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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />4 <br /> <br />to the United States Supreme Court and delivered part of the oral argument. In <br />1916 he also began negotiations with Nebraska which led to the South Platte <br />River Compact, signed on April 27, 1923. It was during this period (1912 to <br />1923), both before and after he became engaged in Colorado River Compact <br />negotiations, that Carpenter perfected his theories regarding interstate <br />compacts <br /> <br />The Constitutional and Legal Basis <br />In a 1921 speech to the Colorado Bar Association7 Carpenter noted that <br />the states of the United States "have been prone to forget that principles of <br />international law apply to interstate relations and [they] have rushed into war, <br />through its substitute by suit in the Supreme Court, without first seeking to <br />exercise their inherent right and duty of friendly settlements through <br />diplomatic channels by interstate treaties. . . agreements or compacts." <br />Because all the states entered the Union on equal footing and because their <br />powers of sovereignty were limited only by what had been delegated to the <br />federal government (10th Amendment), Carpenter argued, these states have <br />the right under Article I, Section 1 0, Paragraph 3 of the Constitution to enter <br />into agreements or compacts with each other provided that they obtain the <br />consent of Congress. This is one of the powers specifically reserved to the <br />states. Citing the Court's opinion in Virginia v. Tennessee (148 U.S. 503, <br />517-528, Carpenter noted that the consent of Congress could be obtained <br />either before or after compact negotiations "on any subject matter authorized <br />by Congress." Commissioners for a joint commission would be appointed QY <br />the governors of interested states "pursuant to authority previously conferre4 <br />by legislative acts" in the states themselves. Seeking congressional approval <br />first, then having a joint commission draw up a compact for the states to <br />