8 	The Compact of 1785

	Maryland and Virginia were in 1785 loosely joined under
	the Articles of Confederation, and under the prevailing
	political philosophy held themselves to be sovereign states.
	It is difficult, therefore, to impute as of 1785 any binding
	legal force to the Compact. The mutual engagement "for
	ever and inviolably" to observe the terms of the Compact,
	and the mutual pledge of the "faith and honor" of each
	state never to repeal or alter it without the consent of the
	other, doubtless imposed a moral obligation upon each
	state. Legally, however, it would seem to have been in
	1785 no more than an act of the respective legislatures,
	which each in the future could observe or not, at its pleas
	ure, and with no recourse from the other.

	Despite this possibility for a legal quibble, both states
	have kept the Compact in force. There has at times been
	serious question as to whether laws passed under it have
	been enforced according to the spirit of the Compact, which
	is discussed in another section of this Report, but so far
	as concerns the letter of the law and of the Compact, the
	record of conformity on both sides is fairly clear.

	In one respect Virginia has given greater prominence
	to the Compact than has Maryland. Since 1802 it has been
	customary for editors of the numerous Virginia codes to
	include the Compact therein, as in the codes of 1802,
	1819, 1849, 1860, 1873, 1887, 1904, 1919, 1924, 1936 and 1942.
	The practice has been to insert a title called "Of the
	Jurisdiction of the Commonwealth" or "Of the Jurisdiction
	of the Commonwealth and the Symbols of its Sovereignty"
	in the first part of the Code. Included in this title have
	been the text of the royal grant to the colonial govern
	ment, of Virginia's cession of the Northwest Territory,
	and of Virginia's compacts (principally on the matter of
	boundaries) with Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennes
	see, Kentucky and Maryland. Also, after it was accepted,
	the text of the Arbitration Award of 1877, between Mary
	land and Virginia, has been so codified. The imprcssion
	is that Virginia has given a place of sub-constitutional