134 FOREST commissioner's REPORT. 



plans, probably for the reason they were not then considered of 

 any consequence or value for purpose of sale — but of course 

 such an explanation would not apply to a failure to include such 

 valuable islands, even at that time, as those of Casco Bay, for 

 instance. 



While the mere fact that a certain island or islands were not 

 included in this division seems of no consequence to me, the 

 fact that this division comprised only islands along a certain 

 section of our coast — East of the Penobscot, with the exception 

 of those lying without the Waldo Patent — confirming as it does 

 Massachusetts' attitude towards these other islands, as shown by 

 her surveys and sales, seems to me of the greatest importance 

 as showing the view of Massachusetts and Maine on this point 

 at that time. 



Maine's Attitude Towards Islands in this Section. 



Since Maine became a state and acquired an interest in the 

 islands along the coast, she has made conveyances, within the 

 limits of this territory under consideration, of only sixty-seven 

 islands and ledges of the very many valuable islands along this 

 section of the coast. All of these, with two exceptions, were 

 conveyed subsequent to 1880 — Little Mark in 1827 jointly with 

 Massachusetts to the United States for lighthouse purposes, and 

 one of the Isle of Shoals in 1876. These conveyances were the 

 result of applications to the Governor and Council or Legis- 

 lature by persons wishing to acquire these islands, rather than 

 any attempt on the part of the State to sell them, and if this fact 

 indicates anything, being a conveyance of the State's right, title 

 and interest may express a willingness on the part of the State 

 to part with any title it might have, if the purchaser desired it, 

 rather than an assertion of title by the State to islands within 

 these limits. That such is a fact in some instances, is known 

 from an examination of reports and correspondence with the 

 Committee of the Council relative to their sale. 



As previously shown in the History of Island Legislation in 

 Maine, the State in 1876 ordered an investigation made of her 

 title to islands on the coast as preliminary to a sale of "all 

 islands on the coast belonging to the State." In pursuance 

 thereof the Land Office made such an investigation — see Land 



