Evening star., 1935-09-20
LAND SPECULATION
DENIED At CLOSE
OF BOUNDARY QUIZ
Reports of Settlement Still
Circulate, but Gain Little
Credence.
U. S. COUNSEL BLAMES
DISPUTE ON INVESTORS
Virginia Lawyer Denies Buyers
Seeking to Profit by Deals
With Government.

With the Government charging that
land speculation" was at the bottom
of the District Virginia boundary dis
pute and Virginia counsel denying
such charges, the Boundary Commits
sion today had begun executive ses-
sionS to prepare report for both Con-
gress and the Legislature of the Old
Dominion.
Reports that an amicable agreement
still may be reached between opposing
counsel continued to circulate, but so
far as could be learned no negotiations
were under way today.
The charge that speculation" in
land patents in Reaches Run was be-
hind the whole matter was hurled
yesterday before the commission by
Henry H. Classic, special assistant to
the Attorney General.
Virginia Denies Charge.
These patents, taken out by Dye e.
Duncan and associates November IS,
1927. in Reaches Run, Classic charged,
covered part of the area over which
the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway
later was constructed. He said the
investors had paid rs cents an acre
for the land under water, and charged
this was patent effort to horn in
on this great public improvement"
Denial of the charge came after the
sessions of the commission closed
Yesterday afternoon, from Frank L.
Ball, counsel for Arlington County
and the State of Virginia Under the
rules adopted by the commission. the
Government was given the privilege
of closing its case, and no rebuttal
was provided for Virginia. Ball was
given the privilege, however. of filing
a statement in answer to Classic.
He explained that his statement
would deny that the owners of the
patents had bought the land under
water in Reaches Run for the pur-
pose of proflting by sale to the Gov
ernment. Ball explained the patents
were taken out by Edward Duncan,
Robert Dye. Judge William G. Woolls
and George E. Garrett. now dead.
Knew Nothing of Route.
81 know, as a matter of fact" said
Ball, these men did not know the
Mount Vernon Highway was to be
built there.
The route of the highway was de-
cideo long afterward. These men
urged the Bureau of Public Roads of
the Department of Agriculture, which
built the highway. to put the road
along Arlington Ridge. more than a
mile from any of these patents. Gar
rett obtained consent of a great many
property owners for the higher route
I personally went with them to the
Bureau Of Public Roads and urged
the higher road"
Classic, summing up for the Gov
ernment, laid much stress on MS
charge of speculation. Five times he
reiterated that this speculative" fea-
ture CT the Virginia case "cuts the
throat" of all other arguments ad-
vanced by Virginia for the low water
mark.
Denies State Invalid"
Referring to the previous Ball ref
erence to invasion" by the Federal
Government of Virginia in this case,
Classic fatty denied invasion" He
declared the Federal Government had
expended about 100000 to construct
tn Mount Vernon Memorial Highway
and the United States had taken no
foot of Virginia land it didn't pay
for" The only Virginia contributions
he admitted were the rejected offer of
the right of way through the Duncan
Dye patents and SIS, 1000 contributions
from the State Of Virginia and by
Arlington County.
Classic summarized all arguments
presented by the Government in its
contention that the proper boundary
between the District and Virginia is
the high-water mark on the Virginia
shore
Samuel J. Solomon, vice president
of the National Airport Corp.
which owns Neutrality-suspicious. Air
port. was given permission to file a
statement with the commission in re-
gard to the disputed land comprising
almost half of the airport.