Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-04-30
BOUNDARY OF. MEXICO
Disputes Caused by the Ca
prices Of Uneasy Rio Grande.
CHANNEL OFTEN CHANGED
Frequent Change in Allegiance of the
. Land.
TRYING TO RUN DIVIDING LINE
Task That Has Been Prosecuted for
Twenty Years-only Two Dis
putes Still in Controversy.
RYING TO RUN DIVIDING LINE
BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS.

putes Still In Controversy.
BY WILLIAM Il. CURTIS.
Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
If 1t had occurred a few years ago the
dogs of war would be growing along the
Rio Grande, but in these latter days the
Triumph of Reason leads Elihu Root
and Henry Clay Creel to talk it calmly
over in the diplomatic reception room at
the Department of State and the Attor-
ney General to instruct the federal law
officers in New Mexico to suspend all
proceedings and drop the case. Any diff
ferences. however slight, between the
United States and it's next-door neighbor
are to be lamented, but perhaps this one
WILL serve an important purpose as
peaceful precedent to show the other
American republics how easy it Is to pre-
serve friendly relations during irritating
circumstances. and settle neighborly dis
putes without getting mad over them.
snort time ago, under order of
the United States circuit court of New
Mexico the marshal of that district I'M
dertook to eject a large number of Mexi-
can families from the homes they have
occupied for many years back on a
muddy fiat lying between the city of Ell
Paso Texas. and the Rio Grande. The
land they occupy is claimed by the
Campbell Real Estate Company of Ell
Paso which brought suit in the federal
courts to dispossess the Mexican occu-
pants. who hold it under titles descend
| ing from man named Ponce de Leon, to
whom 1t was granted by the Spanish
government many years ago. The circuit
court took Jurisdiction rendered judg-
| ment in favor of the American claimant
and ordered the United States marshal
| to execute the judgment by election The
l 70 fnI
| to secretary Root, and the latter. finding
| that the land in question was involved
In controversy over the boundary line
| between Mexico and the United States
| requested Attorney General Bonaparte to
| order the district attorney of New Mex
leo to intervene for the protection of the
a bill to enjoin the Judgment on the
| ground that the court issuing it has no
| jurisdiction.
The Marshal Enjoined.
| Attorney General Bonaparte issued the
| necessary instructions the United States
| marshal was forbidden to interfere with
| the settlers and the question was trans
| lerred from the courts to the Department
Of State. where Secretary Root and the
MeSican ambassador are now arranging
| Tor Its arbitration. Our courts can de-
| term1ne county and state boundaries. but
| international boundaries are settled by
the diplomatic branches of the govern
|
| New Mexico cannot pass on international
| questions. and went entirely outside its
| jurisdiction when it attempted to dis
possess actual residents claiming Mexi
| can titles to land which may be a part
| Of Mexico or possibly a part of the
| United States-a doubtful matter which
| remains to be decided.
1t is simply question of fact. and the
ownership own 81 Of the land in dispute can
only be settled when 1t is determined
whether the Rio Grande changed its
| course by "accretion" or erosion"
The Rio Grande is a very uneasy river,
sometimes sonnet 1T Is a furious torrent few
weeks later. Its passions having sub
sided, 1t Will be only string of stag
nant pools lying in a desert of sand
when the Rio Grande gets on the ram
page In the rainy season, and when the
| SHOWS melt on the mountains it disre-
CARDS the maps and surveys and the rules
and regulations that govern international
| boundaries, and digs new channels for
| Itself wherever it pleases. In 1927 the
river ran much further to the north than
IL does at present. it ran directly through
ahe present location of the city of Ell Paso,
ana the greater part Of the land occu-
pied by the homes and business houses
| OF that thriving place was then in the
republic of Mexico. 1t was acquired by
| the nlted states, not by treaty nor by
| conquest, but by the eccentric conduct
| or the river. which cut a new channel
several hundred yards south of the old
one. N
| Again in 1852 the Rio Grande, by its I'M
goVernable passions. took another tract of
| territory from the republic of Mexico and
presented 1t to the United States. The
| MOODS or that season caused it to cut a
| new channel south Of the old one and In
| course of time. the town was built up to
| IT, Immediately after this change in the
| SalaZar. representing Mexico, made a sur
| vey and fixed the boundary line between
| the two countries the river was then and
| as 1t stands at present on the maps Be
| in
| and 1866 the river again changed its course
| and cut new channel still farther south
| This left wide flats of low swampy ground
several square miles In and valued at
| several millions of dollars by the present
occupants, lying between the Emory Saa-
| Ear boundary line, and the city limits of FL
| Paso and the actual channel Of the river.
Marking Boundary With Pillars.
Under the treaties of 1884 and 1889 Joint
| commission was appointed to locate the
| lawful boundary between Mexico and the
| United States from lie Gulf Of Mexico to
| the Gulf of California, consisting of Gen.
| Arson Mills of the United States army and
| Javier Osorno Of Mexico with a s,aff Of
| engineers. They have been at work for
| nearly twenty years, and have placed line
| of granite pillars across the continent to
| show where United States territory ends
| and Mexican territory begins. In doing this
work more than fifty controversies have oc-
| CURED, but Gen. Mills and Mr.. Osorno. and
| his successor, Mr.. Puga, have settled them
| all amcably except two. One of tie two
| Is known as the Eel Chamizap' case and
| involves the tract Of land which is making
the present trouble. The treaty between
| the two republics says:
Article /. The dividing line shall
follow the center of the normal channel Of
the rivers named. notwithstanding any al
terations In the banks or in the courses of
| those rivers. provided that such alterations
be effected by natural causes through the
slough and gradual erosion and deposits Of
alluvum. and not by the abandonment of
an existing river bed and the opening of q
| new one.
Article 2. Any other change wrought by
the force Of the current, whether by the
cutting of a new bed where there Is
. more than one channel by the deepening Of
another channel than that which marks the
boundary at the time of the survey made
! under the aforesaid treaty. shall produce
no change in the dividing line as fixed by
the surveys Of the international boundary
commissions in 1882 but the line then fixed
| chau tipua To follow the xsaiddlo af tlo