42 	The Compact of 1785

non-residents generally had to get Virginia fishing licenses
for the Potomac liver, this did not apply to residents of
Maryland (1922-23 Report of the Attorney General, p. 180) .

	The other opinion was given recently by Attorney Gen
	eral Abram P. Staples to Governor Colgate W. Darden, Jr.
	(1944-45 Report, p. 91) . The question was whether Vir
	ginia's jurisdiction extended to the prosecution under the
	slot machine law of an offense committed on the Potomac
	River. The opinion was that Virginia could not prosecute
	under these circumstances. To support his decision the
	Attorney General wrote as follows:

	By the Compact of 1785 between Virginia and Mary
	land, the territorial bounds of Virginia extend only
	to the low water mark of the Potomac River on its
	southern or Virginia shore. The consequent result is
	that the Potomac River lies wholly in the State of
	Maryland, and in the absence of any further legisla
	tive compact between the two states, the State of
	Virginia would have no criminal jurisdiction over the
	waters of the Potomac.

	The Compact between the two states . . . does indeed
	make provision for concurrent jurisdiction of the two
	states over certain crimes under certain conditions
[quoting Art. 10 of the Compact] . . . This article,
however,,has reference only to offenses committed
against the person. [Citing the Hendricks case, as
approved in Wharton v. Wise.]

	Both these cases involved Virginia statutes punish
	ing unlawful fishing, which statutes expressly covered
	offenses in the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay,
	and which wcre enacted with the consent and approval
	of the State of Maryland, and on this ground convic
	tions were sustained.

	Operation of a slot machine is not an offense against
	a citizen of Virginia, but an offense purely against the
	State; therefore, it is not within the provisions of the
	Compact.

	The slot machine statute does not purport to cover
	the waters of the Potomac, and I have been unable
	to find any general criminal statute which purports
	to give Virginia general criminal jurisdiction over