Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-09-24
Her Steady Encroachment on the
Territory Of Venezuela.
EX-MINISFER SCRUGGS' VIEWS
The Republic Wants Arbitration
and Great Britain Seeks Territory.
G . NJ NJ f RCIAL CONTROL

Venezuela and Great Britain, over the
question of jurisdiction in the rich but
sparsely populated territory known the
"Guaymas, on the northeastern shores of
| the South American continent, extending
westward from the Atlantic ocean to the
Orinoco river and southwark from the Gulf
of Para to. the watersheds of the great
Il. Mr.. Scruggs is now visit to
.,y. Last evening he kindly yielded
e. ne persuasion of Star reporter -
| throw some light on this question for the
special benefit of the American public.
The immense territory involved in this
contention between the two countries"
said Mr.. Scruggs. covers an area larger
! than the whole of the German empire; and,
although within the tropical zone. such is
Its peculiar Typographical conforma ton that
II has almost every variety OF climate and
soil, while its geographical position, fine
hdrbors ana naviSable rivers place il in
the Very front rank OF future commercial
possibilities.
"a portion of this vast domain belongs to
Great Britain, as the successor in title of
Holland. \ very much larger portion of 1t
belongs to the republic of Venezuela,
the successor in title OF Spain, But the
boundaries between the two ancient possess
SionS were never definitely fixed and now,
after the lapse of more than three-quarterS
of a century the dispute as to boundary.
ana the British entertainments resulting
from it, have assumed phase which not
only threaten the integrity of at least two
of the Spanish American republics but
involve certain principles Of international
polity for the maintenance of which the
good faith and honor OF the United States
stand pledged. The issue involved cannot,
therefore. be a matter of Indifference TO the
American people"
The English Claim.
Mr. Scruggs then gave a resume of the
political and diplomatic history of the case.
indicating clearly his entire sympathy with
the course Of the government OF Venezuela
in its persistent but Intellectual Efforts to
bring the dispute to a settlement on "A
peaceful and honorable basis. lie said that
since Great Britain acquired. by the Ccssiun
OF lsl4 no title beyond what Holland pos
seSS Il. II is difficult to understand how she
can now le@ally support her claim Ia title
in lands west Of the Esequiho. Not only
does The treaty OF Aranjurt itself support
Nenrzuela's claim to all the territory west
of the Esequiho. he said. hut her claim is
fortified by the historic events which pre-
coded that treaty.
1t is manifest" he continued, "that
England cannot Justify her present OCclI-
pancy west 81 the ksequibo on the ground
that Sh. obtained II title to that territory
from Holland 10y the Ccssion oi i~i4. And
her claim to uuc hy reason ot some pre-
tended treaty With the Tvs iiynt Indian
tribes of southern Guyana is stil more
uutenahie ON the discovery al the Amer
lean continent, the principe adopted bv
european nations, III order to avoid con-
hlctinG stttl"m"nts and consequent wars,
was that discovery gave title t. the GOV
eminent 10y whose subjects or 10y whose
authority il was made. The title thus aC-
quirei was good as against all other Euro
peIn governments, and mlEl lie COnSIm-
ma ID at any time by act,.l possession.
Ana It necessarily gave 10 thu nation max
ing the discovery The sole right of acquiring
the soil from the natives and of establish
ing settlements thereon. 1t WAS a right all
asserted for themselves, and TO the aSSrr-
ton of which all assentei. And such grants
have been uniformly held To be valid. 1t
VIII not do now 10 say that the opinion OF
mankind on This point has changed with
tae progress Of civilization, Equality uu-
tcnahe Is the contention that Venezuela
has forfeited any color OF title she may
have had To the territory in dispute. by her
alleged failure 10 occupy it"
FruitIrss N-go.intions
by this time Mr.. Scruggs had thoroughly
warmed up to his subject and. recalling
briefly the futile negotiations of Venezuela
to have the boundary dispute settled by
arbitration, described the present status as
follows: In 1888 Great Britain proposed
Il joint settlement of the boundary question
and of the disputes growing out of the "a
per cent tax levy by Venezuela on imports
from the british Antilles; and also certain
indemnity claims long standing by British
subjects. 1t Was then aEreel TO refer all
these questions to arbitration: but a change
o! ministry occurred soon thereaft and
the British government fatty refused 10
ratify the agreement
Three years later Venezuela again re-
called attention to the boundary diSpute
and proposed its reference to friendly arhi-
tration. In response theret, Lord Rose
berry proposed conventional boundary
line. coupled with the condition that The
entire Orinoco river be declared open and
free to British vessels This was rejected
and the negotiations failed
In the meantime. the Demarara author
tI,C had .llr L.. \
ward as the Drinoco delta. Very soon they
extended their entertainments along the
main channel of the OrnCco To Barima
Point and to the mouth of the Amacura
which they fortified. Great Britain now
boldly claimed not only the entire territory
Included within the old ''SchomLurgk line
but an area of equal extent south of it,
including the great CorOni river, in the
valleys of which had been recently discoy-
cred some very rich gold mines. Nene-
2uela now demanded the reStOra ton of the
status quo of 1870, which involved the
withdrawal of the British from Barima
Point and the Amacura river and the re-
fusai to comply with This demand resulted
in the suspension of diplomatic relations.
Venezuela Desires Arbitration.
Since then the British have steadily
continued their encroac hments southwark
while maintaining their foothold at the
delta and on the banks of the Barima
and Amacura rivers. But otherwise the
situation remains unchanged. Unable to
successfully resist these persistent en-
CrcachmentS Venezuela appealed to the
moral sense of the civilized world in the
hope of inducing the British government,
through the mediation of friendly powers,
to submit the question to arbitration. The
United States aoveEQment has not been
Indifferent 20 these oft-repeated solicita-
lions. nor could it afford to be. 1t has more
than once suggested arbitration, but hith-
erto these friendly suggestions have been
UNDECIDED by England 1t has now become
a question of deep concern whether under
all the circumstances and in view of the
Monroe declaration <-of 1879 a more ad-
vanced and decided step would not be just-
fable. ~ a.
The issues involved in this controversy
effect directly three Of the South American
republics, and indirectly all the others And
they very sensfbly effect the traditional
policy and commerce of the United States.
Manifestly, the ultef1or purpose of Great
Britain is to obtain permanent control of
the mouth of the ,Orinoco river; and a
glance at any good map of the country will
show what that means.
THE South American continent, by its
peculiar configura tion is naturally divided
into three immense valleyS-the OrinOco
the Amazon and the Plata. Each of these
valleys is a complete network of fluviatile
navigation. open from the sea to the re-
hottest interior of the continent. Those of