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chusetts, relative to the sale of timber on the undivided lands, the joint property of the two states. Should it be deemed expedient to authorize a sale of any portion of these lands, or the timber growing thereon, as is suggested by the agents, it can only be done under the concurrent authority of both states. The subject will claim the early attention of the Legislature, that the result may be seasonably communicated to the government of Massachusetts. I have no information relative to the adjustment of our north eastern boundary, other than what was made known to the last Legislature. That line remains unsettled, and is still a subject of negotiation between the American and British Governments. It is of the highest importance to the interests of this State that the negotiation be prosecuted with all convenient dispatch. From information communicated to me from different sources of high respectability, there is reason to believe that depredations to a very considerable extent have been committed on our timber-lands lying on the Aroostook and Matawascah and other streams emptying into the St. John; and that unless energetic measures are speedily adopted on the part of this government, a large portion of our valuable timber in that region will soon be destroyed. It is represented that these depredations are committed by British subjects, and on that portion of the territory of this State which is claimed by the British Government as belonging to the Provence [Province] of New Brunswick. This pretended claim, it is understood, includes about one third of our territory, comprehending a great portion of our bes [best] timber land, and large tracts of superior quality for cultivation and settlement. The several communications from which this information