Maine for indemnity for the loss of their lands by the operation of the treaty, and the legislature passed the following resolution, viz: Resolve in favor of owners of lands taken by the United States and ceded to Great Britain. Resolved, That the governor and council are hereby authorized to investigate the claims of the several owners of lands on the northeastern boundary of the State, between the monument and the river Saint John, taken from them and ceded to Great Britain by the treaty of Washington, and allow to each of the owners or their assigns a just compensation for their several proportions thereof; and take all necessary measures to obtain such amount or amounts from the United States; and when the same shall be allowed by the United States, the governor shall draw his warrant on the treasurer for the sums due the several persons. Approved February 24, 1869. In accordance with this resolution the governor and council made the following report in part: Report of council. STATE OF MAINE, IN COUNCIL, January 6, 1870. The committee of the council to which was referred the claim of James A. Drew and others, for compensation for land taken from them by the treaty of Washington, under the resolve of the legislature of this State approved February 24, 1869, ask leave to report in part, as follows: By the treaty of 1783 the northeastern boundary of Maine was a line running due north from the monument to the northern line of the State. By the treaty of Washington in 1842, a conventional line was established, which began in the old line at the monument and diverged to the west gradually as it went north, thus cutting the easterly ends of all the townships of land lying between the monument and the northern line of the State. A large portion of the strip of land thus ent off had been sold by the States of Maine or Massachusetts, prior to the treaty of Washington, to individuals. By the terms of the last-named treaty the soil and title of this strip passed to settlers in the province of New Brunswick, so that these owners have lost the full value of their lands thus ceded away, and have thus far had no compensation therefor from the State or the United States. The townships or part townships belonging to individuals from which the treaty of Washington thus cut are Hodgdon, Houlton, Williams College grant, Framingham Academy grant, Monticello, Portland Academy grant, Bridgewater Academy grant, Mars Hill and Plymouth grants. The quantities of land taken from each of said townships or part of townships we have ascertained by satsifactory evidence to be as follows: There was reliable proof presented to us to establish the value of this land at the sum of three dollars per acre, and in our opinion that is a fair value for the same. There seems to be but little difference in the value per acre of the different townships, and we have, therefore, concluded to affix but one value throughout. The Aroostook River runs through the Plymouth grant, and on the part of that grant taken off by the treaty of Washington were the falls of that river, of 90 feet descent, which furnish a valuable water-power and mill-privilege, and, in our opinion, an additional sum of three hundred dollars over and above said price per acre should be allowed the owners of this township. Per order, J. W. PORTER. IN COUNCIL, January 6, 1870. Read and accepted by the council, and by the governor approved. FRANKLIN M. DREW, On the 21st day of December, 1871, the council of Maine made their final report respecting the claim for timber taken from this land, in which they say, "we are of the opinion that the claimants are entitled to compensation for the timber so taken off, and at the rate of two dollars and a half per acre." "The evidence is that there was an average of about two and a half tons per acre of timber, worth at the time of the depredation $1.60 per ton, and subsequently $4.50 per ton. If it be assumed that two tons were taken from an acre, the loss at the lowest estimate at the time would be $3.20 per acre; or, if taken at its value in 1850, it would be $9 per acre." On the 14th January, 1871, the executive of Maine addressed a communication to the Hon. Hamilton Fish, Scretary of State, in pursuance of the resolution of the Maine legislature, and the report of the Maine council setting forth the grounds upon which these claims are founded, as follows, viz : Letter of governor of Maine to Secretary of State of United States. STATE OF MAINE, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, SIR: By the treaty of 1783, establishing the northeastern boundary of Maine, the line from the source of the Saint Croix, or the monument, was to have been due north to the highlands, and the States of Massachusetts and Maine surveyed and marked the two eastern ranges into townships, and prior to 1842 sold several of them to private individuals, gave deeds running to the treaty line, and received their consideration therefor. But by the treaty of Washington, August 9, 1842, a conventional line was agreed upon and run out and established on the face of the earth, beginning at said monument, and diverging irregularly to the west of a due north course, so that when it reached the river Saint John it was about a mile west of the treaty-line of 1783; this line cut off the eastern ends of the townships which had been sold by Massachusetts and Maine, as well as those that had not been thus sold. Prior to this the province of New Brunswick had sold and deeded these lands to the exploring or conventional line, and in some instances even beyond it. The fourth article of the treaty of 1842 provided that "All grants of land heretofore made by either party, within the limits of the territory which by this treaty falls within the dominions of the other party, shall be held valid, ratified, and confirmed to the persons in possession under such grants to the same extent as if such territory had by this treaty fallen within the dominions of the party by whom such grants were made." Thus it will be perceived that the treaty, by its own force and without any legisla tion on the part of Congress or the State of Maine, deprived the original owners of these townships of their titles thereto, and vested the same in the grantees of New Brunswick. The opinion of the supreme court of Maine, as given in the case of Little rs. Watson, 32d Me. R., 214, is direct to this point. See also 7th Peter's R., 51, 88. These individual owners have never received any compensation for the lands thus taken from them by the United States with the reluctant consent of Maine. In 1869 they made application to the legislature of this State for such compensation, and the result is to be found in the resolve herewith transmitted. After the passage of that resolve the governor and council gave a full hearing to the claimants, and thoroughly and carefully investigated all the facts bearing on their claim, and embodied their conclusions in the accompanying report of council, which was deliberately considered, adopted, and approved. I am not aware that the duty imposed by said resolve on the executive of Maine, “to take all necessary measures to obtain such amount or amounts from the United States," has ever been attempted, and in justice to these private claimants, it become my official duty to present this just claim to the department of the General Government having charge of foreign affairs, and respectfully to ask the early attention of the Secretary of State thereto, and that the claim may be approved by him and recommended directly to be placed in the appropriation bill. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. HAMILTON FISH, SIDNEY PERHAM, Secretary of State. There have been nine reports made to Congress or by committees of the Senate and House of Representatives upon this class of claims, all of which, with a single exception, being unanimously in favor of paying them, and the amount of one claim was placed directly in the appropriation bill of July 20, 1869. The reports in the House of Representatives are as follows, viz: Mr. Knowlton, last session 34th Congress. Mr. Maynard, 1st session 35th Congress. Mr. Walton, 2d session 37th Congress, and a bill for relief of present claimants passed the House at the last session of the 42d Congress, but not in time to pass the Senate. The reports to the Senate were made By Mr. Wade, 34th Congress, 3d session. By Mr. Simmons, 36th Congress, 1st session. Congress has heretofore passed several bills to pay the owners of lands thus taken from them, and when the last one passed, the amount claimed in this bill was omitted because it had not then been accurately ascertained. This bill calls for compensation for all the land, not heretofore paid for, and all the timber that was upon it, that was ceded to the British government under the treaty of 1842. The legislature of Massachusetts, by a resolution approved May 5, 1871, authorized the governor and council "to co-operate with the executive of Maine in obtaining payment by the United States of the claim of the private owners of lands on the northeastern boundary of Maine, ceded to Great Britain by the conventional line established by the treaty of Washington, of 1842." A Twelve of the grantees of this land received it from Massachusetts in consideration of their services as soldiers of the Revolution, and it was granted to them or to their widows, and several thousands of acres of it, at the time it was ceded in 1842, had cost over four dollars per acre. bill to pay these claimants two dollars per acre passed the House at the last session of Congress, but not in time to receive action in the Senate. The committee believe that when citizens are deprived of property by the direct and authorized action of the Government they are entitled to a just remuneration. Two dollars an acre is not a just remuneration for land taken by the Government more than thirty years ago, that cost the owners at that time more than four dollars per acre, the soil of which is estimated by the Maine council at more than three dollars per acre, and the timber, in 1850, at nine dollars per acre. The following extracts from the report of Mr. Walton to the House of Representatives, 2d session 37th Congress, upon an act to pay for land and timber in the im mediate vicinity of these lands, apply with equal force to this case: The third and last question, as to the right of the proprietors to pay for timber removed, depends upon the same principle as the second, though it is presented in a different form. The land was taken by the direct action of the Government, through the treaty; the timber was not taken by the Government, but was lost to the proprietors through the direct action of the Government. From 1831 to 1839 the jurisdiction of Maine over the disputed territory was suspended by request of the President, and it was precisely at this time that New Brunswick took possession and carried off the timber. It clearly appears from a letter of the Secretary (Mr. Van Buren) to the governor of Maine, dated March 18, 1831, that the suspension of action by Maine was requested by President Jackson, for the purpose of saving the Executive from interruption and embarassment in the settlement of the dispute with Great Britain. The loss of the timber was, therefore, incident to a deliberate and prudent policy for the peaceable solution of a dangerous question; as much incident to the policy of the Government as was the subsequent transference, by the treaty itself, of improved lands to the very men who had carried off the timber. Indeed, it is apparent from the public 7 documents that from 1827 this Government knew that Great Britain was exercising acts of exclusive jurisdiction over the disputed territory, and from 1831 to 1839 it also knew that New Brunswick was stripping this part of the territory of its timber; and this Government submitted to these wrongs rather than resent or resist them. The loss of the timber, therefore, seems to be a part of the price for national peace, and the committee think the nation, and not the persons wronged, should bear the loss. The act of July 12, 1862, allowed four dollars per acre for land of the same value as this, and contiguous to it, and it was not pretended that it was a fair value, only that the owners were willing to accept that sum. An act passed at the 1st session of the 34th Congress, paying Josiah S. Little more than thirteen dollars per acre for land adjoining these lands and of similar quality. Your committee respectfully submit, herewith, a bill providing for the payment of three dollars per acre, the same to be in full payment for the land and the timber taken therefrom, and recommend its passage. |