Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-10-21
THE VENEZUELAN BOUNDARY,


posted in the drop-boxes on the car
THE VENEZUELAN BOUNDARY.
Views on the London Timcs' Proposi.
ton Reviewing Great Britain's Claims
To the Editor of The Evening Star:
The extract from the London Times of
the 10th instant On the Venezuelan boun-
Diary dispute is exceedingly interesting to
those who have followed this memorable
case.
The editorial bears evidence of having
been thrown out as a "feeler'' by the Brit
ish foreign office. 1t is, in short, an offer to
arbitr,lte the ownership of the country
lying west of the Schomburgh line; all
lands easl or between that line and the At
lantic to be considered as British territory.
The Times has the audacity to term the
imaginary SckCmburgh line the frontier"
and then adds the covert threat that if ar
bitration is not agreed to upon this basis
now. few years hence they will dictate
more severe terms by moving their from
tier still further westward.
The language of the Times admits of no
other constr uction and is unwittingly a
conviction of territorial theft, for it says
I'VE are now willing to submit the frontier
question to Grbitration but a few years
hence it may be equally impossible to admit
such question anywhere within the limits
Wnlcn we DeUeVe TO De rlSntfully ours
The hypocrisy of the statement is appar-
ent, for who ever heard of Great Britain
voluntarily surrendering anything she be-
lieved to be rightfully hers?"
Twentieth century diplomacy thus con-
sists, from a British standpoint, in admit
ting they have stolen the territory between
the Pomeron and the Schomburgh line for
Holland never claimed beyond the Pome-
| rom and colonized the same, every year
adding value to the settlement naively
says the Tines. ..l
The suggestion that title to this vast ter
ritory, in area equal to the states of New
York and Pennsylvania, should be con-
frmed to England before any promise
will be given (artftTation) that the en-
croachment shall cease is one of the most
unprircipled propositions conceivable when
you come to analyZe Ito
The British foreign office must have q
very poor opinion nf Iihe patriotism and
sagaeity of our statesmen to entertain the
idea that could for a moment advise
Venezuela to accept sGch ignoble condi-
tions. Irn f
Indeed. if Salisbury has the hardihood to
follow the course outlined by the Times and
submit such proposition through our gov
erEment it would certainly furnish Presi-
dent Cleveland with strong grounds for
sumInarily notifying Great Britain to evac-
| uate all the disputed territory down to the
Pomeron river. >.
such an offer to arbitrate as suggested by
the Times amounts practically to an in
suit to the intelligence of our State De-
partment and We should become the laugh
ing stock of Europeans We were a few
years ago in the Hawaiian affair-to per-
nit ourselves to be used as channel for
the preparation of such a despicable fraud
against weaker neighber. --.
One of the most significant sentences in
the Times article is the bluff 1t makes
at consider ing the Venezuelan question as
being entirely 'outside Of the scope of the
Monroe doctrine" / suppose We ought to
d.
| mts. in this left-handed fashion. the ex-
istence of the Monroe doctrine.
But here, briefly, are the reasons why the
proposition to arbitrate from the Schom-
burgh line westward could not, and ought
rot, be entertained by Venezuela or ac-
quiesced in by our government:
!. The Schomburgh line stands for moth
ing tangible In the dispute; 1t was run in
1S41 without the knowledge consent Of
Venezuela, and obliterated about 1913 at
the demand of the latter government
What Inconsistency on the part of Eng
land having once rubbed 1t out, to now at
tempt it's resurrection!
,. About 1914 Lord Aberdeen. then minis
ter of foreign affairs, distinctly disclaimed,
in writing. any intention on the part Of
Great Britain to claim the Schomburgh
line possible boundary. He said: 1.-The
so-called Schomburgh line was never de-
signed to be other than merely tentative"
What has happened since that date to
make it other than an experimental line
now?
3. Lord Aberdeen offered to fix the boun-
Diary on line running southwark from the
mouth of the Morocco river, taking in a
strip less than half the size of the territory
within the Schomburgh line.
If Aberdeen was justified In this temper
ate proffer, what has since transpired to
incres Sc the claim twofold?
4. In 1850 matters had reached such a
stage that rumor,5 prevailed that Great
Britain was about to take possession of the
disputed territory whereupon the British
minister at Caracas. to quiet apprehen-
sions, solennly stated that his government
had no intention of occupying the region,
and would refrain from so doing provided
the government of Venezuela would also
promise not to colonize the same.
This agreement was mutual, but England
entirely ignored it by stealthfiy pushing
her outposts northward over 800 miles, I'M
I'll, ir 1854. she reached the mouth Of the
Orinoco. Venezuela, on the other hand, oh
served the compact in good faith for many
years after it's fragrant violation by Eng
land
Cannot Secretary Olney invoke the OBJ
servance of this agreement with as much
show of right as England when she arbi-
trarily attempts to convert an experimental
line into fixed frontier?
D. In 1880 Venezuela, to reach a settle
ment, offered to adopt the Morocco river as
the frontier as suggested by Lord Aber-
deem in 1874, but Lord Salisbury replied
that the Morocco line could not longer be
admitted" thus again admitting that. ac-
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was moving in tiIneSof profound peace
and contrary to all known laws.
6. In 1885 Venezuela, Through her minis
ter, obtained the wrnth promise of Lord
Granville. then mnistef of foreign affairs.
to accept new treaty between the two
governments. in which the boundary ques-
ton pure and simpR was to be arbitrated
without reference to any line west of the
Essequibo. This important clause in the
draft of the treaty was amended and added
to at The special request of Lord Granville,
making it Imperative. an the part of his
government to submit the question to
friendly powers, butsbefere tho treaty could
be ratified the Gladstone government was
overthrow, and Salisbury coming into
power. refused tiat-foote ed to give his assent
to what his predecessor had agreed to. In
the face of this disgraceful act, 1t is wo-th
| noting that the noble 1lord arose in the
house of lords andi,iannounced that the
engagements of the previous government
would be respected"-and they were re-
spected in all matters pending with strong
governments.
This infamous act is matter of record
that cannot be obliterated.
Is Ii any wonder, then, that continental
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