Evening star., 1942-04-06
GroveHy Airport
Center of Conflict
Writer Soys Giving Vote
To District Would Solve
One Part Of Problem
Bu John w. Thompson, Jr.

By John w. Thompson, Jr.
The long, fiat runways of the Ma
tional Airport at Gravelly Point and It's
modern terminal facilities are the center
of a hot jurisdictional battle which has
resulted in the introduction OF no less
than three separate bills in Congress.
The question, of course, Is whether the
District or the State of Virginia has
Jurisdiction over the sic, ,o0o. 900 landing
terminal on the south side Of the Po-
tomac. The three bills are one by Rep
resentative Randolph Of West Virginia.
placing the air port in Virginia; one by
Representative Nichols of Oklahoma,
placing 1t in the District, and one by
Senator McCarran of Nevada to restore
to the District all Virginia territory
retroceded to the State by Congress in
1846 which would include the airport.
The two House bills are before the House
District Committee and the McCarran
measure Is before the Senate District
Committee.
Despite the apparent complexity OF
the problem, any practical investigation
would seem to show that the District has
little to win or lose and the Commits
sioners are sitting tight and, generally
speaking, playing both sides.
interviewer in the airport issue is the
entire problem Of the District-Virginia
boundary, which has come down through
more than 100 years without solution.
Actually, the bills before Congress are
boundary bills. The Randolph measure
sets the present high-water mark of the
Potomac on the Virginia side as the
boundary, thus automatically putting the
airport in Virginia. The Nichols bill
simply amends the Randolph bill to put
the airport In the District. The McCar-
ran proposal in one form or another had
been argued back and forth before the
airport was even thought Of.
The Commissioners have approved the
Randolph bill but are not opposed to
the Nichols bill. They are known to feel
that the airport probably would be more
Of liability than an asset-that any
revenue arising from licensing and tax
ing would be far below the cost of pro-
viding fire and police protection, coroner
service and other municipal services. On
the other hand they will not complain
II the jurisdiction Is finally accorded
them. But they don't want to antagon-
lie the powerful Virginia congressional
contingent by fighting for something
that might be white elephant" any,
way.
AS between the two House bills, the
lineup at the moment appears to be as
follows:
For Virginia jurisdiction-The State Of
Virginia and the National Capital Park
and Planning Commission.
For District jurisdiction-The Civil
Aeronautics Authority. which runs the
airport; the airlines using the airport:
the Washington Board of Trade, and
the Federation Of Citizens Associations.
Both sides claim the support of the
Bureau Of the Budget, whose only inter-
est in the bills, however, is whether or
not they conform to the White House
fiscal policy.
Virginia clearly expects to make some
money out Of the airport and is more
than willing to take the chance it will
not be q losing venture. 1t was hinted
1t may be willing to make some tax con-
cessions which supporters Of the Nichols
bill have indicated may not be legally
possible. The contention is that the Vir-
ginia Legislature has not the authority
to delegate to the State executive branch
the authority to waive general tax stat
utes for certain parties. Whatever the
ultimate determination of these ques-
tions. Virginia reasonably may expect
that its State and county businesses will
profit by the location of the airport
within the State in the same way they
will benefit by having the new War
Department and Navy buildings in
Arlington.
The Park and Planning Commission
Is looking at the problem mainly from
the boundary point of view and takes
the position that the present high-water
mark of the Potomac on the Virginia
side is the common sense" line between
Virginia and the District. The commits
sion further objects to District jurisdic-
ton over a relatively small and isolated
parcel Of land on the other side of the
river.
There Is little doubt that the high
water mark at any given time is the
simplest boundary but it is argued that
there is no more reason to set the 1912
high-water mark as the line-thus put
ting the airport in Virginia-than the
1888 high-water mark-under which the
filled-in section of the airport including
the runways, would be classed as in the
District.
AS matter of fact, airline attorneys
studying the history of boundary claims
and counter claims feel that, if any,
thing, the boundary runs right through
the airport. The C. A. A. takes the po-
sition that since much of it was under
water when the project started, the filled
section Is clearly In the District
1t must be conceded, as the Board of
Trade points out, somewhat illogical to
have an airport located in one jurisdic-
ton and serving another. Estimates in
dicate 80 per cent of the airport traffic
is on Washington business and, during
the war, this is probably conservative
figure. New York and Philadelphia, the
board says, we're once in the double
jurisdiction problem and were compelled
to get their own airflelds.
Until the issue is decided, one way or
another, however, nobody really suffers
except the airlines and the concession
aries at the airport. In the interim both
tba District and Virginia have slammed