The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-03-02

Court OF the Unitcu Statean nan fhie'y oce"
invoked In more interesting case than
that which the State OF Virginia has
brought TO settle the boundary line be-
tween her territory and that Of the state
Of Tennessee.
From the brief OF the counsel OF Viz
ginla, a copy of which has been sent us
by the Attorney-General. we gather
that since the admission OF the State OF
r.nnss 10 the Union the question OF
this boundary line has been
yexed and harassing one
Men have been born ana lived to a good
old age and died without ever knowing
certainly whether they were Tennesseerns
or virginians. Law has been dehed ana
the title TO property ciouded by this uh-
certainty. and the astonishing fact is
that the question OF the line boundary
should have been left so long Undecided
The whole question goes back to the
boundary line fixed in the second charter
given by Charles H., dated the Both OF
March. 1866, 70 the Earl OF Clarendon
which granted "aIl that province, ter
ritorv or tract OF land, &c, &c, extending
north and eastward as far as the nor'h
end Of Currituck river or Inlet. etc. etc.,
| which lies within or about thirty-si*
degrees ard thirty minutes nort1erh
latitude and so west In q direct line as
far as the south seas"
Thus establishing the northern bound
airy of the Caroiinas.
Before IT'S and 177s Virginia and North
| Carolina had run. marked and recognized
this line for Sl7 miles west OF Currituck
Inlet TO Steep Rock, when by acts OF theiF
respective Legislatures commissioners
were appointed TO extend and mark the
boundary line throughout. These COM
m,ssioners met at Steep Rock. agreed
upon a common point from which 70 ne
gin tteir operations westward bat our
ing the progress Of the survey they 10
differed as to their observations OF the
true line that at a point In carriers var
| lev. forty-flve miles west Of steep ROCK
| the Carolina commissioners measured TWO
| miles north, and as so corrected, con-
tinued their tline westward. The
| Virginia commissioners after care
| ful observation determined that the
| line thew were running was correct, ana
continued the same westward to the
Tennessee river" This line run by the
Virginia commissioners was the one
adopted by both Virginia and North Caro-
| Ira.
When the State of Tennessee was ad-
mitted to the Union June /, 1876, her
northern boundary was described and
| fixed as being in latitude IS degrees and
| 30 minutes north, but she refused TO re-
cognize the line run by the commits
sioners OF Virginia and North Carolina.
and which had been adopted by them.
To settle the lne conclusively, COM
| missioners were appointed by the Leg
isistures Of Virginia and Tennessee, and
| on the sth day OF December. 1902. these
commissioners came to an agreement.
| which was ratified by the Legislatures
| of both States. But the description OF
| the line so established was so vague and
uncertain, and as TO monuments were
set up or natural objects specified where
| by to tx the line, the whole question for
practical purposes was left as open as
| ever before. This complete omission 10
really fix definitely. certainly and per-
manently what they were appointed to
fix is one Of the straugest omissions
| imaginable. ,.
| The whole report of these commissioners
| fixing from beginning to end disputed
boundary extending over hundreds OF
miles would not cover more than dozen
| lines Of this editorial.
| There being neither monuments set
| UP nor natural objects specified to fix
the boundary. the chops in trees, which
the commissioners had made. became IN
the course of time 80 oblitcrated or de-
stroyed and the inconvenience and I'M
| certainties had become so great that in
| 1856 and 1853 the Legislatures of Virginia
and Tennessee respectively passed acts
appointing commissioners again to fix
the boundary. This time Virginia rejected
the report OF her commissioners and
passed an act to appoint others, but
| Tennessee refused 10 accede to another
appointment, and there has since been
no further Joint action taken by the two
| States. and Virginia claims that the
state of Tenr essee is in possession Of
and unlawfully exercising sovereign jul
risdiction, authority and control over sew
| eral hundred square miles of Virginia s
| territory, namely a strip running from
the North Carolina line to the Kentucky
| line from three 10 six miles wide upon
a due west line In latitude Sc degrees and
30 minutes"
The whole object Of the suit is to have
| the line run from the North Carolina
line, due west on the latitude of IS degrees
30 minutes. Where this will actually hit.
| ard who will become Tennesseeans and
who Virginians nobody can tell. but It IS
said and believed that 1t will throw a
very large territory into Virginia. which
is now under the jurisdiction Of Ten
nessee-
The problem seems to be more scientihc
than legal, but the result win be intensely
interesting.
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