The National Geographic Magazine 



questions which nations would not stip- 

 ulate in advance to submit to that 

 method of adjudication. Prominent 

 among these were territorial disputes, 

 and in their convention they provided 

 that all such disputes should be referred 

 to a tribunal to be composed of six 

 judges, three to be selected by each 

 government. That treaty failed of rat- 

 ification in the Senate by a close vote, 

 but it indicated the method which has 

 been followed with such successful re- 

 sults by President Roosevelt and Sec- 

 retary Hay respecting the Alaskan 

 boundary. 



From the very beginning of our in- 

 dependence as a nation the boundary 

 line dividing the United States and 

 Canada has been the source of almost 

 constant discussion, often of angry con- 

 troversy, and more than once has 

 brought the countries to the brink of 

 war. As in the Alaskan question, 

 these disagreements have arisen mainly 

 from a want of correct geographic 

 knowledge on the part of the negoti- 

 ators of the treaties. For instance, in 

 the treaty of peace and independence of 

 1783, in which an attempt was made, 

 as stated, to set forth the boundar}' with 

 such accuracy that all disputes which 

 might arise in the future would be pre- 

 vented, the initial point on the east was 

 fixed at the mouth of the St Croix River, 

 in the Bay of Fundy. But when it was 

 sought to establish the boundary line, 

 it was found that there was no river in 

 that locality popularly known as the 

 St Croix, but that there were two con- 

 siderable rivers emptying into the Bay 

 of Fundy, both of which had other 

 names than that mentioned in the treaty. 

 This question was settled amicably by 

 the unanimous action of a commission. 



It was, however, followed by a contro- 

 versy as to the ownership of the islands 

 in and near Passamaquoddy Bay. After 

 years of diplomatic discussion, it was 

 referred to a commission of one Amer- 

 can and one Englishman, and they 



reached a settlement without the inter- 

 vention of an umpire. 



The commission established the line 

 to the head of the St Croix River, but 

 the boundary from the St Croix along 

 the Maine- New York frontier to the St 

 Lawrence proved to be the most irritat- 

 ing, difficult, and tedious of the disputes 

 between the United States and Great 

 Britain. It was first referred to com- 

 missioners, who failed to agree, and 

 after much diplomatic wrangling was 

 submitted to the arbitration of the King 

 of the Netherlands, the validity of 

 whose decision was questioned, and it 

 was thrown back into diplomacy. New 

 surveys were made and a temporary 

 boundary established, but it was not 

 observed by the people in the vicinity. 

 Strife occurred ; a state of border war- 

 fare was created ; Congress authorized 

 the President to call out the militia, and 

 voted $10,000,000 for public defense. 

 An open conflict between the two na- 

 tions seemed imminent. The com- 

 mander-in-chief of the army, General 

 Scott, was dispatched to the frontier, 

 and through his interposition a tempo- 

 rary border truce was arranged. After 

 still further delays, in 1842 the Secre- 

 tary of State, Mr Webster, and a special 

 plenipotentiary from Great Britain, 

 Lord Ashburton, agreed upon a treaty 

 fixing accurately that boundary. It is 

 an interesting fact that the essential 

 points of that dispute were similar to 

 those as to the Alaskan boundary. The 

 ' ' highlands ' ' and the ' ' ocean ' ' became 

 the words about which the northeastern 

 controversy raged. Likewise the late 

 subject of discussion at London was in 

 great measure that respecting the phrase 

 in the treaty, ' ' the summit of the moun- 

 tains," and the words "ocean" and 

 " coast." 



The line through the St Lawrence 

 and the Great Lakes was adjusted by a 

 commission after careful surveys, by 

 which various islands which had been 

 claimed and occupied by the Canadians 



