests of
the people in the eastern part of the
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