Richmond daily Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1842-1861, 1856-07-09
RIG MOND WING.
F,,.n ~. L.oa.L.n T,.,s,. .y... On.

,,., ln.~, 4, a.. veil ,rf,.r,. snd ,n. i.,,.. :,
ss.A... -. -. I,.x,. No.. A.. -, 80. -, 49,,
49,. r.,.-i -. =. "a - a. $50, ~ -
,~s,sys. n Al least IN, r.t el.s. m r,oy.phy xould
hsv, arrived =, that po;. b.l Tho nhr.. rss very OBJ
.r,,. nm. a, . large oo,t,oo az .oci,ty Nov Central
&c.,. s.,,,.. M de no, niovs H.. man. attract
ths eve. ., the p..-cr.by md the exe,crc public to
whom r.ogr.phv I. a sealed and cabalsc science ate
.ble Al iooI aud a, form .oue .a,,epu. conclusion They
.rve n, a.. n, A ul,e tb,, Central America narrow
.na a. RI, !. c.iI.d an i.tnmu. They next observe
,h. an. ,l.,,Ic n on one Idle Of IL and the Pacific on,
the osber Nos A b,yin. To draw as bright idea upon
the mind of that man no has been taking his time ard
,nd,,y ,r the Lar ten minutes at the statoncrs win.
dov vh.t n that isthmus could cut through What
n cans. could he dug There Is tue lake OF Nj
rsr.gu. and tbe river San Juan 20 help IT, Then ships
could 20 from ,b. Atlantic 10 the Pacific and these would
uoa.titute one grand mercsntil. sea.
Rat N Central America generally is obscure phrase
10 the public at large this ob-curty becomes very thick
,nst indeed when We go into particulars How many per
con. In we'll informed circles had heard OF the lssud
Of Rastan before the last three months, This ~
land which has become OF much importance lately aud
IL bone OF contention between two mighty en-
pres has hitherto occupied little share OF the public
attention that even its spelling is not vet accurately
fred. Il IL spcit in the maps and gszetteers Rutan
Rattan Roaian Ruatan according the better worse
Information which prevailed at the moment We
~ throw light this part OF the subject
and wait ill American scholarship pronounces the ultimate
decision Well then, Ruttan Rattan, Roatsn, Rustan
is described by Mr.. Buchanan as
"An island OF great value and Importance on account
Of its excelen, hsrbors which are rare along that coast
Indeed has been described by Spanish author las the
key Of the Bay OF Honduras and the focus OF the trade OF
the neighborng countries Such is its commanding geo
graphical position that Great Britain, in possession OF IT,
coud completely the trade Of the United States ia
it, passage TO aud from the isthmus. In vain may the
convention have prohibited Great Britain from erecug or
maintaining Notifications commanding the Ncarsguan
Canal or in other portions OF Central America Shc sna
continue to exercise dominion over the bay Islands
We think Mr.. Buchanan rather exaggcracs the mPor-
&C Ruatan, its commanding position and control
the prospective chsnuel through the shmus. The
project which adopted the San Juan aud the Lake Of
Nicaragua as the line OF this canal has believe,
and tho noCtiva witt COute
plated shareholders shares board of directors Chairman
and officers, has for some two three wears been dis
persed to the winds and ceased 20 occupy the world OF
even visionary existence But, il any future project
adopts the line at all it, Ruaan will he
about 400 miles from the channel OF communication he
tween the For all practical purposes Jamaica
will he almost
Rnatau then, being thus described to whom does Rua
tan belongs IL must be frankly confessed that our maps
and gazettecrs rather off hand on these questions
They express the Praa fdciC virW OF the case rather
than strictly legal truth Thus with respect To Belize
the hest aud most authoritative English gazetteer now cS
tsnt says
The Possession OF this colony was long disputed b, The
Spanards, hut finally yoirf up 10 Britain ~ 1883.
Bot the treaty fl5s3 did not abandon the Spanish
vereguty Belize but special y rcserviug the @ovcr
eighty, only allowed the useful domain" or usuiTuc,
the right Of cutting ogwood In the same way ia the
of Rustan msps with their red blue rather
press the general fact that the British have something
do with the place than any accurate claim OF proprietor
ship. When To facts have depart little
from the com etenes and clear outline al paper and
upon rather a mysty and confused scene Nov
in the world Of America reality and begin to what
Of thing occupation is and how many different kinds
of occupation there are and what different versions
be often given of the same fact Take o., the two FOL
lowing versions OF the British occupations Iom time tn
time of Rustan and the Bay Islands The American a.
given in the report of the Committee OF Senate in 1853
is
These islands in common with numerous Others AL
acent TO the coast constituted from their earliest dscoN
cry ny spanish naNgaors parts oi the Spanish domino
on the southern continent OF America II IS trT' that
during the edrs ~ the b"ed"'rs ~ the last century and
an coHse 81 the irregularities nddqgTeSs0nS iHceHf fo
that perod raroHs Of eD, from time 10 time, er'He fn
the possession Of England Among the latest of these as
gressons Is said that ~ 1880 the Island OF Koatan Was
seized by authority OF the British Superintendent at Belize
but on complain; by the Federal Government Of Central
America the act was formally disavoWed by the British
Government and the island restored TO the auho tiles Of
the Republic
The version in our dispatches is
1T cannot be disputed that whenever Ruatau has been
permanently occupied either in remote or recent times
by anything more than military guard or flagstaff, tn"
occupation has been by British subjects
Or take The two versions OF one particular case OF occu
patton m the year ls4l This ~ the American version
contained in the report OF Committee OF Senate above
ierred to:
IN is4i thus island was again violently taken posses
SION OF by Colonel MDonald then Her Aarys SpcIin-
tendent at Belize, m person. accompanied by snail body
oil men, III government schooner IL Wa found 10 cha of
sergeant aho lew soldiers belonging to tue State OF Hon
duras VINO were driven on the Nag oil Honduras hauled
dos, and the British flag hosed in its place. The re-ult
gwen IN the words OF The author from whom the iorego-
ing account Is derived
No sooner had they rc-embarked than they had the
morhcahon OF seeing the union jack replaced 10y the blue
ana white sirlpes oil Honduras Tor which had just be-
lore been substituted and returning once more, they
completed the ingonous revolution by taking such pre-
cautions ana making such threats as they thought uces
sary,
since this act OF annexation the island has been un-
der British control aud considerable number OF settlers
have been located upon it'-Ihe Gospei IN CeitrH
Our version OF the occupation of ls4l is a. follows:
at is that the Republic Of Central America declr-
ed that IL had flag living in that leland from ISL 1889
h.uFfh E.,f h.
hon and all that is positively known that when the Br.
ish Government aware that fore gu flag was vng
at Ruatan British ship OF haul down;
and since that time attempt has been made to r-ta
sh IL; but on the contrary when on two or three coca.
sons plants have been brought by the citizens of
Central American States against the settlers in Ruata 20
the Truxio the commandant has reierr-
ed them TO Belize telling them that the island British"
Now here are two versions of tho zane story ,cl az