Both Virginia and Maryland claimed the lower part of Somerset
County. When no settlement had been made after more than two
centuries of squabbling, it was finally decided to refer the whole matter
to Congress. An arbitration committee of three disinterested citizens
was named. After much study of ancient records they finally drew the
irregular and arbitrary line that marks the southern boundary of the
Eastern Shore and Maryland's part of the Chesapeake Bay. The decision
of the arbitrators, arrived at by a two-to-one vote, was finally ratified by
Congress just 80 years ago. It awarded the disputed territory of Crisfield
to Maryland. If the vote had been the other way around, Crisfield no
doubt would have become part of Virginia.

They say that this border dispute was the only one in which Maryland
was victorious in all the many contests with her neighbors. And that
victory was gained by one vote! But one vote is enough when that vote
is on your side. I feel somewhat like the Crisfield crab who said, as he
was being hauled onto one of our docks, "who but God knows whether
I'm a Marylander or a Virginian?"

REMARKS, EDGAR ALLAN POE SOCIETY
OF BALTIMORE

BALTIMORE

April 11, 1959

A few weeks ago I read in the New York Times a review of a book
entitled To Be A Politician, and the review was headlined: "One Re-
quirement for the Job Is To Know a Little About a Lot. " And the
reviewer had this to say:

"The take-off point is the idea that in a society atomized by ever
increasing tendencies toward the specialization of knowledge, the poli-
tician is the one amateur (or teacher-entertainer) who must synthesize
the whole by knowing a little about everything. "

Now, I think it would be much better if those of us who are engaged
in politics knew a lot about a lot, but I suppose I must confess that we
are fortunate if we know—as the reviewer and the author of the book
suggest—a little about a lot and not just a little about a little. Certainly,
I must confess that I know too little about letters to discuss Edgar Allan
Poe—his poetry and his tales—in such a distinguished gathering. I do
know that Poe came to be loved by the French, and, to our discredit,

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