Evening star., 1945-03-04
Our Boundary Dispute
Right Here at Home
We Are Worried Over Poland,
But How About the Airport?
By Don S. Warren.

By Don S. Warren.
If King Charles I had only known
what could be done with such a simple
| phrase as ito the farther bank of said
river" he might have been more spe-
cific and thereby saved 100 years of
| embarrassment to Congress for being
unable to establish exactly the extent
| of its jurisdiction along this part of
| the Potomac.
King Charles used that phrase in
| 1882 to describe the western limits of
the lands he was apportioning. 1t
seemed good enough then. no doubt,
| for the region was infested with fe-
rocious Indians" and uninhabited by
white men, but the phrase has been
| interpreted and explained away SO
| much since then as to confound lot
| of things
Hence, we find the question of the
| limit Of the exclusive power of Con-
| gress on the farther bank" of the
| river, at the seat of the Federal Gov
ernment, just as alive today as it was
| in 1871 when the District was created.
The issue is up again in Congress, with.
no settlement yet in sight. While the
| United States owns much of mo Mans
| Land" across the river, neither Con-
| gress nor Virginia can say This is the
line" and thereby positively assign
| Jurisdiction
1t Is no small issue. A lot of in
| telligent people have been working at
| it for long time-including land own
| ers, tax collectors, city planners, lawyers,
the courts, arbitration and boundary
commissions, the District Commission
ers, the Virginia Legislature, Depart
ment of Justice and Congress.
At first glance 1t might seem that
all that has to be done is for some one
with half decent regard for the
rights involved and a true eye to draw
line showing where the Virginia bor-
der stops and the District begins. Not
so. Just a few years ago, Congress
spent good bit Of the taxpayers money
to have a commission do just that, but
the experts could not find enough of the
ancient markers to be sure of the line
and gave up the ghost-suggesting that
diioLilCl SohAiiiooAoAA NC dnoAdSa WIG
task. That suggestion, as well as some
others as to where it thought the line
ought to be drawn were laid aside.
There was quiet along the Potomac
for a half century-in the period fol-
| lowing the grant to the United States
by Virginia of its portion of the original
10 miles square as site for the National
tal D,,t ", tbic ion, mo-
given back to Virginia. The Congress
then sitting could not see that the area
ever would be needed for governmental
purposes. Again, the old issues were
revived because Virginia at once began
taxing properties lying between the old
high water mark and the waters of the
| river.
The problem was serious enough in
earlier years to be carried several times
to the Supreme Court and to bring
about compacts between neighboring
States. But 1t was multiplied in more
recent years when the Federal Gov
ernment developed the Mount Vernon
Memorial Parkway. the Washington
National Airport, the Pentagon Build
ing and other Government structures in
or near that mysterious 1871 high-water
mark The parkway program brought
flock of land-title cases cleared only
through Federal action to compromise
claims, and jurisdiction in the airport
area still is up in the air.
Is it a question of interest to none but
legal perfectionist? Hardly that, when
police on duty near mo Mans Land"
want to dive into the nearest AFRAID
shelter when a serious crime Is COM
mitted, when the Justice Department
confeSses doubt as to whether crlrnl-
nal case should be taken to the Virginia
or the District courts, when coroners
here and there debate for So hours
which one should issue a death certifi-
cate for person so unfortunate as to
drop dead in the disputed zone.
Why, then, is it not settled? 1t must
be remembered that Congress alone
cannot settle the question. And neither
can Virginia. Whatever is done must
have the formal approval of both.
Judging from the long trail of argu-
ments, rulings and judgments, it will
take real craftsmanship to negotiate
and frame a pact that both will adopt.
It has been tried several times in re-
cent years. Friends of the District
twice have blocked bills that would
cede the airport to Virginia, and two
proposals to declare the airport a part
of the District have been stopped short
by Virginia spokesmen in Congress.
Old reports show that Virginia has
Jared we'll in past boundary tests. And
this recalls that phrase used by King
Charles. Many years after he literally
had lost his head, the phrase began to
develop new meanings, all related to
then current problems. Lawyers and
arbitrators convinced themselves and
others that farther bank" didn't mean
''high-water mark" that so long had
been accepted. Instead, it meant the
Virginia shore of the Potomac and
shore" meant the area between high
and low water marks. From such rea-
soning, arising over fishing rights dis
putes, it was but short step to de-
clare, as some authorities have, that the
boundary was at the low-water mark.
Such views were not unanimous and
Government officials have been relying
on later decisions by the Supreme Court
which they say upholds the high-water
mark.
Whether or not the bill recently REIN