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Show -118- COMPACTS BETWEEN STATES While the power of entering into treaties with foreign na- tions was surrendered "by the States to the United States ^ the power of entering into "agreements or compacts" by one or more States with other States was reserved to the States,, upon condition that consent of Con- gress be obtained, Art,. 1, Sec, 10, Par, 3 of the Constitution provides: "No State shall, without consent of Congress * * * enter into any agreement or compact with another State * * * *" In other words, the rights of the States to enter into inter- state engagement j in most respects similar to treaties and compacts be- tween independent nations, in the form of "agreements or compacts" with consent of Congress, was reserved to all of the States, both old and new When consent of Congress has been obtained,, the States about to negotiate, become complete and independent sovereignties with all the powers of in- dependent nations respecting the subject matter for which consent of Congress v-ras granted and the compacts to which they become parties sig- natory ar*e conclusive upon the contracting States, their territory and the citizens thereof. In the language of the Supreme Court, when con- sent of Congress has been obtained: "Then the States were in this respect restored to their original inherent sovereignty; such consent being the sole limi- tation imposed by the Constitution, when given, left the States as they were before, as held by this court in Poole vsP Fleeger (11 Pet, 209)5 whereby their compacts become of binding force, and finally settled the boundary between them* operating with the ssrne effect as a treaty between sovereign powers* That is, that the boundaries so established and fixed by compact between nations, become conclusive upon all the subjects and citizens thereof, aid bind their rights, and are to be treated to all intents and pur- poses, as the true real boundaries* * * * * The construction of s-uch a compact is a judicial question"0 ( Ro Io vs. Mass, 12 Pet, £>57, 725.)" In fact Iir» Justice Baldwin expressed the opinion that the very righrt of a State to force another State to submit its controver- sies for decision before the Supreme Court would tend to encourage settlements by interstate compact, saying: "but when it is known that some tribunal can decide on the right, it is most probable the controversies will be settled by compact". (12 Pet, 657, 726.) Consent of Congress may be obtained before negotiations or after the interstate compact has been formulated and adopted by the signatory States, or consent may be implied from the subsequent, con- duct of trie United States, and the States may conclude compacts re- specting purely local matters in which the United States has no con- cern, without prior or subsequent consent of Congress, (li;8 U. S» 503, 517-528.) |