The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-08-09
MINNESOTA IS INTERESTED
BOUNDARY DISPUTES TO BE
SETTLED AT QUEBEC

Northern Frontier Of the State Has
Been Long In COntentiOn-VaI-
liable Land Included I'm the Dis.
Duted ZOne-Rainy Lake Terri.
tory Part of It-What Previous
Commissioner Accomplished.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 8.-Among the
matters to be considered by the joint
commission appointed by the United
States and Great Britain, which is to
meet In Quebec late this month, are ar
rangements for the more complete def
milton and marking Of any part Of the
boundary between the United States
ana canada by land or water where
the same Is now so insufflciently mark
ed as to be a subject OF dispute.
A considerable part Of the boundary
from the eastern end of Lake Ontario
70 the western end Of Rainy lake on
the northern frontier Of Minnesota has
never been accurately defined or mark
ed, and frequent controversies have
reen the result. especially in recent
years since the country adjacent to the
boundary has begun to be settled and
developed. For example. citizens Of
the United States holding patents
1870 - Vii ioI tlIlDtr lduOS In North
ern Minnesota have been warned
against and prevented from cutting
the timber by Canadian authorities.
VINO commended that said lands belong
ed to the Dominion government.
american miners and prospectors on
the shores and islands Of the Rainy
lake region have had their operations
interrupted and prevented on like
grounds, and American fishermen IN
Lake Erie have been arrested and their
vessels seized. when. ashley supposed
and commended, they were in American
waters.
MATTERS INVESTIGATED.
In the Fifty-fourth congress the COM
mittee on foreign affairs of the house
OF representatives investigated these
matters and reported with favorable
recommendation a joint resolution for
the appointment Of a commission on
the part Of the United States to act
Jointly with g. similar commission On
the part Of Great Britain, to define and
mark the boundary as conventionally
determined by the treaty Of Client and
the Observation-Disclosures treaty of 1912
but no action was taken on the joint
resolution. Among the papers submit
ted to the committee on that occasion
was an exceedingly interesting report
prepared by Assistant Secretary Adee,
OF the state department. In relation
to that portion Of the boundary which
crosses Lake Erie, Mr.. Adee reported:
The Client map Of Lake Erie is cx-
traord1nar1ly imperfect in contour and
inaccurate in dimensions as to all that
part lying between the entrance to Nj
agara river and Point Pelee. It an
pears from note thereon that the
part west of Point Pelee and Sandusky
including all the islands was reduced
from actual survey made by orders of
the commissioners, and a separate chart
or the lake westward Of Point Pelee
showing the triangulations and duly
signed, Is embraced in the Client series.
The same foot note further states that
the other parts of the lake (except
the entrance into the Niagara river)
are reduced from such printed maps as
We're supposed to be the most accu-
rate
COMMISSIONERS MISLED.
That the commissioners were mis-
led in their estimate Of the accuracy
of the. sources from which their map
was compiled is evident upon simple
measurement. For example, in that
part, opposite Long Point. referred to
In the commissioners letter Of Jan II
as probable field for. dispute, the dis
lance from the northwesterly point Of
Pressure Isle, near Erie, Pa, to the
southern extremity Of Long Point is
found by the scale drawn upon the map
itself to be about thirty-seven and a.
quarter geographical miles, while upon
the accurate modern maps, reduced
from surveys made by the army corps
Of engineers and published by the by
geographic Office, the same distance is,
In fact, trif1e less than tWenty-three
miles,
"These circumstances make determi-
nation by measurement from either
shore to the defined boundary of the
Client map impossible, for the distance
SO measured would overlap some four
teen miles in the middle Of the lake.
Neither is an approximate reproduction
OF the Client line upon modern map
feasible, owing to the variations in the
contour of the shores between which
1t must be drawn. This circumstance
alone makes the extra determination
of the charted treaty boundary in
Lake Erie at either end impossible;
only an approximate location can be
determined. The original chart of
Lake Erie. like that Of Ontario is I'M
signed by the commissioners. It may
therefore be propely said that. as to
the main body of these two lakes, there
does not exist charting of the bound
airy having the force and value Of
treaty"
PREVIOUS WORK.
The commissioners appointed under
the treaty Of Client did not undertake
to define or mark that part of the
boundary between the st. Mary's river
and the Lake of the Woods. and a part
Of it has never been charted at all.
Respecting the latter, Mr.. Adee wrote:
- Y.yo L. t.,
rior, no reproduction Of the working
maps Of the Client commissioners has
been made, but as above said they only
drew the extreme westerly portion Of
the northern boundary from Chaudiere
Falls to the northwesterly shore Of
the Lake Of the Woods. AS to that
part between Isle Royale and Chaudiere
Falls, where no line has as yet been
charted by joint agreement of the two
countries, we are dependent upon the
description given in article 2 Of the
treaty Of 1912.
"It is in this part Of the line that
Hunters island, mentioned in the COM
Inittee's letter Of Jan. 16. is found. The
part of the line skirting Hunters island
as described in article Of the treaty
Of 1872 begins at Lake Saisaganga and
runs through that lake, thence to and
through Cypress lake, Lac du Bots
Blanc, Lac la, CroiX and through the
several smaller lakes. straits or streams
connecting the lakes here mentioned.
ct is to be observed that Lac du
Bots Blanc named in the treaty, is
indifferently called Eastwood lake, a
simple translation Of the French name,
the 'Bois Blanc being of the same
species Of tree as the Eastwood of the
United States.
ION the maps which have been ex-
amined in this department, the small
body Of water thus indifferently de-