Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1933-10-05
CANADA-U. S. BORDER
RESULT OF PARLEYS
Unforti6ed Boundary 5000
Miles Long.


recent reference to the Canadian
United States border as boundary
without Notifications emphasizes the
unusual condition which exists along
the 3,O00-mile strip of land. Aside
from patrols of Royal Mounties at
strategic points and customs and Inn
migration officials and boats of the de
partment of fisheries on the water
ways, 1t is unguarded. However, It
took more than a century of negoti-
ations to arrive at this happy state of
affairs.
The fixing of the boundaries, begun
in 1888, was not concluded until 1908,
and, although there was during the ne
gotiations one or two instances of local
uprisings between the settlers on both
sides of the line, the final issue was
lin no case due to a display Of force.
Because of the faultiness Of the only
available maps and the ignorance of
the negotiators regarding the topog-
> raphy of the country under dispute,
the marking of the boundaries was an
extremely complicated affair.
A Dispute In the East.
The most dangerous of the frontier
disputes was the settlement of the
boundary between Maine, New Bruins
wick, and Quebec. This was fixed by
the treaty of 1783 but not completely
settled for more than fifty years. The
treaty named as the boundaries Of the
United States such vague locations as
'the northwest angle of Nova Scotia"
namely, the angle formed "by a line
st. Croix river" and the islands in the
Bay Of Passamaquoddy which belonged
to his Britannia majesty.
The identity of the st. Croix river
was decided by commission in 1898;
that Of the islands by an agreement
with the British commissioner, Thomas
Barclay of New Brunswick, in 1917.
and the "angle" by direct negotiations
between Daniel Webster, American
secretary of state, and Lord Ashburton
In 1912.
In these negotiations the king of the
Netherlands was called upon to arbi-
trate. Although his award was based
on thorough investigations, Maine did
not agree to it and the difficulties cul-
minated in the "Restook war" of 1888
SO. For this affair the President was
authorized to call out the militia, but
hostilities were averted.
Difficulties also entered into the fix
ing of the boundaries west of Niagara.
France first claimed the Mississippi
basin by virtue of the explorations of
La Sale; English fur traders claimed
the Northwest. With the cession of
Quebec in 1893 the situation changed.
England claiming what is now the
north central states. The northwest
ordinance Of 1887 envisioned the ambi-
lions Of the young republic in the va
cant spaces of the West. Lewis and
Clark, Gray and Aston. carried the flag
to the Pacific.
The electioneering cry in 1874 of
"Fifty-four Forty or Fight" typified
the spirit of the time, but wiser coun-
sci prevailed.
Difficulties Over Waterways.
Negotiations were entered into In
1916, and it was decided that the boun.
dairy should follow the forty-ninth par
allel from the Rockies to "the middle
Of the channel which separates the
continent from vancouver's island, and
thence southerly through the middle of
the said channel and of Fuca's strait
to the Pacific ocean,"
The many waterways along the bor-
der-the Great Lakes, the st. Law
renee, st. John, Richelieu. and Detroit
rivers-all have caused many difficult
ties in the boundary question. To
solve them Elihu Root, secretary Of
state, and James Bryce, ambassador
extraordinary at Washington, brought
about a treaty which created the in
ternational joint commission. This
commission, which first met in 1912,
consisted of six members, three APP
pointed by the President of the United
States and three by the king on the
recommendation Of the governors gen.
eral-in-council Of Canada. Its de-