The National tribune., 1891-01-08

ana pTemeullated SEIZURE ana occupation
against weak and struggling nation.
Great Britain proposed 10 Venezuela in
1883 to unite the question of boundary, that
of pecuniary claims of British subjects
against Venezuela, and Of 80 per cent diff
ferential duties against imports from the
Antilles then recently levied by Venezuela
and TO enter into a simultaneous settlement
OF them all. To meet this proposition Guz-
man Blanco, late President Of Venezuela,
and man Of great ability as well as some
vanity, was sent 10 London as envoy and
MINISTER WITH FULL POWERS,
and in due time he procured from the reign
ing Granville ministry a written promise Of
arbitration of all disputes This was the
first saving point which Venezuela had
secured in diplomacy from the beginning,
and the first weak move made by Great
Britain accepting her steady course toward
aggression as evidence Of strength But a
change of ministry brought Lord Salisbury
into power, who refused the restraint of
arbitration; the claim being made that
Great Britain could not submit n question Of
boundary TO arbitration. So now it had be-
come an acknowledged, unsettled question
Of boundary, beyond arbitration, because il
grew out Of-what? And why not arbitrate
boundary question? Great Britain sub
mitted 10 such arbitration in ls27, and again
ln ls7l, relative to the United States; and
again, soon after, under this same Lord SAL
isbnTy, relative to Afghanistan.
Bat finally, in 1866, Lord Rosebery pro-
posed as TO boundary limit beginning west
OF the Waini River, with the free naviga-
tion Of the Orinoco. In the free idiom Of
the times, =" He got there just the same
The boundary proposed would he nearly as
far west and As near the mouth of the ORR
noco as Schombergk surveyed. or as Great
Britain had ever suggested. But after ALL
the OrinocO was the great point, although
kept somewhat in the background even 10
the last. This proposal was declined. IL
may be asked why il was ever made: for
before IT was made IL was being carried ont
by Her Most Christian Maiesty's ministry,
with the same Characteristic perseverance
that attended the whole series OF antecedent
steps Are British negotiations with foolish
OF otherwise weak nations of the nature of
aiter-thoughts? Does the $4,000, 900 of the
Geneva awards pay for a splendid mercan-
tile navy suddenly obiterated, and y years
loss of a great carrying trade which carries
always 80 much else with il?
The foregoing statement Of the progress
made by Great Britain, from her treaty
boundary, the Essequibo, in Guiana 10 the
boundary Of her seizure from Venezuela.
extending north and west more than two
degrees, and into the interior much farther
by actual occupation, is based upon the Off
cial correspondence in the case, and upon the
treaty facts relative to the territories in
volved. is il singular that arbitration should
be declined in such a case? The statement
relates TO the growth Of a claim of territory
and free navigation, from absolutely nothing,
and against actual unbrollen historical adj
verse possession from the
TIME OF DISCOVERY.
IL has been stated that Great Britain dis
claimed the meaning attributed by Vene-
zuela TO the Schombergk survey and mOnu-
ments of l-il, and ordered the destruction
Of the latter. Before this, i'm 1886. she
voluntarily recognized the sovereignty of
Venezuela over territory she has since
seized, by demanding that the latter should
build Lighthouse upon Barima Point to
assure safety OF navigation. But i'm 1854 she
began actively tOcaTry ont the scheme which
had glimmeTed here and there through her
acts and suggestions since 1871. Ia October.
1884, the year after the demand for a west
ern boundary point west of the Waini River
and for free navigation of the OrinOcO agents
Of the British Government of Demerara, Brit
ish Guiana, entered the disputed region,
placed marks and posted notices of iurisdc-
| lIOn for the first time, and declared il British
| territory, under the laws Of the British
/ Colony Of Guiana made arrests, carried
| prisoners 10 Georgetown, the Capital, tried
them before a Colonial tribunal, and impris-
Oned and fined them. As Venezuela pro-
posed to build lighthouse at Barima Point,
Great Britain forbade it il claim Of iuris-
dicti0n was carried with it,
In 1886 Venezuelan Commission was sent
TO visit and report upon matters relating TO
this occupation. The Commissioners found
British officers on the right bank of the
/ AmacurO, appointed March ! and Sept. G.,
| 1856, as in and for the Colony OF British
Guiana and an established Office. The Brit
ish revenue cutter Transfer had carried
magistrates 10 that point at various times
20 try causes and 10 other points with armed
| policemen. Vessels were searched, forbidden
10 20 10 Barima Point except in ballast. or
20 trade at certain places. AT Georgetown
later, the Commissioners were officially in
formed that the territory was within the
limits established by the notice published
| in the London Gazette on the 2lst Of October,
1856, aud was a portion Of the Colony Of