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<br />
<br />the instrnmentalit.r of joint commh;sions, the 1110st convenient
<br />example is that of the attempts at settlement of the boundary
<br />between the United States al1fl Texas. Here two joint commis-
<br />sions, duly con~tituted by the National and State Governments,
<br />sought to settle the boundary line, 'l'he history of these attempts
<br />is found in the repol'ts of the. United States Rnpreme COllrt in
<br />the ease of United States v, Tevas (143 U, S" 621; 162 U. S" 1),
<br />
<br />Throughout the many pages of the reports covered by the
<br />decisions in thi,s caso, the repl'csentative 01 the Government of
<br />the United States on the one hand and that of the State of Texas
<br />on the other, ate deEdgna.ted as commissioners, and the common
<br />agency for set~lell1ent of the contl'oveI's.y is d~signa:ted as the
<br />joint commissi~n or joint boundary commission,
<br />
<br />Lest there be SOme question respecting the use of the term
<br />"joint commission." the following references to the opinions in
<br />the above case may be profitable:
<br />
<br />By a treaty concluded August 25, 1838, between the United
<br />States and the HepUblic of Texas (8 Stat., 511), each of the
<br />contracting pa:I:ties agreed to appoint "a commissioner" fol' the
<br />purpose of' joiIitly agreeing upon the line hetween the two He-
<br />publics;
<br />
<br />By the act of ,Tune 5, 1.858, chapter 92 (11 Stat" 310), enacted
<br />in harmony with the act of the'Legislature of the State of Texas,
<br />Febl'ua.ry n, 1854, it was provided that the President should
<br />appoint a representative to act in harmony with one from the
<br />State of Texas for the pur_pose of definitely locating the boundary
<br />between the Indian Territory UlId the State of Texas, 'I'he fol-
<br />lowing refCl'cnces to the representatives, so appointed and' the
<br />name of the bOdy so constituted appear in the decisions in the
<br />above c'ase at tl\e following pages: "A commissioner was appointed
<br />on behalf of the United States~ (162 U, S" 1., 65); "the commis-
<br />sioners of the two Governments"-i. e., the Government of Texas
<br />and the Government of the United States (1.62 U, S" 1, 66) ; "a .
<br />joint commission on the part of the United ~jates and 'fexas.
<br />commenced. the work," etc, (143 U. S., 621.; 635) ; "the commis-
<br />sioner on the part of the United States" (id,); "the commis-
<br />sioners of the United States and Texas" (id,);
<br />
<br />By the act of ,January 31, 1.885, chapter 47 (23 Stat., 296,
<br />297), it was provided that the United States should appoint a
<br />representative ,who should work in conjunction with a represen.
<br />tative to be appointed by the State of Texas, for the purpose of
<br />ascertaining ,tIle boundary, The following references appear as
<br />descriptive of the person and the agency:
<br />
<br />"'fhe two Govel'l1ments (United Sta.tes and State of 'fexas)
<br />appointed commissioners" (162) U, S., 1, 76); the joint body
<br />so constituted is defined as "the .J oint Boundary Commission"
<br />
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