Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1914-10-08
EFFORT To SETTLE
STATE 30 j n D A ny
DISPUTE HOPELESS

might be made, have reported to Cover
nor Fletcher the failure OF their efforts
to adjust the matter.
! An act was also passed by the Legisla-
/ ture providing that, in view of the at
| tempt of the state of New Hampshire to
collect taxes upon property situated on
! the west side of the Connecticut river, the
| question of the disputed boundary should
| he taken to the supreme Court Of the Uni
| ted States for adjustment.
| The report of the boundary commission
! follows:
St Johnsbury, VT Sept %, 1914.
| His Cxcellcncy,
The Governor.
| Sr:-The boundary line commission APP
| pointed by you under the Joint resolu-
] tlon relating to boundary commissions,
approved February 10, 1913. respectfully
report that after our appointment we
devoted or attention to gathering In
/ formation bearing upon the question OF
/ the true location OF the boundary line
between Vermont and New Hampshire,
and thereafter proceeded In negotiation
/ with a like commission representing the
| state of New Hampshire looking toward
| an agreed boundary line that should be
made certain.
| Tho true boundary line between the
two states has been n subject of con-
| lrovcrsv and disagreement during the
! "ntire life of the state Of Vermont. the
state of Vermont having claimed thai
| the boundary line was In the middle of
the river. and the state of New Hamn-
shire having claimed that the line wa~
! somewhere on the west bank Of the
river Considerable activity was mani
/ r
! appointed to adjust this matter down to
/ the time when railroads promised to
disrlace water carriage (about 1899, and
/ since that time the matter has received
no attention from the respective govern
ments until the act was passed pro-
vidins for the appointment Of this COM
mission. In the meantime many public
bridges, toll bridges railroad bridges,
dams and manufacturing STRUCTURES,
! have been erected on the river. part Of
the manufacturing structures being on
the Vermont side and part on the New
Hampshire side: and now the question
has become acute. chiefly by reason Of
the large taxable property upon the
river and it's banks and the conflicting
claims respecting the exercise of
4 sovorcienty over property on the river,
and particularly on its west bank, for
/ the purpose of taxation,
We attempted to negotiate the es
Enlistment of the most convenient
and desirable boundary line between
the two commemorative without en-
/ tering particularly into the question
of where the true boundary line now
is. We regarded the most desirable
boundary line between the two COM
monwealths to be the middle of the
Connecticut river, and attempted to
negotiate the establishment of such
a line, and proposed that so far as the
state of New Hampshire had invested
money i'm structures, like highway
/ bridges, westerly of the middle of the
: liver TO have the state of Vermont
make compensation in some way. Ac-
cordingly on the nth day of Novem-
I Der, 1913, we met the commissioners
I appointed by the state of New Hamp-
/ shire at the Parker House in Boston,
and after quite a full discussion 1t
was decided by the commissioners of
New Hampshire that they would not
/ consider a boundary line in the mid
die of the river, This commission
! then proposed to agree upon low wat
er mark on the west side of the river
as boundary line, Considerable
nsideration was given this line and
1t looked as though an agreement might
be reached respecting it, but the com
mission from New Hampshire had not
at that time gene over the line to see
where II would be drawn with respect
to existing properties on the bank and
proposed making an examination Of
the same, to be followed by a Joint
meeting of the two commissions
Judge Chase, the chairman of the New
| Hampshire commission, was a man of
great age and did not feel able to max.
an examination until the warm wealth
er of this year. 1t was expected that
| the commissi toner's from both states
| would go over the proposed line to-
| Eether, hut arrangements were finally
made for separate views of the prim-
! ises.
! After these examinations had been
made, and the chairman of the New
Hampshire commission had fallen Ill, two
meetings were had between the chairman
of this commission and the Hon. John
H. Albin, acting chairman Of the New
Hampshire commission. In these meet
ngs it became apparent that in the light
of the Wow which had been made by
the New Hampshire commission no
agreement could be reached upon any
line so far east as low water mark on
| the west side of the river.
I After conference upOn this subject, your
commission wa- of one mind that We
would not agree upon line farther west
than low water mark on the west side
of the river, and that inasmuch as the