Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

IN SENATE, Feb. 7, 1838.

Ordered, That the Joint Committee on Public Lands, be instructed to inquire what measures may be necessary in relation to the North-Eastern Boundary.

Sent down for concurrence,

CHA'S CALHOUN, Clerk.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Feb. 8, 1838.

Concurred.

L. S. CUSHING Clerk.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

IN SENATE, March 20, 1838.

The Joint Committee on Public Lands, to whom was committed an order of Feb. 7, instructing them "to inquire what measures may be necessary in relation to the North-eastern Boundary" have considered the subject, and ask leave to submit the following

REPORT:

The pecuniary interest of this Commonwealth involved. in the question of the North-eastern Boundary, calls loudly for the consideration of the subject by the Legislature. This interest is greater than is generally supposed; and the subject has not of late, received that attention which its importance merits. The claim upon the General Government for militia services, which has engaged so much attention, and been regarded with so much interest, both by the people and the Legislature of this Commonwealth, is trifling compared with our interest in the disputed territory. There, we have an interest of some six or eight hundred thousand dollars-one third of which belongs to the state of Maine; but here, we have an interest in our own right of two millions.

The disputed territory comprehends nearly seven millions of acres the joint property of Massachusetts and

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Maine. It contains 10,705 square miles, being 2,905 square miles, or 1,859,200 acres more than the entire territory of this Commonwealth. A committee of our own Legislature, who visited these lands in 1835, say of the Allagash country which lies within the disputed territory, "there can be no doubt, but that this is the best timbered tract in Maine, if not in the world." Again, they say, "this timber is indispensable in the finish, and ornamental work of all our dwellings; and to this territory must nearly all the Atlantic towns and cities look for a supply. The rapid growth of these places, the improved taste in the construction of edifices of every description, the increasing ability to indulge this taste, the immense extent of country dependent for a supply almost exclusively on this region, afford the most conclusive evidence, that the value must be immense."

Of these lands more than three millions of acres belong to this Commonwealth, and are worth at the present time at least fifty cents per acre, making an interest of more than one million and a half of dollars. But as these lands will increase in value as the settlement extends, it is highly probable that the Commonwealth, if left to the quiet enjoyment of her rightful possessions, will realize a much larger sum. While the people of this state have an interest of this magnitude in the question of the North-eastern Boundary, the committee believe, that, as guardians of the public weal, the Legislature ought to adopt all reasonable measures to assert the rights, secure the interest, and vindicate the honor of the Commonwealth.

The state of Maine is now alive to this subject. Her Legislature in 1837 adopted spirited Resolutions relative to this question of boundary, and her Executive at the opening of the session of the present Legislature, has

again called their attention to the subject. "It is certainly a remarkable fact," says Governor Kent, "that fiftyfive years after the recognition of American Independence by Great Britain, and the formal and precise demarkation of our limits in the treaty of peace, the extent of those limits, and the territory rightfully subject to our jurisdiction, should be a matter of dispute and difference. I feel it to be my duty, in this my first official act, to call your attention to that vitally important question, the true limits of our state, and to express to you and to the people, my views of the claim set up by a foreign state to the rightful possession of a large part of our territory."

"The first duty of Maine as it seems to mc, is, to claim the immediate action of the General Government to move efficiently and decidedly, to bring the controversy to a conclusion. We have had years of negotiation, and we are told that we are apparently no nearer to a termination than at the commencement. Maine has waited with the most exemplary patience, till even her large stock is almost exhausted. She has no disposition to embarrass the action of the General Government; but she asks that some action be had-some movement made with a determinate purpose to end the controversy. She cannot quietly submit to have her territory wrested from her, her citizens imprisoned, her territorial jurisdiction annihilated, and her rights lost by the bold and persevering and unopposed claims of a foreign power. She cannot consent to be left alone in the controversy, or to be left in doubt as to the aid or countenance she may receive from the authorities of the union, in maintaining her acknowledged rights."

"She asks the quiet and undisturbed possession of her territory, according to the treaty, and that foreign and intrusive possession be put an end to; and by this claim