The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1855-05-23

II oce an from IL and six hundred miles distant
it be disregarded Vide authorities before cited ga
cility with shch lands may DO reached
short and settled and cui ivatsd and defended,
OF as wi snossp saS is o. the
consideration. The Russian right to the pOseessoa u
tine dessats country north Of sitks uncontested ard
island must be natural appsndage Of the coast
geographically Sppurteaant snd tributary TO it. to
jushfy the posse Of the coast reaching it, and
making such possessory title valid, without sctaal
cupaten Of such is.and.'O
in her clam to this rock That to be expected;
she is famous, and always was, for fading thiags
Of muniments Of titis, and proofs Of title, made
exactly to suit the As there has never been
ncian ON the isla Avss out of which to manufacture
kDg for them and as in fact, nothing lived there
until 1854 except aquatic birds, informed that
abe POUNDS her claims the assertion that officer OF
me British navy once made survey OF IT, This kind OF
title might az well be preferred by the British to about
half Of our uninhaosted Florida keys, and to the Ala
in the Gull Of Mexico for has surveying
In that region for quarter Of century past and she
may kexiss just well claim several islands of the
same ground. 1t would be at all surprising If she
proved that the red Cross Of st. George was formally
Of cannon and small arms, drinking the health Of its
sovereign and singing britannia rules the waves" &C.,
put forth their claim, and have, since election,
of force the latter has allowed and
admitted their right which the Danish, it seems, had
conceded Venezuela possessed Spain, doubtless, win
clam Also and perhaps Portugal and Denmark, CONT
guous TO some place other and it s quite likely that
up like pretensona, their alliance it said ex-
tends all creation and to the guardian,hip Of all
ton. We have answer to all these "peope," and
that is whoever discovered lsla AYES, Sheons Isle,
s no
else of sovereignty no possession or occupation actual
or was ever had or attempted BY anybody
Spanish Dutch, Danish, Portuguese, French, Vene-
zuelan or English or YANKEES, till 1854; and when
took possession and occupied it, it unnhabited and
vacant abandoned and dersct 1t too late for any
of these peoples to hunt up old papers and surveys,
and the Ee and to trace pack to history to discover
who first discovered it These things out of date,
and do not deserve consideration this practical age
the age that Napoleon III calls the age Of dsas," and
There is NO hand nor earth, nor, properly speaking,
roll snetons Isle. It. and the triaipg isles it,
s
survey we had made Of it in 1854, copy Of which
send you will vouch is superior to the alleged British
survey, manufactured, doubt not, since. Until
discovered guano there, NO possible nducement or
motive could exist for any individual to occupy it.
island account OF the great advantage agricu
tursts Of the Atlantic States given that best Of all
il, ard it due to that branch of industry that
some e1erton should be made TO prevent the odious
in that article and which It is sought to psTpstusss
there and also here at the expense Ct farmers Except
upon the Al.sanss the gulf coast Of Yucatsn Shell
toms se the rsS discovery the eastern side Of the
continent having such deposit It 10 not doubted there
other barren and desoae and dersic roks contain
ing (of good not better than the Pacific guauo,
and that can be furnished TO our agrcuursts at one
third the of the osher to DO found in the Amer
can seas south Of 25 deg. N. latitude.
Requisscence without remonstrauce and effective
action in tine proceedings that have been had in this
case may establish president highly injurious to our
The largest rock (shslton's Isls) possibly, ma, be
passing it, BY erecting house upon it, BY CON.
structipg martelio for defence there, boring
coal there our steamers in the merchant service
and in the navy; but in all this not directly and
immediately Interested nor the fact that it would
constitute an admirable outpost or picket guard for our
interests present and ultimate in all that region. We
look to the deposit Of guano as the only present
of rendering the island valuable to individuals by
bringing 10 market for our farmers, at small advance
cost, this rich fertilizer; and entirely willing
TO transfer all rights to government preserving
the guano) without charge compensation, and il the
government decides that said course is desirable will
squeamish and strict copsructionsts say that the ede
raj government has not the Faculty Of acquisition of
foreign country By the discovery and occupation Of
its citizens under its flag because the case is not in
terms provided for in the federal constitution And so
and particularly that the Executive cannot act With
out law OF Congress authorizing it, or the concur
the of this century objected that
the executive and legislative branches together had
power to annex louisiana and yet the most important
function of the federal government from that day to
his has been to provide and regulate annexation by
purchase by conquest in open and otherwise and
the Executive has more than once arranged for navde
pots and yards &c. Port Aahon in Mnorca Spezzia
in Sardinia and elsewhere at different times and the
OF Congress has only been asked to furnish
the necessary funds In this case, money ia
qusite, such is necessary II the United
States has faculty Of acquisition Of newly discovered
and primarily possessed and Occupied islands this at.
tribute and sovereignty must revert to the State of
Massachusetts or to ourselves This sove-
rtgnty cannot be in allegiance and il cannot die. 1t
exists somewhere and If not delegste to the federal
govern ment is preserved to the states and to ths
people, CART. Fed. Con Our FIRST letter to you,
dated 18th Jan 1885, above mentioned states to you
the facts as to discovery and taking possession
peaceabe and undsturhed possession of it for several
months and until the middle Of December, 1854, with
loading guano. On the 18th December, 1854 person
styling himself Don Domingo Dias, "Capetan de Navio
I'd Jefe de Ia Esquedor VENEZUELA" came there in
schooner OF the Venezuelan navy, armed and equipped
and manned, and having also regular troops Of that
state on toard and claimed the ses as belonging to
Venezuela stating that he acted by the express autho
ry and command Of the Of that power and
notifying our reamen and laborers Of his commission,
ment vessel He landed some troops and hoisted and
saluted the Venezuelan flag upon the isle and warned
Us that we could not stay any logger than ne saw MT
on the 2lth December another Venezuelan vessel
arrived and laneed more troops and in short time
four hours, they would drive away by the SOL
dery. During the time that had elapsed from
from progressing simultaneously in the loading OF the
guano; and now prohibition not only backed by
the presence of armed force ana threats of personal
violence to therefrom demonstrations actu-
ally made but they were dispossessed OF the materials
by force. The said Has the 18th Of December had
Drawn and signed paper in Spanish ION file in your
Department., and which our agent, Capt. Giebs was
constrained under the circumstance take and which
Diss styled his .spermit" In conformity with q per.
emptory order doubtless intended when bias issued that
paper employees and vessels left the island and
returned 10 the United States Charges sxacted by
Capt Das Of Of the American vessels at the isles
You will perceive from documents on file q. the Depart
ment that other Boston merchants have preferred claims
somewhat analogous to osa but in relation thereto 1t
is not necessary and indeed It would be proper for
us, in this communication, 10 say word Every
should attend to his own business only, and not in
terfere with that OF others We invoked in the letter
above mentioned the protection of tAe government OF
the United States and its Interpolation to obtain just
redress for us.
In addition the letter of the 18th Of January 1885,
the Goth Of the same month addressed you again
That letter 10 on file and we respectfully solicit your
perusa Of IT, We refer In it to FIRST letter re-