Evening Star Newspaper, December 8, 1935, Page 19

U. 5. WILL CONTEST BOUNDARY RULING Fight Planned in Congress on Proposed Loss of Park Development. Aroused over the setback given the Government in the park development program on the Virginia shore of the Potomac River, Federal officials made it apparent yesterday they are gird- ing for a vigorous fight before Con- gress against ratification of the Dis- trict of Columbia-Virginia Boundary Commission’s = “low-water ~ mark” boundary proposal, disclosed yester- day in a lengthy report. The commission’s report, which was published as a “public document” yesterday despite efforts of the three commissioners to~keep’ their findings secret until Congress convenes, flatly rejected claims of the Government to a large section of the Washington Airport and other nearby property, valued at more than $1,000,000. Contradicting the Government’s contention—supported by three United States Supreme Court rulings—that the boundary is the high-water mark on the Virginia shore, the commis- sion: said it is “of the opinion that the fair and proper boundary is the low-water mark on-the Virginia shore, running from headland to headland across creeks and -inlets.” The com- | mission cited other Supreme Court | » cases to back its low-water mark theory. | One exception was made to this| boundary principle. Where the Mount Vernon Boulevard crosses Roaches Run, forming an inland basin that is being developed as a bird sanctuary, the commission, with acquiescence of Virginia, recommended that the boundary line be drawn 150 feet west | of the boulevard and parallel to it. Even with this concession, park of- ficials assert, the Federal Govern- ment will. be deprived of jurisdiction | over most of the bird sanctuary, on | which $30,000 already has been ex- pended. The effect of this arbitrary line | across Roaches Run, which the com- mission explained was drawn “as a matter of practicability,” would be mJ sustain the claims to the property of | private patentees who acquired the | State of Maryland and the Common- submerged area as ‘“waste property” | some years ago for 75 cents per acre. A suit, claiming jurisdiction over | the bird sanctuary site, was filed in | District Supreme Court by the United | States prior to appointment of _the | boundary commission, but the litiga- | tion was held up, pending the com- mission’s decision. The patentees named as defendants are Judge Wil- liam-P, Woolls of Alexandria, Edward Duncan of Arlington County and Rob- ert R. Dye, superintendent of Arling- ton National Cemetery, Uses Smith Bill Principle. Ome official pointed out yesterday that the commission adopted, in gen- eral, the boundary principle émbodied in a bill introduced in 1932 by Rep- Tesentative Howard Smith of Virginia. It was this bill which led to ereation of the boundary commission. In op- posing the Smith bill, T.-S. Settle, | sedretary of the National Capital Park | and Planning Commission, told the District Co teg of the House: ®rhe law the' botndary-ine | rufss to the -water mark on t.hej Virginia shore and ‘every cove and indentation running to the high-water maftk of the Virginia shore now belongs to the United States. So if Congress passes this headland-to-headland bill it will turn over to private individuals hundreds of acres that the Govern- mant now owns, and therefore the Bureau of Public Roads and the Na- tional Capital Park and Planning | Commission will have to come to Con- gress for additional funds to buy back | those acres.” | Apparently the same dilemma would | confront the Government if the rec- ommendations of the commission are ratified by Congress and by the Vir- ginia Legislature. Sought to Withhold Report. | The lengthy report was submitted | to the Speaker of the House on No- vember 30, when the commission’s life expired, but Dr. Charles. H. Brough, chairman of the commission, and his fellow commissioners, Malcolm 8. Mc- Conihe and William C. Gloth, had re- | fused to make the report public. They still held to their contention that they were without authority to make the findings public afer copies had been given out in other official quarters as “public documents.” | Federal authorities yesterday pored | over maps of the disputed territory, but expressed their confusion as to just where the new line should be | drawn, under the commission’s recom- inendations. One theory was that the headland- S to-headland theory might mean the removal of Roosevelt and Columbia Islands from Federal jurisdiction. The consensus, however, was tha* the com- mission intends the new boundary to run west of the boundary channel, which separates Columbia Island from the mainland, and Little River, which is between Roosevelt Island and the Virginia mainland. ‘Would Parallel Boulevard. The fine then would follow the low- ‘water mark along the Virginia mal land, past the present airport and in- land across the old Alexandria pike to a point just beyond the railroad bridge, where it would begin to parallel the Mount Vernon Boulevard at a distance of 150 feet toward the bird sanctuary. Beyond the Roaches Run area the line would swerve back to the low-water mark and follow the shore to Alexandria, except at Four- Mile Run, and at several inlets further south, where it would jump from head- land to headland. Park authorities estimated yester- day that this course would deprive the Federal Government of approxi- mately 284 acres of submerged land and some “made land” over which it had claimed jurisdiction for park and . boulevard purposes; Specifically, they estimated the Government would lose control over about 67 acres of former, marshland now in the airport, 9 acres in front of the airport, 62 acres in Roaches Run, 36 acres under water between Roaches Run and Four-Mile Run, 50 acres in the mouth of Four- Mile Run and 60 acres between the old Alexandria corporation line and the new corporation line. Members of the commission declined fo explain the report, adhering to an #greement not to discuss it until Con- gress convenes. & The commission has been holding hearings intermittently since its crea- tion in March, 1934, and it has amassed 3,200 pages of testimony and 260 exhibits, including many ancient maps of the territory in dispute. “In determining the boundary, feport stated, “the act provides for and extends to the commission great latitude. Unquestionably, ‘the estab- lishment of the boundary line is & | shows that it follows the Potomac THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTO Will Virginia Get Bird Sanctuary? Under decisions rendered by the District of Columbia-Virginia Boundary Commission, the bird sanctuary developed by the Federal Government along the Mount Vernon Boulevard at Roaches Run would become the private property of patentees who bought the land originally as “waste” for 75 cents an acre. Federal officials indicated they will resist the decision, it provided in said act that the com- missioners shall take into considera- tion, amongst other things, several de- cisions of the Supreme Court of the United States in relation thereto, the findings and reports of the Virginia- Maryland Boundary Commission of 1877, the compact of 1785 between the wealth of Virginia, the claims of ownership of the United States and all private persons and corporations | along the Virginia shore line, and the equitable and prescriptive rights, if any, of the United States and private claimants growing out of long, con- tinued and uninterrupted possession. Old Charters Analyzed. “If the commission were to be guided only by the decisions of the Supreme -Court, then, of course, there would be no necessity for the creation of this commission, but the Congress gave to the commission the right to conduct the proceedings along equi- table lines, taking into consideration not only the legdl rights of the United State and the Commonwealth of Vir-| ginia and private owners, but also their Tespective equitable and prescriptive | rights.” Going back 0 the original charter | granted Lord Baltimore in 1632 by | King Charles I, the commission ex- pressed the opinion that this charter | “Included the entire Potomac River | to the farther bank of said river”| and that Maryland's territory at this | time “unquestionabiy” extended to the i high-watermarikian the Virginia shore. | _ _“All of fhis coumtry during this| ‘petiod of time,” the commission said, “was uninhabitéd and unexplored by white men, and was infested with ferocious Indians, and history records no development and no change in the status of this territory until Octo- ber 21,1668, when Sir William Berke- ley, knight, Governor of Virginis, granted to Robert Howsing 6,000 acres of land from the freshes of the Po- tomac River on the west side thereof above the dividing branches of the same. * * * Alexander Obtained Patent. “Howsing, or sometimes known as Howson, assigned this patent within a year after he had obtained same, | to John Alexander. A- reading of | the description of the Howsing patent River from a point opposite Analostan, or Roosevelt Island, to what is now | known as Hunting Creek, south of Alexandria, and it is further noticed that the description reads: ‘Includ- ing small creeks and inlets.’ “It is apparent to the commission that immediately after the assign- ment of this patent to John Alexander he and his descendants took posses- sion of the land and the commission is of the opinicn, from the evidence produced, that the heirs, assignees and grantees of the Alexander fam- ily have been in possession of said property ever since.” From the time the Alexanders took of the land on the Virginia shore contained in the said patent,” and no evidence, it was added, was produced which tended to show that the orig- inal proprietors under the 1632 charter “ever exercised or attempted to exer- cise any legal title to the land on the Virginia shore.” The compact of 1785, it was pointed out, asserted that “the citizens of each State, respectively, shall have full property rights in the shores of tfle Potomack River.” The commission said it is “of importance” that “shore” is defined by Webster as “the ground between ordinary .high-water mark and low-water mark.” This compact was in force when, in 11791, Virginia ceded part of the Vir ginia side of the river to the Govern- ment for use as a seat of government. The return of this land to Virginia by the retrocession act of 1846, thé report said, returned all of the Virginia shore to the Commonwealth. “It has been the serious contention of the United States Government,” Beautiful the report continued, “that what was known as ‘Alexhnders Island’ in the territory involved was, in reality, a complete, absolute island, completely separated from the fast land of Vir- ginia. “Island Evidence” Dismissed. “Many maps were introduced by the representatives of the United States | which tended to show that this prop- | erty was a complete island, and equally as many maps were introduced by the representatives of the Commonwealth of Virginia which tended to show that the territory known as ‘Alexanders Island’ ninsula, * * ¢ “It is the opinion of the commission that the question of whether what was known as ‘Alexanders Island’ was ever a complete island has received a place in the testimony of much greater prominence than its importance d serves. It is of minor consequence as compared with the questions touching the occupancy by Virginia proprietors, the exercise of sovereignty by the State of Virginia and the acquiescence in and the acknowledgment by the Fed- eral Government of Virginia's right to and over a strip of land approximately 1,000 feet wide between what is known as the fast land in the Virginia up- lands and what is known as ‘the island.’ . “This strip of land, which at one time or another has, to a great extent, been a marsh, is claimed by the United States Government as & part of the bed of the Potomac River, 4nd to further that claim the Fed- eral Government has attempted to prove that the ¢hannel of the river formerly split at this point and a portion of it flowed, without inter- ruption, through this plece of land 1,000 feet wide. Virginia’s Claim Sustained. “The State of Virginia has denied this and has asserted that this strip of land has never been a part of the bed of the Potomac River—never a complete channel—and that between Gravelly Creek and Shallow Creek, or Roaches Run, there has been a com- | plete peninsula, firmly attached to the Virginia uplands. “After considering all of the volu- minous evidence and all of the maps produced by both sides to this con- troversy, this commission is of the opinion that the great weight of evi- dence sustains the Virginia position * #+ From all of the testimony and all of the exhibits flled and which are made a part of these proceedings, this commission is of the opinion that what is known as ‘Alexanders Island’ was, in reality, a peninsula and not & complete island.” Reverting to the act of retrocession, the commission said: “It is apparent that the United States Government :&urnedmme State of Virginia by said act of 1846 exactly what it had acquired by the act of 1791. The evidence presented before the com- mission does not indicate that the United States Government, between 1791 and 1846, took any action to in- dicate ownership over the property in dispute. On the contrary, the evi- dence is clear that the Alexanders and their successors, who were the successors to the Howsing patent, dur- ing this period of time were in com- plete possession of the property.” Low-Water Case Cited. The Supreme Court case of Mary- land vs. West Virginia, the commis- not an island, but a pe- E. J. Murphy ‘;o'.,l 110 Christmas Mirrors will greatly simplify your Gift Giving. Nothing else so pleasingly combines the ornamental with' the. practical as a well-chogen mirror ° + .. and this year, as usual, we aré “mirror headquarters” with a stock - sure to meet the requirements of all budgets. Come in and see them. 12th Street N.W. the Smoot Sand and Gravel Corp. vs. Washington Airport. In these cases the court held that high-water mark on the Virginia shore was the boundary. “It is the opinion of this commis- sion, the report said in this connec- tion, “and it desires to emphasize the fact, that in none of the three cases referred to herein was the Common- wealth of Virginia a party and in a position to raise the question of the location of the boundary line between Virginia and the District of Columbia, and for that reason the commission is of the opinion that, so far as this com- mission is concerned in carrying out the mandates of the act creating it, these cases carry no binding judicial determination of the boundary line between the District and Virginia.” Taxed by Virginia. The commission regarded it as “im- portant” that the property in question has been taxed by Virginia “for many, many years.” Furthermore, the re- port pointed out, Federal income taxes of persons and corporations in this territory have been paid through the internal revenue office at Richmond, Va. “The testimony further shows,” the commission said, “that license taxes have been issued by and paid to the Commonweslth of Virginia and, in fact, every form of tax, including the gasoline tax, has consistently been paid to the authorities of the Common- wealth of Virginia, and that all of the property involved in these proceedings has been policed by the authorities of the Commonwealth of Virginia or its political subdivisions, and that at no time has the United States Govern- ment ever attempted to exercise its authority, either tax er police, in the territory in dispute.” The commission called attention to improvements made on part of tae land by airport interests and by the Southern Oxygen Co., and the Ameri- can Oil Co., and said the Federal Gov- ernment has not interfered with these improvements. Moreover, the Federal Government has purchased pieces of property in the territory from private owners and recorded the deeds in Vir- ginia. Several such transactions were recited. Never Policed by D. C. “There is practically no evidence that ¢he District of Columbia has ever policed, or attempted to police, the said territory,” the report said. “It is true that over a period of many years there were a few sporadic arrests made for illegal fishing near what is known as the Chain Bridge in the deep water of the Potomac. There is no evidence that the District has ever attempted to tax the property in ques- tion since the retrocession act of 1346.” The commission declared, therefore, its opinion that “by continued occu- pation, possession and the exercise of ownership, from its earliest history to the present time, Virginia has ac- quired and exercised full and complete sovereignty and jurisdiction over the territory involved in these proceed- ings. Included, with the approval of the commission, was a stipulative agree- ment entered into by the United States and the City of Alexandria during the hearings, whereby Alexandria ac- +* 4. ELECTRICAL Virginia, the low-water mark on the Virginia shore, running from head- land to headland across creeks and Alrport Plans Mentioned. ° “However, it was developed by the Uniied States Government during the hearings held by thir commission, that the United States Government has a program calling for the construction of an airport in the Potomac River east 0. what has been described as Roache: Run or Shallow Creek, and in the execution of this program au- thoiities of the United States Govern- ment have indicated that it is es- sential and highly necessary that a part of the territory included in the sald Roaches Run be utilized. “The Commonwealth of Virginia, when advised of sald program, ac- quiesced in the same. As a matter of practicability and with the idea in view of assisting the United States Government in its desire to carry out the aforesaid program, the Commis- sioners respectfully recommend that the boundary line across said Roaches Run or Shallow Creek, instead of being the outer line of headland to headland, as laid down in the prin- ciple to be the boundary line by this | commission, be a line across nmj Roaches Run 150 feet west of and | parallel to the west line of the Mount Vernon Boulevard, which boule- vard crosses the entire said Roaches Run. Long Controlled by Virginia. “The boundary line as recommended | herein as the present low-water mark | on the Virginia shore, running from | headland to headland across creeks | and inlets, with the exceptions de- tailed above, is based upon the fact| that by every act and function of | government, by continued occupation | and possession and the exercise of ownership, from its earliest history to the present time, the Commonwealth of Virginia has exercised and ac- quired full and complete sovereignty and jurisdiction over the territory in- volved.” A A A (Continued From Pirst Page.) processing tax is as much of an abuse as it would be to lay a tax on pacifists to pay for the building of battleships at & rate measured by their costs.” ‘The - contention the processing tax “limits the buying power of the coun- try as a whole by increasing the price of agricultural commodities to con- Delivery We present to our friends s low price. The ideal Christmas gift for the whole family. Play the piano—you will be agree Come see for yourself. ably surprised. ' D. ¢, DECEMBER §8; 1935—PART ‘ONE. are ready for final action. Bankhead Case Next. After the Hoosac case is submitted the court will hear Tuesday argu- ments on validity of the Bankhead act through which the Government taxes the ginning of cotton produced in excess of allotment quotas. ‘The petition of Louisiana rice mil- lers for & permanent against paying processing-taxes under the amended A. A. A. will be argued Dec:mber 16 and a case involving validity of the Ténnessee Valley act December * 19. ‘The Bankhead litigation was brought by Lee Moor, 3 Texas planter, to compel the Texas & New Orleans Railroad to transport his cotton with- out the tags that would show he had complied with the act. Lower courts dismissed his petition. The legislation is intended to cur- tail cotton production by imposing a prohibitive tax on the amount ginned in excess of a quota flxed by the Secretary of « Agriculture. Cites Power of Congress. “There can be no doubt,” Reed as- serted, in his brief opposing Moor’s position, “that Congress has very broad powers to select some subjects for taxation and to omit others, to tax some subjects at one rate and others at -different rates, to grant exemptions to one class of taxpayers and not to another. “The sole restriction on that power | is that the classification shall not be arbitrary or capricious. The dif- ference sufficient to justify classifica- | tion need not be great but there| should be some reasonable basis for the distinction. “That reasonable basis, however, may be founded solely on social, eco- nomic or moral policies entirely unre- lated to the production of revenue.” Reed said the purpose of the Bank- head act was “to reduce the abnormal- ly large and, therefore, economically undesirable annual carry-over of cot- ton and to equalize the burden of such a reduction by preventing those who would not voluntarily co-operate in the reduction program of the A. A. A. from profiting unduly, through in- creased production, to the disad- vantage of the co-operating pro- ducers.” Power of Justices Cited. Along with the heap of puzzies that have been piled before the Supreme Court in the A. A. A. test case has come a statement to the nine justices that their power to void acts of Con- gress comes only from a liberal inter- pretation of the Constitution. Vernon A. Vrooman, general counsel -2 S SR SR S SR S SR SR S S RS B SR S SRR S SR S S FREE BENCH very unusual grand for this TRADE IN YOUR OLD PIANO ARTHUR JORDAN PIANO COMPANY 12396 Street i SURE 4 &) ‘Why not make. Mother's present a remembrance from the whole family. You can select no finer gift than an Electric ~ Cor. 13 NW. Gif Range. It will mean many extra hours of leisure, an end of cooking worries and greater comfort for Mother. There are also many other Electrical Gifts to make her happy. &An Electric Roaster, Electric Food Mixer, Perco- lator, Waffle Iron, Heating Pad and any number of other gifts'of thoughtifulness. See them all at The Electric Institule Exhibit, PEPCO Bldg., 10th and E Streets, N.W., then purchase from an Institute Member's Store. cPOWER BVERY SUNDAY NIGHT AT 11:00 per cent.” these taxes on wheat, payments. The federation brief said found “in order to avoid an unbal- such measures should be financed through special levies.” B R Roper to Speak Tuesday. Secretary of Commerce Roper will be guest speaker at a dinner of the Clemson Alumni Association Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Univer- sity Club, Pifteenth and I streets. Charles E. Jackson, deputy commis- sioner of the Bureau of Fisherles, will hooked rugs brought here by Mrs. Edith T. Maul pf the Mountaineer Craftsmen'’s Assobls- tion, Morgantown, W. Va.,, will' be placed on sale to aid unemployed miners in West Virginia. The articles are displayed at “Be Brier Patch,” 1514 Wisconsin avenue, @& shop recently established by two sisters, Mrs. George Howe of Chapel Hill, N. nd Mrs. Jean Chisholm of Charleston, 8. C. The craftsmen’s association, set ups before the end of the Hoover admin- istration, has lately been subsidized by the Pederal Government in connection- with the Reedsville rehabilitation project. . 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