The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-05-31
New Hampshire Officers
File Brief With US. SUI
preme Court Today

CONCORD. y. H. May 31.-The dis
pute over the boundary line between this
state and the state of Vermont, in which
millions of dollars worth Of taxable prop
erty is involved and in which every person
in the two states is vitality interested came
into prominence again when Attorney
General Oscar J.. Young of this state and
Assistant Attorney General Joseph II.
Mathews left for Washington. where they
will appear before the United States SUI
preme court today and make a formal pre-
sentation of the brief in the case upon
which the supreme court can formally en-
ter the case on the docket
The case is a dispute between this state
and the state of Vermont to determine
whether the legal boundary of New
Hampshire on its western front Is the
middle of the Connecticut river or the
westerly bank.
In December. 1915. a bill of equity was
filed in the United States supreme court
by the state of Vermont against the state
of New Hampshire claiming the middle of
the Connecticut river as the lawful bound
AIRY line and not the westerly bank as it
has been construed and recognized to be
for more than. 100 wears.
Action in the ease was stopped during
the participation of the United States in
the World war by orders to that effect
from Gov pereival w! Clement Of Yer
mont. The litigation is now being revived
by the present governor of Vermont. Gov.
James Hardness. through the attorney
general Of that state.
Valuable property ranging from the
source of the river i'm StewartstOwn to
the town of Ilinsdale, where the river
crosses the Massachusetts border, is in
4 volved. ....-
Vermont began a survey of the territory
| involved in 1916. 1t was completed late
| that year.
Makes Thorough Survey.
| During the summer and fall of 1916
' considerable time was spent By James l..
Tuttle. the New Hampshire attorney gen
eraL and assistant attorney general in
making n study of the situaTion upon the
ground with members of tine governor :
council and with engineers. 1t was deter
mined that a complete survey of the en-
I tire river and its banks from the Canada
/ line to the Massachusetts line was neces-
sary and the attorney general was author
lied by the governor and council to cause
such a survey aud corresponding plan to
be made ..-..
| Professors Robert Fletcher and Charles
\. Holden of the Thayer school of cngi-
neering of Dartmouth college were EN-.
pIoyed for this work They began this
| early November, 1917. This survey, il Is
said, was painstaking and thorough in all
/ respects, and vast fund of information
in regard to the engineering and geograph-
] zeal features was accumulated
/ Assistant Attorney General Matthews
gave practically his whole time 10 looking
after the survey while il was i'm progress.
aud to gathering important data from
the records of the towns along the river
The survey was extended into plan in
the winter and spring months of 1918
The historical facts and the principles of
law governing the case are. il is believed
controlling in New Hampshire's favor
Spent Months Preparing Case.
i At this time the attorney general spent
months i'm the Office of the secretary o1
state making through study of all the
Iold town records on file in the Office on the
towns that border the river, with the
iplan of obtaining all possible evidence ia
Iprove that since the earliest times the
boundary between the two states has beer
the west bank of the Connecticut river
and not the middle of the river as con,
tended by the state of Vermont
| Likewise the attorney general of Yer
mont in 1916 and 1917 spent Severa
months in reviewing all records on fiji,
Irelating to this matter. s.
| The legal officials of New HampShir,
this afternoon simply file the necpsSar,
brief. upon which the supreme court viii
formally enter the case on the docket