OCR Text |
Show A situation of this kind was met by resort to a compact agreement be- tween the states of Minnesota, North and South Dakota in 1917 which provided for the establishment and operation of interstate drainage works« The most recent efforts along this line are to be found in the Flood Control Act which became a law on June 22, I936, and in the Citron Flood Compact Act approved June 8, 193&» In the former of these two acts the consent of Congress is given to any two or more states to enter into compacts or agreements in connection with any project or operation authorized for flood control or for the prevention of danger to life or property by reason of floods on any streams which lie in two or more states, for the purpose of providing funds for construction and mainten- ance, for the payment of damages, and for the purchase of rights of way, lands, and easements in connection with such project or its operation as approved by the states involved and the Secretary of War. The act further provides that n* compact shall become effective without the further consent or ratification of Congress except a compact which provides that all money to be expended and all work to be done shall be approved by the Secretary of War with the exception of such reasonable sums as may be reserved by the states entering into the compact for the purpose of collecting taxes and maintaining the necessary state works for carrying out the compact or'agreement• The Citron Flood Compact Act grants the consent of Congress to Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, and Ohio, or any two or more of them-, to negotiate and enter into agreements or compacts for conserving and regulating the flow of rivers, lessening flood danger, removing sources of pollution of waters, or making other public improvements on any rivers or streams whose basins lie within any two or more of these sta-tes. Any compact made under the provisions of this law is not binding unless it has been ratified by-the legislatures of the party states. There has been no compact consummated which has dealt specifically with soil erosion. Any compact dealing with flood control would, however, undoubtedly contemplate some method of coping with soil erosion problems. Criminal Jursidiction State compacts are more and more being relied on as the only means of controlling interstate crime situations. These compacts have proved most ef- fective where a crime has been committed in one state and the perpetrator has fled to another in order to escape apprehension. Except where the fugitive s e- cured passage on a boat operating on adjoining waters of the state in which,the crime was committed, it had heretofore no jurisdiction. The New Jersey-Delaware Compact of 1905* primarily a boundary agreement, provided for service of pers ons in penal causes on the Delaware River* The federal government has cooperated in the intensive drive on crime ¦which has been carried on within the last few years by the enactment of the |